But You Have To!
From Political Ticker, via Tennessee Guerilla Women:
“Do you know how difficult it is for women to stand up and say we are the best at anything? The Democratic Party has to know that women are the core, women have to be at the table and women are going to be heard as we continue in these contests until they finally end.”
— Hillary Rodham Clinton
I’m in a rather interesting mood. Pissed as hell and depressed.
I’m starting to allow my heart to realize that Hillary may not win the nomination. She’s not giving up, though, so I’m not either. Hope springs eternal, and I’m going to keep fighting for her as long as she’s willing to keep fighting.
However, I’d be stupid not to look to the future and ask myself just what I’m going to do come November. The question on everyone’s minds is: “Will the Hillary supporters become Obama supporters once the nomination is decided?”
In my mind, there are two questions: Can I support the Democratic nominee if it’s not Hillary, and can I continue to align myself the Democratic party at all after witnessing, reading, or listening to hundreds (or thousands) of misogynistic attacks on Hillary and her supporters by other members of the party ?
I can’t answer for anyone else, and I will make no attempt to dissuade anyone from their own decisions about this, but — at this point, unless something completely changes my mind between now and November — I’ll vote for Barack Obama if he’s the nominee. Any Democratic candidate is – theoretically – better than any Republican. [Theoretically meaning: what’s happened since January 2007 that is different from what happened between 2001 and 2007? Besides more hearings.]
However.
I will no longer be a registered Democrat. I am leaving the party and those members of it who have used hateful language against a Democratic candidate and against fellow Democratic voters who had the temerity not to jump on their bandwagon.
June 2008 will mark the 20th anniversary of my becoming a registered voter. I have not missed an election since I became eligible to vote, and I have always been a Democrat. Until now.
I’m done.
But apparently, that’s just fine with certain parts of the party who tell me they don’t need my vote. Just ask Donna Brazile.
I’m just one of those typical, white, blue-collar, traditional Democratic, over-30 but not quite 40, women to whom $30 in gas savings means a lot (like, a month’s worth of one of my prescriptions, or one month’s phone bill payment, or 15 days’ worth of school lunches for one of my younger kids), who wants clear and direct answers about how a candidate intends to bring our troops home (and when!), solve the economic crisis, restore America’s reputation abroad, close Guantanamo and end America’s human rights abuses, help families who are losing their homes, end our oil dependence, secure women’s full reproductive rights, create equality in the workplace (and every place) for women, minorities, GLBTQs, create jobs, end our financial dependence on China – among many, many other vital issues. In other words: no one important or anything.
Yes, yes, I hear the cries of: “She’s pandering!”
Fuck yes, pander to me! Over the past 7 years, we’ve watched politicians pander to one – and only one – constituency: the rich and powerful. Now — Goddess forbid! — someone wants to pander to the poor, the middle-class, the families, the small businesses, the women? Well, hell yeah!
But Hope and Change© apparently means not pandering to the people in this country who are struggling and need relief from the high cost of food, gasoline, utilities, and every other goddamned thing out there. Hope and Change© aren’t about helping those who — forget making ends meet — can’t even get the ends within sight of one another.
So, when it comes time to cast my ballot, if the nominee is Barack Obama, I’ll suck it up, hold my nose, and press the switch – as an Independent. And I’ll probably, in my bitterness, proclaim as I do so, “May the Goddess have mercy on my soul.” (Yes. I am bitter. I’m bitter because I actually thought Democrats were the party of women, of labor unions, of blue-collar laborers, of the underdogs of society, and boy, I’ve been proven wrong this year.)
But between now and the nomination, I’m going to light my candle, and I’m going to use my teaspoon, and no matter how this turns out, I’m going to know I did my damnedest to elect the first female President of the United States of America.
Is the Election Over Yet?
I currently reside in Hell. This used to be small-town Pennsylvania, but the demons of election season have taken over, and we’re all suffering and tormented.
Radio stations are putting song-breaks between the campaign commercials. It’s gotten so bad, I’m thinking I should get cable, where a show’s advertisers get a little cranky if said show doesn’t appear.
I can’t go out in public without hearing about the election, the candidates, the false email rumors (Barack Obama EATS old people; pass it on! Hillary Clinton is behind a rash of DOGNAPPINGS! Pass it on! John McCain is THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS OZ! Pass it on!)
