HILLARY SYMPATHIZES WITH IMPEACH SENTIMENT IN SAN DIEGO- Pres Candidates on I-Word, None Off Table

California Democratic Convention
April 27-29, 2008, San Diego Convention Center
Story & Photo by June Caldwell

The California Democratic Convention hit peaceful San Diego over the head harder than a swift mallet pound by Nancy Pelosi. The Democrats had arrived! A dazzling string of Democratic Presidential superstar hopefuls spoke to the crowd, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, and Mike Gravel.

Major Presidential candidates weighed in privately in conversations with us on the I-Word (psst, it’s “Impeachment”) which spanned from outright support from Kucinich and Gravel to evasive comments, but surprisingly none taking it off the table.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ON THE I-WORD DURING THE CONVENTION:

Hillary Clinton - Asked by Linda Sutton (www.lindasuttonphoto.com) about Impeachment right after her speech in the main hall. I was standing next to Linda intending to ask myself, but was so swept away by the power of Clinton’s speech (as I was by all of the candidates), that I just shook her hand, and gushed teary-eyed, “thank you for representing women, Hillary!” Linda was a little more on topic, and confronted Clinton with the question of Impeachment. Clinton tilted her head with a wry smile and said “Well, I certainly sympathize with the (Impeachment) sentiment!” She turned to us and smiled adding “We’re going to impeach them in November 2008!” Certainly not the affirmation we would have liked, but not a definite off-the-table either. Hillary was not about to be slow to the table on Impeachment, as she was accused of about dragging her feet in speaking out against the war, and is apparently keeping a door open.

John Edwards - Asked by my swift-on-his-feet, husband, Rodger Caldwell www.californiachronicle.com) as Edwards scuttled away from his press conference, surrounded by reporters, following his speech. Rodger asked “Mr. Edwards, if Bush vetoes the bill for additional war funding attached to a schedule for withdrawal, and you do not get the 16 signatures you need to override his veto (as all Top 3 candidates stated was their goal), is Impeachment a real option?” John paused, looked over to the lovely San Diego harbor, and frowned thoughtfully as he formed his answer. “I think we need to keep presenting Bush with the bill”. Huh? Oh yeah, he is referring to the comment in his speech that we should keep giving Bush the bill over and over until he needs the funds and accepts it. A clear and complete evasion of the question about Impeachment…yet again, clearly not giving a definite no, as if to avoid the exposure of supporting it, but careful not to go on the record against it either.

Barack Obama – No statement. We couldn’t hear anyway with all the screaming wherever he went! We kept looking around for the Beatles reunion, complete with John coming back from the dead, which could be the only logical explanation for the kind of screaming and excitement caused by Obama’s presence. He clearly already has served our country pricelessly by engaging a huge base of passion for politics.

Bill Richardson – I was naively determined to get what I thought would be a delightful meeting of the minds, since the state Richardson was Governor of, New Mexico, has in common with California statewide Resolutions supporting Impeachment. He mentioned New Mexico and California leading the way together, so I figured, what better way to bond? As time was short, I had to unceremoniously chase Richardson out of the press room, down the hall and descending onto the elevator to his ride to the airport, barely getting past the other reporters who knocked me out of the way whenever I tried to get a word in.

Finally as I stumbled down the escalator backwards to face him, I blurted out “Governor, New Mexico has an Impeachment Resolution, and California has an Impeachment Resolution - a few words on Impeachment please!” Not exactly reacting as warmly as I had hoped, Richardson donned a pained expression, then answered “I think Congress should focus on “unauthorizing” the war”. He was referring to his proposal to allow Congress to reverse their vote giving Bush authorization to declare war – based upon the “new” disclosures that show that it had been based upon lies. This was a clear evasion of answering whether he supports Impeachment, but on the bright side, a clear attempt to avoid a definite “no” either, leaving it open for a possibility.

(Side note: By the way, during Richardson’s press conference, he AGAIN was badgered with references about why he gave Alberto Gonzales a couple of days to tell his story, and had said it was because he was an Hispanic. Puh-lease! Now, I’m no Gonzalez torture king fan, but can’t a homeboy give another homeboy a break for a couple of days to tell his story? In real life conversation nobody would blink an eye. Who wouldn’t do the same thing? Like when Hillary was blasted for saying “I’ve had experience with bad people” and everyone made a big deal that she might have been slipping in a little double entendre referring to Bill as well as the Republican Party, I thought, “Well, why not? She’s a middle aged blonde like me! Give my homegirl a little space…we don’t just get up looking like this!” I’m just saying.)

