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Michael Moore: "It's The War," Says Iowa To Hillary - And A "Happy Blue Year" To All!

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Hissyspit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 05:21 AM
Original message
Michael Moore: "It's The War," Says Iowa To Hillary - And A "Happy Blue Year" To All!
Edited on Fri Jan-04-08 06:09 AM by Hissyspit
Via E-Mail:

It's the War," Says Iowa to Hillary -- And a "Happy Blue Year" To All! ...from Michael Moore

January 3, 2007

Friends,

There was no doubt about it. The message from Iowa tonight was simple, but deafening:

If you're a candidate for President, and you voted for the war, you lose. And if you voted and voted and voted for the war -- and never once showed any remorse -- you really lose.

In short, if you had something to do with keeping us in this war for four-plus years, you are not allowed to be the next president of the United States.

Over 70% of Iowan Democrats voted for candidates who either never voted for the invasion of Iraq (Obama, Richardson, Kucinich) or who have since admitted their mistake (Edwards, Biden, Dodd). I can't tell you how bad I feel for Senator Clinton tonight. I don't believe she was ever really for this war. But she did -- and continued to do -- what she thought was the politically expedient thing to eventually get elected. And she was wrong. And tonight she must go to sleep wondering what would have happened if she had voted her conscience instead of her calculator.

John Edwards was supposed to have come in third. He had been written off. He was outspent by the other front-runners six to one. But somewhere along the road he threw off the old politico hack jacket and turned into a real person, a fighter for the poor, for the uninsured, for peace. And for that, he came in a surprise second, ending up with just one less delegate than the man who was against the war from the beginning. But, as Joshua Holland of AlterNet pointed out earlier today, Edwards is still the only front-runner who will pull out all the troops and do it as quickly as possible. His speech tonight was brilliant and moving.

What an amazing night, not just for Barack Obama, but for America. I know that Senator Obama is so much more than simply the color of his skin, but all of us must acknowledge -- and celebrate -- the fact that one of the whitest states in the U.S. just voted for a black man to be our next president. Thank you, Iowa, for this historic moment. Thank you for at least letting us believe that we are better than what we often seem to be. And to have so many young people come out and vote -- and vote for Obama -- this is a proud moment. It all began with the record youth turnout in 2004 -- the ONLY age group that Kerry won -- and they came back out tonight en force. Good on every single one of you!

As the only top candidate who was anti-war before the war began, Barack Obama became the vessel through which the people of this Midwestern state were able to say loud and clear: "Bring 'Em Home!" Most pundits won't read the election this way because, well, most pundits merrily led us down the path to war. For them to call this vote tonight a repudiation of the war -- and of Senator Clinton's four years' worth of votes for it -- might require the pundit class to remind their viewers and readers that they share some culpability in starting this war. And, like Hillary, damn few of them have offered us an apology.

With all due respect to Senator Obama's victory, the most important news out of the caucus this evening was the whopping, room-busting turnout of Democrats. 239,000 people showed up to vote Democratic tonight (93% more than in '04, which was a record year), while only 115,000 showed up to vote Republican. And this is a red state! The Republican caucuses looked anemic. The looks on their faces were glum, tired. As the camera followed some of them into their caucus sites, they held their heads down or turned away, sorta like criminals on a perp walk. They know their days of power are over. They know their guy blew it. Their only hope was to vote for a man who has a direct line to heaven. Huckabee is their Hail Mary pass. But don't rule him out. He's got a sense of humor, he's downhome, and he said that if elected, he'd put me on a boat to Cuba. Hey, a free Caribbean vacation!

Bottom line: People have had it. Iowa will go blue (Happy Blue Year, Hawkeyes!). Whomever your candidate is on the Dem side, this was a good night. Get some sleep. The Republicans won't go down without a fight. Look what happened when Kerry tried to play nice. So Barack, you can talk all you want about "let's put the partisanship aside, let's all get along," but the other side has no intention of being anything but the bullies they are. Get your game face on now. And, if you can, tell me why you are now the second largest recipient of health industry payola after Hillary. You now take more money from the people committed to stopping universal health care than any of the Republican candidates.

Despite what your answer may be, I was proud to sit in my living room tonight and see you and your family up on that stage. We became a bit better tonight, and on that I will close by saying, sweet dreams -- and on to that other totally white state of New Hampshire!

