In the first contest in the 2008 elections, Barack Obama took the Democratic nod from Iowa’s voters and Mike Huckabee won the approval of Republican voters. Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd have both dropped out, and Ron Paul beat Rudolph Giuliani.
A Mayor Stands Up for Clinton’s Urban Platform
Doug Palmer, the mayor of Trenton, NJ and president of the US Conference of Mayors, has penned a piece in the Huffington Post declaring his support of Hillary Clinton and her urban platform. He says that she is not afraid to use the “C-word,” meaning, of course, cities. Palmer breaks down her for most relevant ideas, and why they are the best, including the candidate’s “Youth Opportunity Agenda,” “Rebuilding Our Cities” and “Encouraging Economic Opportunity” position papers, and extolls her experience and strength.
City Limits magazine sent queries seeking answers on housing to all of the campaigns active in Iowa. Unfortunately, they received no replies. But this helpful article tracks the candidates positions already on record and provides a glimpse into what our future president might do about housing in our nation’s cities.
Plus, a little late, but very relevant: Goodbye to All That, from December’s Atlantic
“Of the viable national candidates, only Obama and possibly McCain have the potential to bridge this widening partisan gulf. Polling reveals Obama to be the favored Democrat among Republicans. McCain’s bipartisan appeal has receded in recent years, especially with his enthusiastic embrace of the latest phase of the Iraq War. And his personal history can only reinforce the Vietnam divide. But Obama’s reach outside his own ranks remains striking. Why? It’s a good question: How has a black, urban liberal gained far stronger support among Republicans than the made-over moderate Clinton or the southern charmer Edwards? Perhaps because the Republicans and independents who are open to an Obama candidacy see his primary advantage in prosecuting the war on Islamist terrorism. It isn’t about his policies as such; it is about his person. They are prepared to set their own ideological preferences to one side in favor of what Obama offers America in a critical moment in our dealings with the rest of the world. The war today matters enormously. The war of the last generation? Not so much. If you are an American who yearns to finally get beyond the symbolic battles of the Boomer generation and face today’s actual problems, Obama may be your man.”