By: Norman Sherman, Former Press Secretary and Speech-writer for Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. Mr. Sherman is now a Tucson resident and wrote this piece with us. He was also editor of Humphrey’s autobiography, “The Education of A Public Man.” He had earlier worked for Eugene McCarthy.

Recently, Senator Hillary Clinton reminded us that 1968 was a horrendous year for our country. This reminder emerged as part of her justification for not concluding her candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination.

Whatever one thinks about the appropriateness of highlighting Bobby Kennedy’s assassination, she clearly meant to imply that unforeseen events have befallen persons leading in the race for a majority of the delegates.

One obligation that is attached to historical recollection as a reason for current behavior is to get it right. Dimmed memory or inaccurate assumptions, no matter how widespread, are not acceptable from a presidential candidate who prides herself on being ready, wise, and honest.

I worked for Vice President Hubert Humphrey and was with him at the Air Force Academy the night that Bobby Kennedy was shot. As soon as he heard the news, he was on the phone talking to Kennedy aides in Los Angeles. Soon after his first call, Pierre Salinger called back to ask his help in getting an Air Force jet to fly a neurosurgeon from Boston.

Humphrey called the Pentagon and when he told the duty officer what he wanted, the officer asked, “Sir, under what authority are you ordering this plane?” Humphrey shouted, “I am Vice Commander- in-Chief!” It was an office that did not exist, but it worked. He got the jet and the doctor into the air. Humphrey was bereft at what had happened and took absolutely no pleasure in the ease he would now have in being nominated for president.

The results of that ugly night had immense impact on the race but not the one implied by Senator Clinton. When she recalls these tragic events, it is with the assumption that Kennedy was ahead of Humphrey at the time and his death made it possible for Humphrey to win the nomination. In fact, Kennedy was not ahead and almost certainly would have lost in Chicago. But his death made it even more difficult for Humphrey to win the general election against Richard Nixon.

In 1960 during the primaries when Humphrey lost the nomination to John Kennedy, Humphrey had grown to dislike Robert Kennedy. The rivalry between Humphrey and the Kennedys was intense, but civil, and Humphrey over the years had overcome his anger. Humphrey had also remained close to Kennedy’s two chief political strategists, Larry O’Brien and Ken O’Donnell, carry-overs from the Kennedy White House.

Humphrey wrote in his 1976 memoir, “In May, O’Donnell came to my Washington apartment for breakfast and to talk about the campaign. He told me that he had come at Bob Kennedy’s direction, with the explicit message that Kennedy had no animosity toward me and that his problem was solely with Lyndon Johnson. Ken said he hoped I would withdraw from the race, and I said, of course, that I couldn’t.”

Humphrey also wrote then, “Kenny indicated that if Bob did not do well in California, he would pull out and support me. Whether this was still the case in June, less than a month later, I did not know, but I have no reason to doubt it, particularly in light of their views of Gene McCarthy.”

“Could Bob have gotten the nomination had he lived? Many journalists and some politicians have indicated that they think so. I think they are wrong. When we met head-on in state convention fights (in Pennsylvania,Vermont, Idaho, and Iowa), I won.”

Humphrey had the certain, but non-public, commitment from what are equivalent to today’s “superdelegates”—the party’s recognized leaders—in addition to those delegates he had won. For example, a majority of the 24 Democratic governors supported him, along with, according to Gallup, 70 percent of Democratic county chairmen who often influenced the selection of delegates from their counties. In 1968, a majority of convention delegates were chosen by state conventions, not primaries. Humphrey had not entered any primaries, having announced his candidacy late in April. That saved energy, money we did not have, and avoided any chance of embarrassment.

We were comfortably certain of victory, as much as anyone could be against a Kennedy. Beyond delegates, opinion polls at the time had Humphrey clearly in the lead among all Democrats. Gallup in May had Humphrey at 40, Kennedy at 31, and McCarthy at 19. Harris Poll results at the same time were Humphrey 38, Kennedy 27, and McCarthy 25. In both polls there were only 10 percent undecided.

Bobby Kennedy knew before the California primary that there was no way for him to catch up and wrest the nomination from Humphrey. Indeed, Newsweek magazine said that Humphrey was only 32.5 delegates short of a majority.

