Posted by Will in Seattle at 2/7/08 5:30 p.m.

Cool.

Love the last para - we don't want incompetents on council, after all ...

Posted by rightturns at 2/7/08 5:46 p.m.

"In presidential preferences, Seattle City Council Splits along racial, gender lines..."

Of course it does. The Seattle City Council is made up of liberals. Liberals are racist and sexist.

Posted by GMANROK at 2/7/08 6:04 p.m.

Would someone enlighten me as far as Seattle is concerned. I previoulsy in the early 1990 resided there a short while and I'm considering returning there from overseas to reside again. Is Seattle a more liberal town or conservative? Just curious to know?

Posted by rightturns at 2/7/08 6:14 p.m.

san francisco is more liberal than seattle. but that's about it. Seattle suffers from many liberal policy ills.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/7/08 7:11 p.m.

and rightturns suffers from being a moron.

Posted by lister blister at 2/7/08 7:28 p.m.

Seattle was very liberal in the early 90's. It's actually become pretty conservative. There's been a large influx of people who say they are liberal but I don't think they understand the true sense of the word. I would call them Moralcrats. They're like the evangelicals of the Democratic Party. They've helped pass laws and voted people into office whose policies are to take away our freedoms as Seattlites and to promote economic growth. For example, our freedom to have peaceful protests, freedom of speech on public access channels, our freedom to smoke in bars, our freedom to own business (like strip clubs) have all been seriously inhibited. It makes sense that our leaders would want Obama as President because he is the one democrat left that actually hovers more often on the right.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/7/08 8:26 p.m.

Heh, people that argue over politics are like retards that argue over who is the better athlete at the Special Olymmpics.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/7/08 11:12 p.m.

What's better than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the White House for 8 years? Hillary Clinton AND Barack Obama in the White House for 16 years!

http://www.16yearplan.com

Posted by Rev. at 2/8/08 12:35 a.m.

What's better than Hillary Clinton AND Barack Obama in the White House for 16 years is Barack Obama AND Hillary Clinton in the White House for 16 years.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/8/08 9:08 a.m.

I'm an African-American woman and will not be voting for any member of the City Council in the future who cast their support solely on gender or race. I am so disappointed in my African American sisters and brothers who are voting for Obama solely because he is black! The issues are much bigger and critical than making history. What good is history if you cannot provider health care for my family. You may be one of the unfortunate ones who may lose their jobs because of the downturn in the economy... I can only imagine the sleepless nights that you know because you worry about he subprime loan that may render you homeless in the weeks and months to come. Hillary is addressing these issues. Both Hillary and Barack are brilliant people in terms of their education and personal accomplishments but anyone can see that Hillary is more of a leader than Obama. Obama said he didn't vote for the war...well of course not...he wasn't in the senate! His Monday morning quarterbacking is disingenuous. Obama was so wrong when he said that the black communities are not affected by illegal immigrants. Today when you pass by any construction site...you can't miss them because they are everywhere... when you drive-by count the number of black construction workers you see...I checked Barack's US Senate record this man cannot take a stand...he is a fence straddler. I am also suspicious of his rapid political fame. Who is this guy? Who is giving him all of this money? If Barack was just Barack the average citizen...with an average job..living an average life..would he and his family be welcomed into the neighborhood in many of the districts where he has won primaries? Iowa...North Dakota...Idaho has not welcomed African Americans with open arms. I urged everyone to watch the documentary American Blackout. This smells like another Republican trick to me. Are the Republicans financing this guy because they know that he is beatable against a McCain! The Republican wizardy is amazing they keep inventing new ways to defeat the Democrats! First it was denying black folks to the polls in Florida...and then in Ohio more of the same...Republicans crossed over in records numbers for Cynthia McKinney's opponent in Georgia to defeat McKinney. Look like they're going to ride that same train again. Republicans know that most black people are emotional and would abandon the Clintons for the possibility of putting a black man in the oval office. Thirty years ago I would have been out knocking on doors for Barack. But when I assess what has been the gains and losses...I believe it is going to take more than the color of skin or gender to bring about a change. African Americans have not fared well under black elected officals anywhere in this country...black elected official are fence straddlers...you go to any major city and the neighborhoods are in disrepair...houses that are not boarded up...are on lockdown...bars on windows security gates to keep the criminals out...their school systems are miseducating our children...and the citizens must navigate potholes and drug dealers in the streets...I know of that neighborhood where Barack did grassroot work. Guess what there has been no change. I grew up in that neighborhood forty years ago when black kids dared to dream and against all odds became doctors, nurses, lawyers and school teachers. We had grassroot advocates back in the day...nothing knew...Barack wasn't breaking new ground..he laying ground for his political career, maybe? We have an obesity problem because we can not utilize the park systems because of the gang members...we're afraid to be out after dark...the recent killing of African American young men in our Seattle was treated like yesterday news...did you hear the voices of our city councilmen McIvers and Harrell? I'm tired of impotent men who speak of MLK's strength and wisdom but can't muster up enough backbone to walk in his shoes... Women are the agents of change...if it wasn;t for the civil rights movement and the women's movement women would not have the opportunities that we enjoyed today...Because of the women movement...men like McIver can no longer beat their women in private and tell us that he like women! Women gain tremendously from the civil rights movement because they sieged oppotunities..whereas black women are baited to think about uplifiting the black man... and then we'll get change...I ask my sisters...70 percent of black households are headed by women...so how is that working for you? I encourage you to vote for someone who will support you in your responsibility as mom and dad. At the end of the day Michelle has Obama...and at the end of the day who do you have...and what do you have beside a promise for change...remember hope is not a plan...Lastly why has all the media systems given Barack so much free press...why hasn't Barack been vetted? Ithink the Reoublican are waiting to introduce us to the real Barack after he passes go and collect two hundred dollars.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/8/08 11:42 a.m.