We here in Pennsylvania, especially in Bradford County are thrilled that our votes will count in selecting the Democratic nominee. I can’t say for sure, but I think the last time Pennsylvania had an active role in a Presidential election might have been around 1800. Add on top of that the hot contest for State Senate – with the almost-universally well-liked commissioner, Doug McLinko, on the Republican ticket, and two mostly unknowns (one of whom doesn’t even live in our district) – and all I can say is, thank heavens they don’t serve alcohol at the polling places!
Here’s a few comments I’ve overheard over the last few weeks. (Eavesdropping isn’t nice, unless you’re doing it to gather political information, right?)
These aren’t quite verbatim quotes, except in the case of the fourth one (believe me, that one’s with me till I die) and I’m totally guessing on the ages, but I believe caught the essence of their statements:
That stupid bitch is ruining this race. — From a 30-ish woman wearing an Obama ’08 pin
That black guy hasn’t ever done anything while he’s been in the Senate or before that in Illinois when he was…whatever the hell he was there. What makes anyone think he will do anything as President? — from an older man wearing a McCain pin
You keep saying he’s going to change things. I just want to know how. — from a 40-ish woman to an Obama supporter
“I don’t want no n*****r or no woman running this country.” — 75-ish male
I’m just sick of men telling us how much they’re going to change. You got an old man running and a young man running, and there isn’t two hairs of difference between them. Men have run this country since it’s founding, and just look at the messes they’ve made. — 70-ish female
Everyone talks about Hillary’s plans, but no one mentions that she wants to let Mexicans take over the country, or make abortions and birth control as easy to get as a soda. I got an email about it last week, and I tell you, it scared the daylights out of me! — 60-ish female
What the hell kind of message is “hope”? I got hope that my kid will get into a good college, and I got hope that I’ll be able to help him pay for it. I hope my job won’t get packed off to India or China. I hope that I won’t be eating cat food or living on the streets when I’m too old to work. I hope my kids don’t get sick because we can’t afford the copays or the medicine. Hope, I got. What I don’t have is a government that’s going to help anyone except the rich, and I don’t see that changing if he’s president. — 40-ish male
I think it would be better for the whole party if Hillary dropped out. She’s a cold, calculating, bitch and the longer she stays in, the more likely McCain is to win. — 20-ish male
George Bush has fucked us over for almost 8 years. McCain is apparently running on a platform that consists of being ‘crazier than Bush.’ I can’t imagine why anyone is voting for him. Of course, no one knows what Obama’s platform is. — high school student
Anyone who says they aren’t voting for Obama is a racist. Period. — 30-ish male
I don’t like Hillary. I definitely don’t like Obama. I loathe John McCain. — 40-ish female
I’m trying to talk my mom into voting for Hillary. We finally get a woman with strength and smarts who’s a real candidate for President, and she wants to throw her vote away on some guy who’s already dropped out? I don’t get it. — my daughter, on the phone to a friend
One thing I find rather depressing is just how prejudiced some of the McCain supporters in Pennsylvania are. These seem like nice old guys and gals, right up until they open their mouths. One can only assume they mainline Fox News and complain about the rotten kids walking across their lawn and worry that the next terrorist attack will wipe out Bradford County.
The Hillary supporters tend to mention her plans and policy positions. Her healthcare plan gets a lot of mentions. Around here, about 20% of the people are uninsured, and most of them are working Americans.
A common complaint from undecided Democrats is that Obama supporters tend to talk about the need for hope and change, but never really say how he intends to change anything.
And, as always, the DC pundits and Beltway types are pissing us all off with their complete lack of understanding about the actual issues that are in play here.
Personally, we’d love to have some of these media people show up in our rural county. It’d be an education and a half for most of them. But then again, what am I thinking? We can’t ask these oh-so-special people to care what blue-collar workers and farmers think. That might make them think they were wrong, and we know Bush’s cheerleaders are never wrong….
Iowa
Obama wins with 37.58%. Edwards and Clinton are in a near-tie with 29.75% and 29.47%, respectively. Of course, pundits large and small are calling this a huge defeat for Clinton (Huge? No. Stinging? Yes.) and declaring Edwards is DOA and I’m sure we’ll get a full round of spin and counterspin and counter-clockwise spin about the meaning of it all.
Whoop-dee-doo.