On the first ballot at the convention held in late August, Humphrey drew 1,760 votes (with 1,312 needed for the nomination). A survey by the New York Times in late June indicated that approximately 400 Kennedy delegates intended to vote for Humphrey. Even without the Kennedy votes, Humphrey had a majority.

The idea that Bobby would have been the nominee is simply a popular myth, gaining strength as the years have gone by. Losing presidential candidates like Humphrey recede into the mists of ancient history, forgotten names of forgotten accomplishments. What is not myth is the mutual commitment made by Humphrey and Kennedy to support the other, regardless of who emerged the victor. Given the extreme closeness of the 1968 presidential election (Humphrey lost the popular vote to Nixon by less than a percentage point), it is extremely likely Robert Kennedy’s active support, unlike the tepid backing provided by Lyndon Johnson and Eugene McCarthy, would have carried Humphrey to victory.

There is a final lesson from 1968: A presidential primary competition does not have to bring out the worst in anyone. Bobby Kennedy was rightfully and notoriously known for his competitive nature, from touch football to presidential politics. He clearly hated to lose, even more than most people. But there was nothing to suggest that he would have carried the political battle on to the convention ignoring reality, delegate commitment, or the needs of the Democratic Party.

I think he found wishful political thinking more than fanciful. He found it self-deluding and thus unacceptable. That is the lesson to be remembered today.

Originally this fundraiser was scheduled for the Phoenix Convention center; but McCain wasn’t able to sell enough tickets and the event has been moved to the home of Jack Londen at the Biltmore, a private home in a gated community (2400 East Missouri Avenue). The event is “secret” and the press are specifically excluded. But the secret is out and protesters will be trying to make their feelings known.

George Bush is eager to hit the campaign trail to work make John McCain into his successor. For his part, John McCain and his lobbyist backers are eager to embrace the money aspects of politics that have made Republicans so popular all across the country.

Arizona Republic, May 27th

John McCain will bring his presidential campaign to town today, accompanied by the man he hopes to succeed.

President Bush will attend a private fundraiser for McCain at a home in Phoenix.

The White Hours said it is the president’s first campaign appearance with McCain since endorsing the Arizona senator in March. In a related story, George is reportedly eager to get out on the campaign trail himself this fall.

Bush also will stop at Silverado Cable Co., a small business in Mesa, where he will talk about the economy.

The fundraiser had been planned for the Phoenix Convention Center, but the site was changed. The Democratic Party said it will continue with planned protests there.

“This visit is a remarkable opportunity to show the rest of the country that John McCain will cozy up to anyone, even the most unpopular president in history, if he thinks it will get him one step closer to the White House,” state Democratic Party Director Maria Weeg said in a letter to supporters.

Bush Hits the 2008 Campaign Trail for John McCain

McCain says he wants help from George Bush

Reuters News, May 27th

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush has made it clear he is excited to get out on the campaign trail this election year to help Republicans keep the White House and retake Congress — but do they want his help?

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has said he wants help from Bush, who can haul in enormous campaign cash. But McCain has walked a fine line with the unpopular Bush, backing the president on the Iraq war while bucking him on how to address climate change.

Bush will kick off raising money for McCain on Tuesday and Wednesday at three events in Arizona and Utah, but they will only be together at one and it will be out of the public eye. That has raised questions about whether Bush helps or hurts the Arizona senator.

“On the one hand (Republicans) want to keep their distance from the president in order to avoid being cast as a third Bush term, yet at the same time they need to tap into the fund-raising capacity of the president,” said Anthony Corrado, a professor of government at Colby College in Maine.

The Reuters/Zogby poll last week found Bush’s approval rating had fallen 4 percentage points to 23 percent, a record low for pollster John Zogby.

In a time-honored practice by presidents on the trail, Bush has scheduled non-campaign events on his three-day, five-state trip, which helps defray the enormous costs of hosting the presidential entourage for which candidates must pay.

Despite wrapping up the Republican nomination, McCain has lagged his Democratic rivals in raising money even though they have not finished their contest. McCain raised $18.5 million in April while New York Sen. Hillary Clinton pulled in $21 million and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama attracted $30.7 million. Click here to read more about Bush / McCain.

