Sen. Obama has said, “A woman’s ability to decide how many children to have and when, without interference from the government, is one of the most fundamental rights we possess. It is not just an issue of choice, but equality and opportunity for all women.”

Further, I believe Sen. Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee. He leads in pledged delegates, superdelegates, the popular vote, and cash-on-hand. As a former elected official, I know that having the three “m’s” of a campaign - money, message and manpower (or womanpower!) - are how we win elections. Sen. Obama will be our next president.

Actually, there’s only one “m” Nancy Keenan cares most about—money.

In all fairness I should say that I’m not totally surprised. NARAL, under Nancy Keenan’s leadership, long ago lost its credibility in defending a woman’s right to choose.

NARAL has made really boneheaded political moves, such as not showing up to fight Samuel Alito’s confirmation to SCOTUS, endorsing Joe Lieberman over Ned Lamont, and not coming out solidly against Sam Brownback’s “Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act,” which was totally based on junk science.

WKJM is calling this endorsement “a key get by any measure.” Ben Smith at Politico says it’s another sign that the party is coalescing around Obama.

Sigh.

UPDATE FWIW, this comment was posted over at Taylor Marsh’s site:

I just got off the phone with NARAL NY. They said that it was the National NARAL office that endorsed Oblique without consulting with ANY of their affiliates. Here is a statement they issued this morning:

May 14, 2008 Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President. This decision was made internally by NARAL Pro-Choice America, based in Washington D.C., and without the consultation of the NARAL state affiliates across the country. NARAL Pro-Choice New York will not be issuing an endorsement at this time. NARAL Pro-Choice New York believes that this endorsement in the Democratic primary is premature. We are fortunate to have two pro-choice candidates in Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. When a nominee is named, NARAL Pro-Choice New York will stand proudly with the pro-choice Democratic candidate in order to defeat anti-choice Republican candidate John McCain in November.

This makes sense. NARAL endorsed Joe Lieberman without consulting the Connecticut NARAL affiliate:

Local Connecticut NARAL head Carolyn Treiss is well aware of the limitations of Joe Lieberman and his positions with regard to reproductive rights — his comment telling rape victims to take a “short ride” if they want emergency contraception was no doubt one of the factors (along with his critical cloture vote for the ragingly anti-choice Samuel Alito) that led her to buck the national organization and vote for Ned Lamont when she was a delegate to the CT Democratic Convention in May of this year. She then went on to join Conncticut Choice Voice, an organization of pro-choice women supporting Ned Lamont and vigorously opposing Joe Lieberman for the lipservice he pays to women’s issues that he quickly abandons whenever it’s crunch time.

Nancy Keenan, on the other hand, went out of her way to defy local Connecticut choice groups and give the national NARAL endorsement to Lieberman.

There have been lots of complaints in the blogosphere and sent to the DNC about Donna Brazile’s behavior. I first read about this recent exchange she had with a Hillary supporter over at No Quarter. (It was also posted at Taylor Marsh’s blog.)

Not that I had my doubts but it’s hard to deny after reading this that she’s long outlived any benefit she can bring to the DNC, especially as head of the Voting Rights Institute.

It’s long, even though I trimmed it a bit, but stick with it; Donna’s reply follows.

From: [redacted]
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 2:17 AM
To: donna@brazileassociates.com
Subject: This Race

Hi Donna!!!!

I am emailing you on behalf of many people. I am, as you may know, a Hillary Clinton Supporter. You have probably gotten a lot of emails from her supporters, and I understand from the blogs I often frequent that you have responded to many of them.

I want you to know that I read bits and pieces of your autobiography, Cooking With Grease, and thought it was wonderful and well written. I came to understand from your book and from a lot of what I have witnessed in this election cycle that to simply put groups of people in Demographics and Exit polls is a misunderstanding of both America and the Democratic Party.

What I have learned is that people often vote based on their experiences. You, as an Undeclared Obama supporter, probably identify strongly with his candidacy because of the struggles you went through during a time when race relations in this country were in turmoil. I voted for Hillary Clinton, not only because I relate to her strongly as both a person and a woman who is very spiritual and devoted to her family and to helping others, but also because she is the greatest candidate to lead this country out of the mess we’re in, and because her policy proposals have been phenominal and close to my heart, because it proves to me that she is not simply talking and promising change, she is telling me how she is going to make it happen. It proves to me that she actually cares.

[…]

I understand that many of the emails you have received by Clinton Supporters urging you to do the right and ethical thing by seating Michigan and Florida delegates have been angry and often probably obnoxious. But you cannot possibly understand how frustrated they are. And while you may say that they are “the reason” Hillary is losing, whatever her supporters have done or said pale in comparison to the abuse and mistreatment we have suffered from some supporters of Senator Obama.

[…]

Ms. Brazille, I urge you not to disclude and disenfranchise millions of voters from every walk of life from this nominating process simply for the sake of one candidate, because doing so would be an awful mistake. I have respect for you as a person, Ms. Brazille, but I would implore you to make the right decision and seat Florida and Michigan . I would also implore you to stop encouraging super delegates to force Senator Clinton out of the race, because the more they do this, the stronger she gets.

Ms. Brazille, I cannot pretend to understand what you have gone through in your life, nor what you are going through now. It would be ignorant of me to try. But many people feel angry when they are stereotyped or put in a box because if what candidate they support. I support Hillary Clinton, and I love all of my friends. Including the great African American friends I have that I adore. and all of the African American women at my mother’s church who embrace me and always tell me how “pretty” I look every time I see them. I also love my Latino friends, my Italian friends, my Jewish friends, my Catholic friends.

As I said, I cannot pretend to understand your experiences, but nor can you understand mine. Just because a person’s skin may be paler that yours, does not mean their lives are without suffering.

[…]

So Ms. Brazille, I would yet again urge you to do everything you can to seat Michigan and Florida properly, and also, I would ask that you stop saying you are “undeclared” on CNN’s panels when clearly you know which candidate you support.

Thank you very much for reading this email. Like you, I am very emotionally invested in this Campaign, (as is Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Congresswoman from the district next to mine who also supports Hillary :D) and wish you all the luck in the world.

respectfully,

A young female voter from Ohio

From: “Donna Brazile”
To: [redacted]
Subject: RE: This Race
Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 07:58:35 -0400

Thanks [Name],

As of today, I am not going to respond to any more anti American, Anti Democratic emails. Have a nice day.

I am sorry because you are sincere, but the Hillary forces are uncivil, repugnant and vile. When you come up for air and would like to email a person who cares about America and not just a personality, I will respond.

Thanks for your time and your interest.

Donna

I don’t need to parse this; I think it all speaks for itself. Time to let Donna go. Her mouth got her fired from the Dukakis campaign. She should not be rewarded with keeping her job in the Democratic Party. It’s not like that is the only thing she has to do with her time.

Obama plans to declare victory May 20

Not long after the polls close in the May 20 Kentucky and Oregon primaries, Barack Obama plans to declare victory in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

And, until at least May 31 and perhaps longer, Hillary Clinton’s campaign plans to dispute it.

It’s a train wreck waiting to happen, with one candidate claiming to be the nominee while the other vigorously denies it, all predicated on an argument over what exactly constitutes the finish line of the primary race.

The Obama campaign agrees with the Democratic National Committee, which pegs a winning majority at 2,025 pledged delegates and superdelegates—a figure that excludes the penalized Florida and Michigan delegations. The Clinton campaign, on the other hand, insists the winner will need 2,209 to cinch the nomination—a tally that includes Florida and Michigan.

Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft

So let me get this straight — the first act of the self declared Democratic nominee Barack Obama will be to state that Michigan and Florida will not count?

So here, apparently, is how the Obama Campaign plans to attract Clinton supporters. Just declare victory pre-emptively. At least the Florida and Michigan delegations will get a nice trip to Denver in August because they’ll have no impact on the nomination.

Who needs an election anyway? Just send Obama right to the White House. It’s not like the Republicans were going to campaign seriously against him anyway because Obama is Teh Awesome.

*Refers to a Cheap Trick song of the same title.