Here’s a few of my opinions. (Hey, if you listen to and/or read everyone else’s, you should have to read mine as well.)
Number one: Going third tonight does not mean HRC is going to pull out. I know the pundits would like her to cover her face with shame and go gently into that goodnight, but the pundits are morons. Pretty much all it means is that her advisors are pretty ignorant.
One of the things that comes with living here is that Hillary’s Senate district is right across the border, and yes, they love her up there. I’ve talked to a variety of people who’ve met her at campaign events as well as during district tours, and they tell me she’s far warmer, more charming, and more intelligent than what you see on TV.
Start listening to yourself, Hillary, and pay attention to people outside the Beltway. In other words: stop triangulating, and start using your heart along with your brains. Meditate on this question: what did we like about Bill? At the height of the impeachment trial, he was getting approval ratings in the 60s. Why?
Because we liked the fact that he understood our problems, he felt our pain, he hurt alongside us. And we liked him because he gave us hope. Hope that we could be better people, a better nation. Hope that we could have – and our kids could have – a better future.
Give me some damn hope!
Number two: Winning doesn’t guarantee Obama anything, except that he’ll be spoken of as the “Democratic front-runner” for the next few weeks until the Feb. super-primary. Bill Clinton garnered a sick and sad 3% – three percent – in the 1992 Iowa caucus.
Being first doesn’t make Obama any more interesting to me than he was a week ago. You want change? Then be the change. You don’t get to run your mouth about how you’d do everything differently from the current Moron-in-Chief and every other candidate if you can’t A) show up for Senate votes and B) do more than hit “Present”.
If you wanna talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk. Obama, you’re failing miserably when it comes to doing anything that resembles standing up for what you believe.
Number three: Edwards isn’t automatically out because he finished at a rounded-up 30%. Once again: Bill Clinton got only 3% in his first Iowa caucus. Edwards isn’t out of this by a long shot, though we’ll see what happens – again – come the super-primary on Feb 5th. One advantage – as always – is his wife and another is his absolute drive to bring an end to the two Americas where the haves have all the advantages, and the have-nots are left to the tender mercies of Big Insurance, Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Brother, etc.
Johh, start making waves. Crib from the ’92 Clinton campaign. You’ve got some great ideas, good policy positions, and the brains to make it work. Find a way to make what you’re saying be heard, and don’t let the pundits and the talking heads get away with fluffing you.
Number four: The only candidate who spoke passionately about standing up for the rule of law and for the Constitution and a return of the law- and treaty-abiding America that could hold her head up as a beacon of hope and justice to the rest of the world – and actually stood up to defend our civil liberties – pulled out of the race tonight. And no, I’m not talking about Biden, though he pulled out as well.
Chris Dodd stood up to the telecommunications industry, to Harry Reid and the rest of the spineless Dems, and to a White House that continues to lie to the American people and treats this country like their private banana republic.
He deserves a hell of a lot more than a round of applause and a thank you, but that’s all I’ve got.
Number five: Richardson hasn’t got a chance in hell unless a random lightning strike takes out the rest of the field, and even then it would be close. But, with the most foreign-policy and diplomatic experience of any candidate and with a well-earned reputation that precedes him around the world, he deserves to be the next Secretary of State. Period.
Number six: In the end – as has been said in many ways by many others at many different blogs – the worst of ours is still better than the best of theirs, and I’ll vote for whoever becomes the nominee. Solely because another four years of Republican rule would further destroy this country economically, morally, and politically. It would be an ignoble end to the grand experiment our Founders set in motion.
“A Republic, if you can keep it,” said Benjamin Franklin to a woman who asked him what kind of government they’d given us at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 220 years later, we realize just how easy it was to lose. If we’re to salvage it and restore it to its former glory, we need to start earning it once again, and any of the current crop would be a step in the right direction.
The problem is, we need to take more than a few steps to save it, and I’m not sure which of the current candidates is most able to do what will need to be done. They all have good points, but also negatives that make me wonder just how much change we’ll actually see from them. After all, we see just how much “change” came from electing Democrats last time. (Yes, there are some bright lights, and yes, they’re better than the Rubber-Stamp 109th Congress. Marginally.)
In the end, no matter which one we choose, merely having a Democratic president is going to put our country on the right footing to restore our Constitution and restore our global reputation.