Bob Barr, idol of gun-toting, abortion-fighting, IRS hating Right Wing of American Politics, has been named as the Libertarian Party candidate for President.

Yahoo News, May 25th

Barr Wins Libertarian Nomination

Former Rep. Bob Barr won the Libertarian Party’s Presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Denver Sunday afternoon. He defeated long-time party activist Mary Ruwart, 54 to 46 percent, on the sixth ballot.

Fourteen candidates ran for the nomination. Former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel was defeated in the fourth round.

Ruwart, a scientist and consultant from Texas, is a frequent Libertarian candidate, and challenged Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2002. She campaigned earlier this year for Ron Paul.

“I’m sure will we emerge here with the strongest ticket in the history of the Libertarian Party,” Barr said in his victory speech. Click here to read more from Denver about Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party.

“Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh my goodness, we have to cover this up.”

MSNBC Online; May 25th 2008

ABC News’ Sarah Amos reports: Former President Bill Clinton in South Dakota today delivered a harsh critique of how his wife has been treated during her presidential bid, telling the crowd that he has “never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running,” and that, “she will win the general election if you nominate her. They’re just trying to make sure you don’t.” [Editorial Comment: Barack Obama now leads by 197 delegates; so far this weekend, Obama has picked up 4 newly pledged delegates.  Only 49 delegates to go!]

Clinton spent more than six minutes calmly discussing what he called a “frantic effort to push her out” of this race, saying that no one asked Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson or Gary Hart to end their presidential campaigns early.

Clinton also spoke against bullying super-delegates to make up their minds, saying, “I cant believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these super-delegates to come out. ‘Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh my goodness, we have to cover this up.’”

Speaking to a crowd of about 200 in Fort Thompson, S.D., Clinton seemed slightly subdued during his 30-minute speech, which largely focused on the issues important to the Native American community. As he wrapped up his remarks, a woman in the audience asked him a question about voting for Hillary Clinton. Click here to read more at MSNBC.com.

But there is trouble in Paradise! Poor Ticket Sales are Reported and the Event has been moved to a undisclosed home. Meanwhile lots of demonstrators are hoping to attend.

Bush to Raise Money for his man!

Unpopular President - Popular Republican Pastime

The Washington Post, May 24th

President Bush is hitting the fundraising circuit for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the White House announced yesterday. The president will be featured at three McCain campaign fund-raisers in Arizona and Utah next week. The events will be secret and closed to the media, but the White House told reporters that there could be a joint public appearance.

“President Bush is fully committed, 100 percent committed, to making sure that John McCain is elected to be the next president of the United States of America,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

McCain has been walking a fine line between receiving fundraising and other assistance from the president and not appearing too close to the unpopular Bush. This will be the first time the two have appeared together since March 5, when the Arizona senator came to the White House for a formal presidential endorsement.

Meanwhile Nobody’s Buying Any Tickets; McSame and Bush Move Event to “More Intimate” Venue

Poor ticket sales, expected protests scuttle Bush-McCain fundraiser at Phoenix Convention Center; It is Being Moved to a private, undisclosed living room in the Pheonix area.

From the Pheonix Business Journal
May 23rd, 2008

A Tuesday fundraiser headlined by President Bush for U.S. Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign is being moved out of the Phoenix Convention Center.

Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space, and that there were concerns about more anti-war protesters showing up outside the venue than attending the fundraiser inside.

Another source said there were concerns about the media covering the event. They certainly don’t want pictures of Bush and McCain on the front pages again!

Bush’s Arizona fundraising effort for McCain is being moved to private residences in the Phoenix area. A White House official said the event was being moved because the McCain campaign prefers private fundraisers and it is Bush administration policy to have events in public venues open to the media. The White House official said to reconcile that the Tuesday event will be held at a private venue and not the Convention Center.

Convention Center personnel confirmed the event has been canceled at their venue.

Tickets to the event were to range from $1,000 to $25,000 for VIP treatment. Money was to go toward McCain’s presidential bid and a number of Republican Party organs.

Anti-war protesters were planning to be out in force. President Bush’s job approval rating stands at 31 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.com.

The McCain campaign referred questions on the fundraiser change to the White House press office.