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

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orleans Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 05:57 AM
Response to Original message
1. is this accurate? if it is--WOW
"239,000 people showed up to vote Democratic tonight (93% more than in '04, which was a record year), while only 115,000 showed up to vote Republican
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malaise Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 06:03 AM
Response to Reply #1
3. And 59% of the young anti-war people
backed Obama. Dems rule come November.
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Toots Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 09:39 AM
Response to Reply #1
10. I wonder how many of those were Republicans
They would like nothing more than for the Democrats to nominate someone they feel America as a whole would never vote for. :shrug:
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dmosh42 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 05:58 AM
Response to Original message
2. Iowa showed me what 10 million can buy!
I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me what "change" he's talking about? I heard Edwards, who has a real change message, but this win is a disappointing "hold the course message" for me.
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Canuckistanian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 06:26 AM
Response to Original message
4. Great message
I'm not sure if Iowa was all about the war, but those turnout numbers are truly inspiring.
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Hissyspit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 07:40 AM
Response to Original message
5. .
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Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 07:49 AM
Response to Original message
6. k&r
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Tuesday_Morning Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 09:11 AM
Response to Original message
7. The Big Winner: Democrats
from Dailykos front page:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/4/8345/36508/84/430109

In 2000, the last time there was a caucus in both parties, Republicans turned out 87,000 voters, while Democrats produced 59,000. There are around 600,000 registered Democrats in Iowa, and about 550,000 Republicans, but when you consider that on caucus nights, Republicans just need to show up and point to a name, while Democrats are committing to two hours of public wrangling, it's not a surprise that more Republicans show up to be "first in the nation."

Except for yesterday.

When the Des Moines Register poll was predicated on a turnout of 200,000, I was scornful. And they were wrong -- but only because they were too conservative.

Last night, the Republicans produced around 115,000 voters -- an impressive 30% increase.

But the Democrats turned out 236,000. That's an increase of roughly one whole helluva lot.
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 09:29 AM
Response to Original message
8. I think Senator Obama did exactly what he needs to do-change
and hope prevail! And I agree about the war; we are collectively tired of it. Good luck with that, McCain.
This will be an interesting year.
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wellst0nev0ter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 09:35 AM
Response to Original message
9. "If the most important thing to any of you"
"is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from. But for me, the most important thing now is trying to end this war."

-Hillary Clinton, New Hampshire, February 2007

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN22370584

Well looks like there were and we did.
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closeupready Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:30 AM
Response to Reply #9
16. Yep.
n/t
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paulk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:12 AM
Response to Original message
11. actually, Mike, more people voted for HRC and Edwards
combined then voted for Obama. Oh yeah - Biden and Dodd, too.

And they all voted "yes" on the IWR.

You weasel out of that with your "admitted their mistake" bullshit.

Typical weasel for a propagandist like you.

It's why I can't take you (or your movies) seriously.

You come up with a conclusion, then you shift the playing field to reach your conclusion.
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Bodhi BloodWave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:27 AM
Response to Reply #11
14. It might be just me, but last i checked
HRC, Edwards, Biden and Dodd was different people so you can't really pool their total votes and say it beats Obama
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paulk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:31 AM
Response to Reply #14
17. in the context of Moore's remarks, who is saying that
Obama won because he is "antiwar", it's a fair comparison to make. In fact, more people voted for "prowar" candidates, by his definition, than anti-war.

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ThatsMyBarack Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:17 AM
Response to Original message
12. I see this as a message of HOPE....
....for a brand-new day! :kick: :patriot:
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Blarch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:22 AM
Response to Original message
13. It's better to nominate Obama...
being anti-Iraq war from the start.

It's one more weapon the repubs can't use against the dems in the GE
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closeupready Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:28 AM
Response to Original message
15. I totally agree with Michael! I wanted Hillary, but I agree with the anti-war message that was clear
from these results. Her continued hawkishness hurt her last night.
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lovuian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 10:52 AM
Response to Original message
18. Hillary was just too much of a hawk
that was her only problem

Its all about getting out of Iraq
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Hutzpa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-04-08 11:15 AM
Response to Original message
19. On C-Span 1, I watched
few republicans came in to switch their allegiance, voting for Obama.

But..but, is Obama taking money from the health industry? if so why?
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