Chris Dodd – We didn’t have a chance to ask Dodd about Impeachment, but he does win the prize for best hair – with or without a $400 haircut.

Mike Gravel – At the opening reception he stated unequivocally “Impeachment is just the first step! Any criminal on the street gets more than losing his job, he goes to jail. Our country’s biggest mistake was not sending Nixon to jail. These criminals in charge need to spend the rest of their lives in prison”.

Dennis Kucinich – said it with his actions AND words, by introducing the National Bill for Impeachment of Dick Cheney. The bill that was supported by Louisiana that Saturday.

OTHER DEMOCRATIC LUMINARIES SOUNDING SUSPICIOUSLY PRO-IMPEACHMENT TOO

Jim Dean, chairman of Democrats for America, brother of Howard Dean - Asked in the lobby about Impeachment by our friend, Miriam Raftery (www.rawstory.com). His answer was “There’s more about it on the table than you might think!”

Art Torres, Chairman of the California Democratic Party - When I asked Art “Will this California Resolution for Impeachment affect the stance of the California Representatives in National power like Nancy Pelosi? Torres answered, “They make their own decisions. But I hope it will be remembered that we in California were ahead of the game with our Impeachment Resolution that we passed last year in Manhattan Beach!”

Mimi Kennedy, National Chair of Progressive Democrats of America - When I congratulated Mimi on the passing of the California Resolution to Support Impeachment of Cheney and Bush sponsored and largely muscled in by PDA, she affirmed “These guys need to be taken down by the Constitution, they won’t listen to anything else!”

RESOLUTION MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED

Stop War Funding Now” and “Impeach” were the common streams throughout the whole weekend, and both resulted in California resolutions being passed by the end of the convention. We were surprised to see about 1/3 of the over 2,000 delegates wearing Impeach buttons on the elevators, in the aisles, in the streets, everywhere we turned.

The California Impeachment Resolution to investigate and act up to Impeachment regarding both Bush and Cheney was a clear demonstration of the power of the people with a party that listens to its base. The California Impeachment Resolution passed on Sunday. But not after mutating from “having zero support by delegates” according to Chairman Art Torres, at the Press Conference on Friday afternoon - to becoming the number one Resolution on the table to be voted on by the delegates on Saturday - to passing with flying colors on Sunday! This was due to relentless rallies, marches, and delegates that would not back down. It was truly Democracy in the flesh. During the I-Word frenzy we learned that Louisiana had passed a Resolution to support the Dennis Kucinich Impeach Cheney Resolution that same Saturday. Katrina victims clearly don’t forget those that forget them.

NANCY PELOSI FOR PRESIDENT?

The Presidential hopefuls gave uplifting speeches all round. The fun kicked off early on Friday with a reception featuring California Democratic Chairman, Art Torres, the Wizard of Oz of this convention. Special guest speaker at the reception was no-holds barred Mike Gravel, the wild card presidential candidate. It was easy to see why Chris Matthews of MSNBC with a grin and shaking head called him a ‘breath of fresh air’ at the Democratic debate the day before in South Carolina. At the reception, Gravel told me, “I’ve done the math! Just get planes and fly our troops out of Iraq, It would take two months. Don’t keep our troops there indefinitely just over the hill to try to control the world’s oil!” Having been instrumental in ending the Viet Nam War, Gravel shamelessly says what could be in the silent balloons over other’s heads.

A dinner honoring Nancy Pelosi showcased what a strong, warm, and smart leader she is. Clearly, although she is careful not to show aspirations to be President, she showed that if demanded by the people through Impeaching the current regime, she could do the job and no doubt take it to greater heights than ever imagined – just as she has already taken the country in her first 100 days as Speaker of the House. My own Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villagairosa gave a sparkling speech in her honor, and I realized I missed his candidacy when we got to hear his speeches much more frequently!

THANKS FOR LISTENING, CHUCK HAGEL

On another side note, I want to thank Chuck Hagel, the Conservative Republican Senator who spoke out on Impeachment this week as a viable option. Clearly he read my interview with Marci Winograd dated April 24 where I pointed out basically that supporting Impeachment was the Republican Party’s only chance to save themselves from total annihilation by squarely distancing themselves from the deadweight anchor of the current administration. Thanks for taking my advice.