Hillary Clinton invoked the memory of the RFK assassination as another reason why she should remain in the race for the Presidential nomination. A few days ago, Mike Huckabee, the failed Republican candidate, joked about someone wanting to shoot Barack Obama at the National Rifle Association convention. Shame on both of you!

Clinton Invokes RFK Assassination

Washington Post.com

By: Ann Kornblut
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked the memory of slain Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy as she explained her persistence in the Democratic race on Friday, saying that although the media and the Barack Obama campaign have been trying to usher her from the race, “historically, that makes no sense.”

We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California,” Clinton said in a meeting with the editorial board of the Argus Leader, a newspaper in South Dakota.

Her advisers later said she was using the historical reference to note that campaigns have stretched until the summer before, not to suggest that Obama might be assassinated. In the previous sentence, she had also noted that her husband’s campaign in 1992 lasted until June as well.

But in a campaign in which voters have voiced concerns about the safety of the first African American front-runner in history, it was a surprising choice of words by Clinton, whose best hope for seizing the nomination now would be a major setback for Obama. Clinton has already faced harsh criticism for allegedly exacerbating racial divisions in the nominating process.

“Senator Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.  Click here to read more at the Washington Post.

You can click here to see the Washington Post’s previous article about Mike Huckabee’s “joke” at the National Rifle Association convention last week.  Both articles have video recordings of the related transgressions.

Superior Court Judge Michael Miller orders Pima County Supervisors to release ALL past and future election data files to the Pima County Democrats (and indeed all political parties). This is a HUGE victory for election integrity.

Breaking News:

Pima County Democrats have prevailed in their suit against Pima County Board of Supervisors!

Judge Michael Miller of the Pima County Superior Court has just issued his ruling granting the Pima County Democratic Party’s request that ALL election data files, including future elections, shall be disclosed no later than the recording of the official canvass and declaration of the election results. This means that the Diebold database files held in trust’s vault are to be released. We are informed that these go back to 1998 and this data will be available for critical analysis to perhaps determine whether or not, certain elections have been tampered with.

In addition, of course, this means that future elections will be subject to timely disclosure meaning that both political parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, may subject these files to intensive computer based analysis for the purpose of detecting potential election fraud carried out against electronic voting machines and or scanned paper ballots.

No doubt, given the vigor with which Pima County Supervisors have fought against these disclosures, they will appeal to the Arizona State Supreme Court. They may even try to take this to federal court.

This is a landmark ruling that may well be the first such ruling in the nation. Congratulations Pima County Democrats! Wonderful news! If this ruling stands and spreads to other states, Democrats can fight back against election tampering such as was seen in the last Presidential election in such places as Ohio and Florida.

The Tucson Citizen is the first Tucson paper to put out this breaking story.

Judge orders county to release election databases to Democrats

GARRY DUFFY
Tucson Citizen

Pima County failed to prove its contention that the release of all electronic election databases to the Pima County Democratic Party would jeopardize the integrity of future elections and must release those computer records from past and future elections, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Judge Michael Miller late Friday morning issued his under advisement ruling declaring that the interests of the state and public outweighed unproven vote security concerns voiced by county attorneys and witnesses.

“All existing electronic databases must be disclosed,” the judge ruled.

Judge Miller did not grant a new trial in the matter, as sought by attorneys by the Pima County Democratic Party. But his ruling amended a previous one in December 2007 that limited the database release to the primary and general elections of 2006. Click here to read the story in the Tucson Citizen.

Bush says the bill is “too expensive and gives too much money to wealthy farmers”. But we Democrats noticed that he said nothing about his tax cuts that gave trillions to his family and the wealthiest half of one percent of American taxpayers. The cumulative budget deficit under this fiscally conservative Republican Administration exceeds $2.3 trillion dollars.

It’s time to dump George Bush and his soul brother John McCain.

House has Over-ridden the Veto and Senate Expected to act soon.

WASHINGTON — The House quickly rejected George W. Bush’s veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill and the Senate was poised to follow suit, a stark rebuke of a president overridden only once in his two terms.

Only hours before the House’s 316-108 vote, Bush had vetoed the five-year measure, saying it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high.

The legislation includes election-year subsidies for farmers and food stamps for the poor _ spending that lawmakers could promote when they are back in their districts over the Memorial Day weekend.

