The untold story of the 2008 Democratic presidential race is how Sen. Barack Obama was able to win the nomination despite the fact that Sen. Hillary Clinton beat him straight up in the popular votes cast at the primary elections open to registered voters. He won the nomination through the caucuses held in many states, even states like Texas which held a primary election. Despite many complaints from Clinton and her supporters that the Obama campaign was systematically stealing votes at the caucuses Chicago style, the mainstream media ignored their complaints. Screenwriter and director Gigi Gaston has prepared a compelling documentary, "We Will Not Be Silenced," to document the stories as told by Clinton supporters in places like Texas and Iowa.
Their stories are not surprising to people all too familiar with the Chicago way of stealing elections. Obama supporters show up without proper identification or proof they are registered to vote in a precinct and are allowed to vote. Clinton supporters are told their names can't be found in the precinct books, or they are told their votes have been counted to go home when in fact their vote hadn't been registered because they hadn't affixed their signature to the registration forms. When all else fails, the Obama supporters resort to threats and intimidation.
The documentary includes some disturbing accounts from Lake County, Indiana. Although Indiana is a primary state which Clinton won, we all know too well how the Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, the Lake County Democratic Chairman, held up the vote count for many hours and did not release it until after the live television newscasts had signed off for the night. This deprived Clinton of a prime time declaration of a win in Indiana. Obama had already been pronounced the winner in the North Carolina primary. While Mayor Clay did his thing for Obama, Obama celebrated with fawning reporters on the flight back to Chicago. Wearing tight jeans, Obama pranced and posed near the front of the plane to please the demands of the admiring female reporters.
One witness describes how high school students from Gary were bused from their school to precincts in Crown Point to vote with instructions to cast votes for Obama. According to the witness, this was carried out with the approval of faculty and administration. Students were given the rest of the day off from school after casting illegitimate votes. How is that for a civics lesson? Another woman tells how two young men stood outside a polling place in Gary warning people not to bother attempting to cast a vote if they weren't planning to vote for Obama. She observed several voters being turned away, including elderly voters.
The documentary is about 33 minutes long. I would highly encourage you to take the time to listen to the stories told by these people. I'm not a Hillary Clinton supporter by a long shot, but I do believe she was unfairly denied the Democratic nomination this year. Anyone who believes in the rule of law and the importance of fair and honest elections based on the one man, one vote principle should be appalled by what happened this year. It is unbelievable that so much attention could be focused on the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election and, yet, a blind eye is turned towards the outrageous conduct which occurred in this year's Democratic primaries, including the stripping of delegates in Michigan and Florida, both handily won by Clinton. Obama only agreed to restore those states to full delegate status when he knew the nomination was safely secured, largely through the help of the unelected super delegates.
The Obama supporters want you to believe Clinton and her supporters are just sore losers. People who fail to grasp the root of their disenchantment with Obama and the Democratic Party are missing why so many Clinton supporters plan to cast a vote for John McCain or a third party candidate this fall. Indeed, one recent poll indicated that Obama was getting the support of only 52% of the voters who cast a vote in the primaries for Clinton. Keep a close eye on Clinton's supporters in Denver. They want their grievances heard and they are determined to let America know how they feel about it. The question is whether a fawning media will allow America to hear their voices.
Gaston's documentary ends with a famous quote from Thomas Jefferson, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." If Obama and his supporters are willing to steal the Democratic nomination, what can we expect from them if they win the presidency and control the executive functions of our federal government? After watching Gaston's documentary, you will understand why Democrats fight voter ID laws so vociferously.
Hat tip to Hoosiers For Fair Taxation.
The problem with your reasoning is that states with caucuses do not post popular vote results (with the exception of Texas). You are also putting popular vote results in there for Michigan and Florida where no one but Hillary campaigned.
ReplyDeleteThere's no untold story here. Again, you are just rehashing OLD NEWS! Is this all you have? REALLY?
I'm really tired of that line, Jon. Obama spent nearly $2 million on advertising before the Florida primary, not counting his nationa ad buys. He only took his name off the ballot in Michigan when he realized he was going to get walloped there. The Texas example shows how unfair the process was. Clinton won the popular vote in the primary. Then the Texas Democratic Party held caucuses on the same day after the polls closed. Through hook or crook, Obama easily captured the caucus vote. In the end, Obama wound up with more delegates from Texas than Clinton, even though she won the popular vote.
ReplyDeleteAi, I think you missed your calling. You should try exploring the writing of fiction. This entry shows that you may have talent there. All candidates except Hillary removed their names fromt he Michigan ballot because that is what they all [including Hillary] agreed to do well in advance of Michigan breaking the rules. the Texas system is bizarre but it is the system and every candidate including Hillary knew that months before going into the Texas primary and caucus. Lots of things we do in life have strange rules but we follow them. Your information re: Obama spending $2 million in Florida is completely false. HIllary did have union workers helping get out the vote for her which violated the rules. Again all candidates agreed to not campaign in any state that violated the primary schedule. Everyone but Hillary did in Florida. The story here should be why Hillary felt entitled to violate rules when she believed it was to her advantage.
ReplyDeleteClinton abided by the written laws of the states of Florida and Michigan. The Democratic Party imposed rules to disenfranchise the voters in that state because they wanted to dictate the order in which states conducted their voting. The national parties should not dictate when a state can hold its elections. The elected representatives of those states make those decisions. And Wilson, if you don't want confused with Art, then stop posting the exact same comments on this blog that you post over at Blue Indiana.
ReplyDeleteBy hook or by crook.....
ReplyDeleteThe Clintons vs. Chicago Democrats....
Lake County Indiana...
Texas Democrats (home of Landslide Lyndon)....
what else would one expect?
It's how they've always done things from time immemorial.