I’d just like that Democrat to be someone I could wholeheartedly endorse.
Oh, and PS: The Huckster won for the Republicans. Heh. How they reap what they sow. I’m going to start printing bumperstickers: “Fuck Huck.”
What do you think? Red lettering on black background or black lettering on a white background? What about red and blue on white?
Ned Lamont – Veni, Vedi, Vici
He came, he saw, he conquered – the Democratic party establishment.
No, he didn't 'win' but by gaining a full one-third of the vote, and thus a spot on the ballot in August, Ned Lamont has just shown the Democratic party big-wigs that listening to the people and standing up for what one believes in is more than just speech filler. The people are listening to Lamont and other challengers because they know the party is not listening to us.
Most estimates prior to the convention had Lamont winning lessing than the 15% needed to be on the ballot. Conventional wisdom said there was no way an unknown – without a huge warchest and with 'only' netroots support – could ever seriously challenge Joe Lieberman.
Joe Lieberman, a man who tells rape victims that it's 'only' a short ride to another hospital for emergency contraception, who voted to put Strip-Search Sammy on the bench, who votes against his party and sides over and over again with the corrupt Republican monolith, was supremely confident that he'd twisted enough arms, made enough deals, and feathered enough nests to make sure Ned's name would never be seen again.
But what Joe forgot was the 'little' people – the ones with no real power, no real voice. He ignored those who couldn't do anything for him, and it came back to bite him.
Here's my favorite tidbits from the convention conversation at FDL:
Fairfield “realizing that our country and Sean Hannity’s favorite Democrat is going in the wrong direction” goes 18-6 Lamont.
"We asked for a visit from Lieberman in February and we’re still waiting for a call back. Southbury proudly casts 5 votes for Ned Lamont."
As I pointed out in the previous post, the voters are tired of being ignored. We're tired of Schumer, Clinton, Emmanuel, etc telling us how we ought to feel. We're tired of them following politely – and two steps behind – the Rubber-Stamp Republicans. We're tired that none of them has the spine to speak up. We're tired of being figuratively patted on the head and told not to worry about any of that 'grown-up' stuff when we question their stance on Iraq, the deficit, lying, spying, bribes, and so much more.
As the Connecticut Democratic Convention just showed, the Democratic party big-wigs can ignore bloggers and activists…at their own peril. The voices of the American people have been gaining strength over the past 6 years, and now the activists in the netroots and the grassroots are asking the Democrats one thing:
"Can you hear me now?"
And the results are….
With all the poll work yesterday – and all the recovery today – I never did get a chance to check the results of any races I cared about.
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I’m less than thrilled to see that State Rep. Tina Pickett (PA-110th) won her party’s vote – and the write-in votes of many Democrats. (Talk about voting against your own interests! *sigh*) She did not get my vote because – regardless of all that she’s done for me or my family members – she not only voted for the triple-damned pay raise, she had the nerve to tell her constituents that she deserved it because she ‘worked hard’. As if they didn’t! She also planned to collect the difference as ‘unvouchered expenses’ until public fury reached fever pitch.
She will face a Democratic challenger in November, and I can only hope the result of that race sees the end of Tina Pickett, State Rep.
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Also less than thrilled to see Democrats went for a name in Bob Casey, Jr., picking him as the Democratic candidate against Sen. Rick Santorum. We can only hope that, when Holy Joe loses in CT, BobbyBoy won’t step up to become ‘Bush’s Favorite Democrat’.
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Sherwood also won his primary bid against unknown Kathy Scott, and will face Democrat Chris Carney in November. From James Lowenstein, via The Daily Review:
“Pennsylvania voters have sent a message that they want more from their representatives in government,” Sherwood said. “I got the message.”
Sherwood said he was hurt by a broader anti-incumbency movement in Pennsylvania and last year’s disclosure that he had afive-year extramarital affair. The affair ended in September 2004.
His mistress, 30-year-old Cynthia Ore of Maryland, later sued Sherwood for $5.5 million, claiming he physically abused her repeatedly. He denied the abuse but settled the suit under undisclosed terms in November.
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I was very thrilled that the Legislature’s top two Republicans were cast out! Hooray! At least 14 incumbents lost their bids to be on November’s ballot, thanks to PACleanSweep.
From Yahoo News:
[…] But voter anger at the Pennsylvania Legislature boiled over at the polls.