I am offended by media's constant harping about support for Obama and Clinton being split along racial and gender lines. It has the insidious effect of discrediting the views of both African Americans and women -- the implication is that people in these categories are so stupid as to choose a candidate based on skin color or gender. It insults men who choose Clinton too -- I guess they must be mamas-boys or hen-pecked because why else would a man vote for a women? I am a white woman in my 40s and I'm supporting Obama -- my son in his early 20s is supporting Clinton. Our political discussions have nothing to do with skin color or gender -- they have only to do with who we think can win and how effective we think that person would be as a president. Personality, baggage, ability to inspire the base, and ability to get votes from independents and moderate Republicans come up in our discussions on the first; while experience, record and temperament come up in the second. But whether we share their gender or race? Give me a break.

Posted by DDRBC at 2/8/08 6:42 p.m.

At least Clinton has enough respect for the United Farm Workers to NOT co-opt their "Si se puede" (Yes we can) slogan. Dolores Huerta (who endoresed Clinton) originated it with Cesar Chavez in 1972.

The Kennedys that endorse Obama are ..... The Kennedys that are actually doing great humanitarian work support Clinton (Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental advocate and Kerry Kennedy is a human rights activist.)

All Obama has are pretty words. He cribbed Clinton's health care plans, as well her ideas on making a change with outsourcing labor.

Obama's just as much of a part of "the machine" as he accuses Clinton of. His national finance chair is BILLIONAIRE Penny Pritzker, whose family was embroiled in tax scandals in the 90s and his campaign manager was the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 1999-2000. The only anti-war, grassroots candidate is RON PAUL!

We all know about the skeletons in the Clinton closet. Even the Republicans are having a hard time raising funds second time around for a slime campaign. They will, however, eat Obama alive, especially with his dove stance on the war. Don't forget: 68% of Americans were in favor of it at that time.

Here's a sample of how Obama voted as state legislator:

By Nathan Gonzales, from the Rothenberg Political Report, February, 2007 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/the_everpresent_obama.html:

"In 1997, Obama voted "present" on two bills (HB 382 and SB 230) that would have prohibited a procedure often referred to as partial birth abortion. He also voted "present" on SB 71, which lowered the first offense of carrying a concealed weapon from a felony to a misdemeanor and raised the penalty of subsequent offenses.

In 1999, Obama voted "present" on SB 759, a bill that required mandatory adult prosecution for firing a gun on or near school grounds. The bill passed the state Senate 52-1. Also in 1999, Obama voted "present" on HB 854 that protected the privacy of sex-abuse victims by allowing petitions to have the trial records sealed. He was the only member to not support the bill.

In 2001, Obama voted "present" on two parental notification abortion bills (HB 1900 and SB 562), and he voted "present" on a series of bills (SB 1093, 1094, 1095) that sought to protect a child if it survived a failed abortion. In his book, the Audacity of Hope, on page 132, Obama explained his problems with the "born alive" bills, specifically arguing that they would overturn Roe v. Wade. But he failed to mention that he only felt strongly enough to vote "present" on the bills instead of "no."

And finally in 2001, Obama voted "present" on SB 609, a bill prohibiting strip clubs and other adult establishments from being within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, and daycares."

From Peter Wallstein, LA Times, January 24, 2008. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obamavotes24jan24,1,7079399.story:

"Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed.

"I was not aware that I had voted no," he said that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he "intended to vote yes."

Four of Obama's admitted flubs drew little controversy.

On March 19, 1997, he announced he had fumbled an election-reform vote the day before, on a measure that passed 51 to 6: "I was trying to vote yes on this, and I was recorded as a no," he said. The next day, he acknowledged voting "present" on a key telecommunications vote.

He stood on March 11, 1999, to take back his vote against legislation to end good-behavior credits for certain felons in county jails. "I pressed the wrong button on that," he said.

Obama was the lone dissenter on Feb. 24, 2000, against 57 yeas for a ban on human cloning. "I pressed the wrong button by accident," he said.

But two of Obama's bumbles came on more-sensitive topics. On Nov. 14, 1997, he backed legislation to permit riverboat casinos to operate even when the boats were dockside.

The measure, pushed by the gambling industry and fought by church groups whose support Obama was seeking, passed with two "yeas" to spare -- including Obama's. Moments after its passage he rose to say, "I'd like to be recorded as a no vote," explaining that he had mistakenly voted for it.

Obama would later develop a reputation as a critic of the gambling industry, and he voted against a similar measure two years later. But he was clearly confused about how to handle the issue at the time of his first vote, telling a church group on a 1998 campaign questionnaire that he was "undecided" about whether he backed an expansion of riverboat gambling. And, months earlier, he had voted in favor of a version of the bill."

VOTE RESPONSIBLY! If the McCain gets in, we'll all be the losers. We can no longer afford to subsidize tax cuts for the wealthy nor a never ending war.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/9/08 12:21 a.m.

Sad but true about racial and gender lines. if you thought South Carolina was bad, blacks of either gender aged 45 to 59 in Illinois voted a whopping 98% for Obama.
Go to: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#ILDEM

What would people say if white Iowans voted that way for Edwards or Clinton?

Posted by unregistered user at 2/9/08 7:01 a.m.

"The Republican wizardy is amazing they keep inventing new ways to defeat the Democrats!"
Rational, sensible, workable policies do not = "wizardy" (or even wizardry) but it does draw support from rational, sensible people. Democrats these days are consumed with tactics as the sole means to win against Repubs. They offer nothing other than vapid Happy Hopeyness and the promise of more Free Gub'mint Cheese. Good luck with that.

And it ain't the gangs in the park that's making black folks (or anyone else) "obese", sorry.