The Senate could turn to the bill as soon as Wednesday night; there were expected to be enough votes to overturn the veto.

The veto was the 10th of Bush’s presidency. Congress so far has overridden him once, on a water projects bill.

With Bush at record lows in the polls in the waning months of his term, it was fellow Republicans who joined with majority Democrat in rejecting the veto. GOP lawmakers are anxious about their own prospects less than six months from the Election Day. Click here to read more in the Washington Post.

Barack Obama addresses huge crowd in Portland! Barack now leads by 194 delegates. He needs 112 more and is likely to get 50 to 55 more tomorrow.

Los Angeles Times, Online, May 19th 2008
Jenny Booth

Barack Obama yesterday addressed his biggest political rally to date, a spectacular outdoor gathering on the banks of the river Willamette near Portland, Oregon.

The Illinois senator smiled down on a sea of 75,000 faces on a fine, sunlit afternoon.

“Wow! Wow! Wow!” were his first words as he surveyed the crowd, which included people in kayaks and small pleasure boats on the river on an unusually hot day.

It is “fair to say this is the most spectacular setting for the most spectacular crowd” of his campaign, he told the audience.

He expects to win Oregon when the state holds its primary contest tomorrow, edging him a fraction nearer to his goal of winning the Democratic presidential nomination. Leafy Oregon is strongly environmentally aware, and its population is seen as particularly susceptible to his message of change.

Hillary Clinton, his rival, was meanwhile on the campaign trail in Kentucky, which also votes tomorrow. Although she is set to win there, it appears statistically impossible for her to overtake him in delegate numbers now, with only three more primaries to go before party voting ends on June 3. Click here to read more about energized Democrats in the Los Angeles Times coverage of the Portland rally.

Following an attack by President Bush during his visit to Israel, Barack Obama gave a speech in South Dakota, that will turn heads. Clearly, Barack Obama will not to fail to respond to Republican fear-mongering and name-calling. We highly recommend that you listen to this speech. It is a masterpiece of reasoned but tough response in which he makes it clear that John McCain and George Bush will be held accountable. It further makes clear that “Swift Boating” will be followed by swift replies.

Click this link to go to the video of Barack Obama’s Speech

New York Times, May 16th, 2008

WATERTOWN, S.D. — Senator Barack Obama responded sharply Friday to a recent spate of attacks on his foreign policy, linking President Bush and Senator John McCain as partners in “the failed policies” of the past seven years and criticizing them for “hypocrisy, fear-peddling, fear-mongering.”

Confronting a major challenge to his foreign policy and world view, Mr. Obama attempted to turn the tables on his Republican critics, saying that they were guilty of “bluster” and “dishonest, divisive” tactics. He also cited a litany of what he called foreign policy blunders by the Bush administration and accused Mr. McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, of “doubling down” on them.

Mr. Obama’s remarks came a day after Mr. Bush, addressing the Israeli parliament, had spoken of what he called a tendency toward “appeasement” in some quarters of the West, similar to that shown to the Nazis by some before the invasion of Poland. Mr. Bush also said he rejected negotiations with “terrorists and radicals,” implying that Democrats favored such a position. Mr. Obama said he found the remarks “offensive.”

“George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for,” Mr. Obama said at a mid-day town hall meeting here, listing the war in Iraq, the strengthening of Iran and militant groups like Hamas and Hizbollah, the inability to capture Osama bin Laden and stalled diplomacy in other parts of the Middle East as among their chief failings. He added: “If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate I am happy to have any time, any place.”

Obama’s defiant tone and disdainful characterization of the Bush record appeared to be a signal to critics that he will push back against any attempts to define him or his record as weak on terror or accommodating to foreign foes, a strategy Republicans used successfully against Senator John Kerry in 2004. The episode also signaled that the campaigns are pivoting swiftly toward the general election, with both sides already in full-attack mode.

Consistently throughout his comments about foreign policy, Mr. Obama yoked Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain together as a single entity, mentioning their names in the same sentence 10 times in barely 10 minutes. He also portrayed them as being not only inflexible, but also “naïve and irresponsible” — the very characteristics they ascribe to him.

Click here to read more of this important story in the New York Times.

Chris Cillizza contributes an article from the Washington Post on this same subject.