In a late-night vote last year, lawmakers had boosted their salaries by up to 54 percent, with no public hearing or floor debate. They later repealed the raises under pressure, but the damage was done. A group called PACleanSweep set out to clean house in Harrisburg by recruiting and supporting challengers for the primary.
Sixty-one incumbents faced primary challenges Tuesday, the most since 1980. At least 14 were defeated, and six other races were too close to call early Wednesday.
Swept from office were the Senate’s No. 1 Republican — President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer — and Majority Leader David J. Brightbill. It’s the first time in more than 40 years that any Pennsylvania legislative leader was voted out of office.
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Here’s a picture of one of the Diebold machines used in yesterday’s election, from the Towanda PA Daily Review.
Interestingly, I see only one power cord in the picture. Perhaps this site encountered the same problems we did and decided not to use the daisy-chain method of hooking them up.
PA Election Day – A report from the front lines
Okay, I've had numerous cups of tea, a peanut butter sandwich, and some Oreos, so I'm finally ready to talk about my first day as a poll worker.
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I'm the minority inspector of elections for one of the larger voting districts in my county. Things were very slow yesterday – just over 200 of the district's 1200 registered voters turned out – but that was good for me, as the only experience I had with any of this was as a voter – and we had paper ballots in the last election.
I went into this kind of worried – all the other poll workers are about 25 years older than me, and I was afraid of being the odd-man-out. Everyone's been in that situation at least once – you walk into a room where you don't know a soul, and you're treated as an outsider or a hindrance.
Instead, they were very welcoming, very enthused at having someone new show interest in the process, and extremely helpful in teaching me everything. It was a real pleasure to meet them, and an honor to work with them.
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Here's how the day went:
I was up at 5am, got to the polling site at 6am, and finally crawled into bed around 10:45pm, after delivering our precincts votes to the Election Bureau at 9:45pm. At 11pm, I realized I hadn't changed into jammies…or taken my shoes off. Like I said, it was a LOOONNNGGG day.
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I learned quite a bit – like how to set up the Diebold machines (literally, as they come all folded up into a 'handy' carrying size) where specific signs and notices have to be placed (we got a couple wrong and boy, did we hear about that!) and what forms and papers the Minority Inspector has to sign (I think I signed about 50 different pieces of paper.).
I also learned that I get to keep – in a sealed envelope – my very own copies of: the signed oaths of the Judge of Elections, the Majority Inspector, and myself; the record of voters for the day; and one copy each of the end-of-day tapes from each machine. I keep them for three or five years. (The Judge wasn't sure which – it used to be five, but the Majority Inspector thought it had changed to three.)
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I was a bit surprised by the Democrat-Republican makeup of the district's registered voters – about 55% are Republicans, and 45% are Democrats. Having lived here for over 10 years, I expected a much higher percentage of Republicans – in the neighborhood of 65-70%. Yesterday's voters were about 60% Republican, 40% Democratic, give or take a couple points.
I heard a great many comments from some of those Republicans to the effect that, were they allowed to do it again, they would not have voted for Preznit Halfwit MonkeyBoy in 2004. One of the best was a gentleman of about 80 years – with a USMC tattoo on one arm – who told us that Bushie's speech Monday evening was the "greatest exercise in blowing smoke up the nation's collective ass that I've ever seen."
One of the hardest things yesterday was maintaining neutrality. I really wanted to agree with those voters who expressed some kind of outrage with Bush and the GOP – regardless of their own party affiliation – but I was good and kept my poker face in place, and my thoughts to myself.
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I learned quite a lot about the Diebold machines. They're quite interesting, and do make voting itself easier, since you simply touch the name of the person you wish to vote for. Once you've completed voting, a summary page appears so you can double-check your votes. If the voter is satisfied, they hit 'Cast Ballot' and their votes are recorded. If not, you can return to the ballot page to make corrections. For most people, voting took about seven minutes – and two of that was listening to me or one of the other workers explain the process.
The demonstration is kind of interesting – you're like a TV meterologist: you aren't allowed to look at the screen, so you just kind of hope you're pointing in the right direction at the various buttons.
One funny thing was realizing most people are very used to credit/debit card transactions and would try to pull the card back out as soon as the instructions screen appeared. We had to explain – very quickly – that one pushed the card in until it clicked and then leaveitthereuntilyou'redone!
