The delegate counting reached an extraordinary point last night – we’ve created a new and lasting paradigm!  This election season will be a model for future campaigns – ideas, strategies and relationships.

 As for myself, I shed a few tears of joy in the midst of the euphoria and jubilation…

With all of the positives flowing out of this milestone, some of our Party leaders have begun to speak up and show some leadership. Ed Rendell said that Sen. Clinton should concede soon and throw her full support behind Barack Obama. From the Democratic Party website:  “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DGA Chairman Joe Manchin and DNC Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement: “Democrats must now turn our full attention to the general election. To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted super delegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that have weakened our country.” (1)

At last report Al Gore remained uncommitted…

A less encumbered Party leader, former President Jimmy Carter, in an interview published today in the Guardian/Co.UK., advised Senator Obama, Carter said “I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made”  for Obama to choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate. (2)

It’s time to begin our march toward November now.  We cannot have this cloud of uncertainty hanging over us for the next 3 months.  That would put a knife through the heart of the Democratic Party, potentially detrimentally effecting State and local campaigns, as well the Presidential race.  Obama could and should have long coattails.

(1)http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/06/a_statement_by.php

(2)http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/04/uselections2008

This from a brief article in the Free Press.The reporter needs a to do an awful lot more,this is just not enough.

MONTPELIER – State officials said they offered a compromise late in the legislative session that would have allowed for decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to start in 2032.

Legislative leaders say the proposal never reached their ears, though they aren’t sure they would have gone for it anyway.

The compromise might have resolved concerns about waiting 60 years for the plant to be cleaned up, as is possible under the state’s 2002 agreement with Vermont Yankee’s owner, Entergy Corp.

Legislators tried to require the guarantee of more money for a speedier cleanup if Entergy’s corporate restructuring plan goes through, but Gov. Jim Douglas vetoed the bill. As that bill was in its final stages in the Legislature, Public Service Commissioner David O’Brien said he offered the 2032 compromise.

“I think there was a lot of angst, I think on all sides of this bill,” Deputy Commissioner Smith said. “It had become very political.”

You think ? Who is trying to clean up the record?

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

Funny Google ad I saw on HuffPo this morning.

I just don’t know the date H.267 (the hemp bill) was presented to the governor and what date Vermont’s General Assembly adjourned.

From Vermont’s Constitution (Chapter 2 and my emphasis):

§ 11. [Governor to approve bills; veto proceedings thereon; nonaction]

Every bill which shall have passed the Senate and House of Representatives shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor; if the Governor approve, the Governor shall sign it; if not, the Governor shall return it, with objections in writing, to the House in which it shall have originated; which shall proceed to reconsider it. If, upon such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present of that House shall pass the bill, it shall, together with the objections, be sent to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members present of that House, it shall become a law.

But, in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be taken by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor, as aforesaid, within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to the Governor, the same shall become a law in like manner as if the Governor had signed it; unless the two Houses by their adjournment, within three days after the presentation of such bill shall prevent its return; in which case it shall not become a law.

(state legislature’s version of the Constitution)

Oh, hold on … the controversy at hand:

A bill that was poised to legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp in Vermont is now the subject of a constitutional dispute over whether the legislation can become law without the governor’s signature.

(Vermont a hemp state? Not so fast, Times Argus, 06/04/08)

Here’s my thoughts:

1) There is no interpretation controversy here. The Constitution’s language is clear … unambiguous. The dates of the bill’s presentation and legislative adjournment decide the issue of whether Douglas could sign the bill without signing it or not.

2) Of course it is all a Democrat’s fault … in this case Howard Dean back in 1994:

But Gibbs said there’s a recent precedent for Douglas’ interpretation.

“In 1994, under Gov. Howard Dean, the Legislature passed a bill changing fish and game laws in the state. Dean didn’t sign the bill, according to Gibbs, but sent it to the Secretary of State who proceeded to enact the bill into law. of the law.”

3) Signing and not signing are very different acts … Douglas and Gibbs, please read the constitution in a public venue and then re-try your lame excuses with a straight face.

4) “out-of-the-mainstream majority”??????? Silly me, I thought the mainstream was defined by where most of something is. But then again I’m not a Republican politician … in the minority.

5) I really hope Markowitz is correct in her apprehensions. As noted elsewhere I think H.267 was a disaster, and going back for an umpteenth and cleaner bill is a much better proposition.

Despite an unexpected Clinton victory in South Dakota, all the networks are announcing that the primaries are over. Obama has clinched the nomination. He’s kept slim-to-decent leads in pledged delegates, superdelegates, and an honest read of the popular vote (to the extent its readable, given the caucuses and the lack of a tally of Obama voters in Michigan).

So, although he wasn’t my first choice by a long shot, I am content with him as the nominee, and he has certainly earned the Spongebob victory moment that I’ve traditionally posted for election-night victories for the success of his hard-fought and historic (in many ways) primary campaign. Here ya go: