Disclaimer: This is a Hillary Clinton appreciation thread, which means that most people who come here really like Hillary Clinton. If you have criticisms, please be respectful.
If you haven’t had the chance, check out the daily News & Views and the Hillary Writers Circle, as well as the afternoon Hillary Hangouts and the #ImWithHer evening open threads. In addition, here are some new diaries:
mrules: It is 2016 and Women Can’t Talk About Their Candidate
Leslie Salzillo: Vince Foster’s sister slams Trump and supports Hillary: It’s ‘beyond contempt’ to use family tragedy
jhannon: Don’t tell me I’m not a progressive because I voted for Hillary
Scan: The Case Against Caucuses: Texas Edition
Even though there are numerous important primaries coming up, including the last primary in Washington D.C., California is apparently the hill the primary campaigns will seek to die on. So come on, June 7!
My personal anecdotes having to do with California are light this week, as I don’t have any canvassing or phone banking planned for the weekend. The only one worth sharing (so far) is that I passed Bernie’s campaign headquarters in Oakland, on College Avenue in the Rockridge area. Rockridge is a spot I like to frequent, with lots of cafes, good restaurants, brew pubs, and independent bookstores. As it appeals to many hip young (and not-so-young) affluent, white people, it makes sense that Bernie would place his campaign office there. One thing about Rockridge, though? It’s not a cheap place to rent.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters in Oakland is located on 14th Street, not far from Oakland City Center, which has the federal building and court houses, and on the same street as the African American Library and Museum. Not as “sexy” a location as Bernie’s campaign office, but probably more diverse and cheaper.
Otherwise, I thought it worthwhile to (re)share a diary from another Californian preparing for the big day. Cardinal Fang did a terrific write up of Hillary’s recent rally in San Jose, complete with a video of her speech:
Hillary had two modes of speaking, a shouty rendering of her stump speech, and a quieter, more intimate style where she seems like she’s just chatting with you as a friend. She used the intimate style as she spoke of foreign affairs, dismissing Trump as the blowhard he clearly is.
She recounted the story of the tense meeting in the Situation Room when President Obama and a few top officials were making the difficult decision of whether to go after Bin Laden. The President went around the room, asking each person what they thought. Was that odd building really where the world’s most wanted terrorist was hiding? Was the shaky intelligence good enough to risk our Navy Seals? Should we send drones? Should we do nothing? Then the President had to go off by himself and decide. Can we imagine Orangey in that situation? Obviously not.
If any other Californians went to a Hillary Clinton event or campaigned, let me know, and I would be happy to highlight your diary.
So while I was in Oakland today Friday, it turned out Hillary was, too! And while it doesn’t sound like an event I could have attended (for community leaders), awwww mannn, why do I always miss out on seeing her?
Recently, Donald Trump made headlines for calling Oakland one of the most dangerous places in the world, a comment that received a sharp rebuke from Schaaf and Clinton.
"I want to be a champion for Oakland and all the Oaklands of America, places that have challenges like any part of our country and any kind of human endeavor. But places that are coming together. We are stronger together when we work together," Clinton said.
Subtract points from this article from pushing the bogus “her lead shrank from 18 points to two” line, with regard to two separate polls conducted at the same time. The news outlets are desperate. This state matters insofar as sending a message to Sanders. It does not matter with regard to the overall trajectory of the race. Hillary Clinton has won. She will be the nominee, whether she wins California or Sanders wins by 30. She would be about as hobbled by losing California as Obama was by losing California in 2008.
That said, after all of his ridiculous stunts, from offering to debate Donald Trump to filing a lawsuit and seeking a temporary restraining order because state election rules are a conspiracy or something, I really want Hillary to beat Bernie. I am beyond tired of his shit.
And I definitely want her to beat this idiot:
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, "There is no drought."
California is, in fact, in midst of a drought. Last year capped the state's driest four-year period in its history, with record low rainfall and snow.
Speaking at a rally in Fresno, Calif., Trump accused state officials of denying water to Central Valley farmers so they can send it out to sea "to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish."
Fortunately, Hillary seems to have tons of fans in California, as this tweet of the San Jose event attests:
One reason Hillary has so many fans is probably because she goes out of her way to thank the people who give their time for her.
And also because Hillary Clinton cares about policy. Is the only one of the remaining candidates to care about policy.
Some more highlights about her morning in Oakland:
Clinton's visit to the Home of Chicken and Waffles near Jack London Square wasn't retail politics in its purest form. The nearly one-hour gathering was highly choreographed, with local leaders telling her about their work to improve people's lives -- and Clinton responding with praise, follow-up questions and a pledge to provide assistance as president.
"This is what I want to do -- connect people up with good ideas," she said.
Friday's event in Oakland stood in sharp contrast to her rallies the day before in San Jose and San Francisco, where she spoke in bellowing tones attacking presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump to throngs of cheering supporters.
Clinton has held numerous local "roundtables" while campaigning this year, a format her campaign officials say provides a more natural setting for a candidate who prefers one-on-one interactions and is well versed in the minutia of public policy.
It also gave her an opportunity to speak to issues that resonate particularly in Oakland, an overwhelmingly Democratic city that will be crucial for her in defeating rival Bernie Sanders in the June 7 primary.
In other news, Kevin Drum notes that the LA Times has been hung up on Bernie campaigning everywhere in California (and Hillary and Bill Clinton aren’t?) because we’re not used to people actually campaigning here:
There's actually a simpler explanation for this: 2016 is the first time in half a century that anyone has bothered campaigning at all in a California presidential primary in June—let alone for an entire month. In the past, nomination fights have been over by March or April, and California's only real role has been to act as a base for fundraising. And there's not much point in holding a fundraiser in Lancaster.
I don’t remember whether there was campaigning in 2008, when California was part of Super-duper Tuesday. Anyone else?
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