Another good point – for poll workers – is that at the end of the day, we simply hit a few buttons and the machines print up copies of everything – each name on the ballot, number of votes cast, etc. The Judge of Elections and the Majority and Minority Inspectors sign each copy. Then, the memory cards are removed from the machines and sealed in special envelopes to be returned to the county Election Bureau.
Removing the memory cards was the one and only thing I knew how to do without training. No one could figure out how they came out, so I took a look and realized they have a little push-button – just like removing a floppy from your computer.
Diebold did have a nice young woman who was the troubleshooter. Our polling place encountered only a couple of small problems that caused no delays and were easily corrected, but I heard one poll had serious problems that knocked two of its four machines out of service for awhile, and another had problems initializing their cards.
We were given two calculator-sized thingies to initialize the voter access cards, which the voters then inserted into the machine. The cards have to be 'booted' – for lack of a better word – for each voter, depending on the party of the voter. 1 for Democrat, 2 for Republican (alphabetical order!) I'm told that some counties with large populations designated specific cards for each party, but I don't know how they did that, or if it's something we'll see here in Bradford County.
One key problem we encountered was that the power cords for the machines are not nearly long enough.
Ideally, the machines would be placed far enough apart that there would be plenty of room for voters to move between the machines. (They can't walk the aisle behind them, as they'd be able to see the screens of other voters.)
However, the Diebold machines are 'daisy-chained' – meaning each machine plugs into the one next to it, with the final machine being plugged into the power outlet. Since the cords are approximately eight feet long, that only left an area of two and one-half to three feet between each machine.
Since the cords have to go from machine to machine, we had to tape them down to prevent voters from tripping over them as they walked through. (Which explained the roll of duct tape in the super-special bag of goodies from the county Election Bureau that also included clear tape, sharpened pencils, and – for some reason unknown to everyone – a flashlight.)
Every single voter had to go sideways between the machines, and the wheelchair-accessible machine at the end of the row had to be turned to the side and pulled out by a poll worker each time a handicapped voter came in. We had to be very careful with voters using canes and walkers, that they wouldn't catch them in the cords. Really – a bad situation and one for which we couldn't find an acceptable solution.
I did discover that – for now – the machines do not connect to the outside world, except through the power outlet. So, while there could be some kind of tampering – prior to voting or afterward -, but it would have to be done through the systems that create or read the memory cards.
This will not last. The eventual goal is to have the machines be able to send their tallies directly to the County Election Bureau via modem connection. At that point, all bets are off, because there is no way to know if someone is messing with the results while it's in the data stream.
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Despite the fact that there was no connection to the outside world, all I can really say is: although I know the number of ballots cast equalled the number of voters, I do not have any way (nor should I) of knowing if those votes reflect the actual intentions of the voters. Worse yet, the voters themselves have no way of knowing if the ballot they cast is what was recorded by the machine.
It is entirely possible that the memory cards were designed to flip every fourth, eighth, or tenth vote to its opposite.
Unless and until we see paper trails, we have no guarantee that our votes are being cast or counted accurately.
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And that was my day at the polls.
Vote! Vote! Vote!
Pennsylvanians head to the polls tomorrow, so I will not be posting – I'm the minority inspector of elections for my voting district (I even have a very pretty letter on real stationery that says so!) so I'll be heading out at 5:45am.
I'll spend the day working the polls, and then – once they close at 8pm – will ride with the Judge of Elections to deliver our district's votes to the county Election Bureau. I should be home sometime around 10pm…maybe.
As much as I'm looking forward to this, I'm also dreading it. Not only will this be a LONG day – about 16 hours altogether – assuming nothing goes wrong – it's going to be a smoke-free one for me. *shudder* Poll workers must remain in calling (voice, not phone) distance of the polling site, and while we will get restroom breaks, smoking privileges do not come with the job! *sigh*
On the good side, I get paid for this! I think it's only $60, but still – how cool!! But…since I'm not a Republican, I can't abuse my position and accept cash bribes and expensive gifts. Darn!
You Have Spoken
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“I don’t have an agenda, I don’t have a program. I’m not a communist or a socialist. I guess I’m a left-libertarian and a populist, and I believe in the Bill of Rights the way some folks believe in the Bible.”
– Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
Stats
The Lady Speaks 