Essential Estrogen

Here's your earworms:

Martina McBride, This One's For The Girls --

Dixie Chicks, Lubbock Or Leave It --

First time I heard that last song I was immediately transported back to my young adulthood in the south. "Out on the strip the kids get lit so they can have a real good time. Come Sunday they can just take their pick from the crucifix skyline." Yup, that pretty much sums it all up.

The news this week has to be the civil rights advances in Iowa. Not only did a judge rule Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, but our state welcomed its first same-sex legally married couple. Since I've already beat that drum, we'll skip to the next big news: the four states allowed by the DNC to hold nominating contests outside of the window (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina) teamed up to ask presidential candidates not to campaign in states that disobey the rules.

Four State Pledge Letter

Whereas, over a year ago, the Democratic National Committee established a 2008 nominating calendar;

Whereas, this calendar honors the racial, ethnic, economic and geographic diversity of our party and our country;

Whereas, the DNC also honored the traditional role of retail politics early in the nominating process, to insure that money alone will not determine our presidential nominee;

Whereas, it is this desire of Presidential campaigns, the DNC, the states and the American people to bring finality, predictability and common sense to the nominating calendar.

Therefore, I __________, Democratic Candidate for President, pledge I shall not campaign or participate in any state which schedules a presidential election primary or caucus before Feb. 5, 2008, except for the states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as "campaigning" is defined by rules and regulations of the DNC.

The cover letter sent along with the pledge was signed by Sen. Tom Harkin, Gov. Chet Culver, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan, Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada Democratic Party Chairwoman Jill Derby, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, Congressman Jim Clyburn and South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler.

The letter and pledge from the four states was issued on Friday, Aug. 31. There must have been news about what might be coming down the pipe on Thursday because Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued her own letter to the candidates which stated: "I strongly urge you not to sign any pledge that would prevent you from campaigning in Michigan." She went on to tout the power of labor and business interests in the state.

It has also been reported that Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman issued a one-sentence statement in relation to the four-state pledge: "I don't see how anybody who believes he or she should be president of the United States of America could get tricked into signing a pact to ignore tens of millions of diverse Americans by a selfish, four-state alliance of party insiders.

Typically, given my position, I attempt to write very straight-forwardly when reporting on matters of the nominating calendar. That last statement, however, has the hairs on the back of my neck rising and is well due a bit of editorializing. I don't see how an official of any state that appreciates, first, the rule of law and, second, the democratic process in America could stoop so low as to call the four-state pledge selfish. What is selfish, in my opinion, is to thrust more states into an already front-loaded calendar that prevents reasonable, responsible and effective campaigning by all Democratic candidates. The time to have had this fight is long gone and to further debate the calendar and leapfrog the front states is a disservice to not only the American people, but to the candidates who have spent time and money organizing in places that they were promised in good faith would lead the process.

There was a tie -- or at least a near tie -- between New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd in the race to be the first candidate to sign the pledge. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden signed next and was followed, roughly 24 hours later, by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. There are conflicting reports in relation to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. On one hand, her campaign indicated the letter was received, spokesperson Mo Elleithee told Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic that they "are reviewing it." On the other hand, Beth Reinhard of Naked Politics is reporting that Patti Sollis Doyle, campaign manager, has indicated the pledge was signed. As of this writing, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel have not made any response to the pledge letter.

The other bigs news this week was the IAFF endorsement of Sen. Chris Dodd. As I wrote in my previous post, the importance of the endorsement of the firefighters cannot be over-played. Not only do they bring an air of respect to the campaigns they endorse, but they provide immeasurable groundwork. Lots of sites have published the video from earlier in the week so I thought we'd jump back about five-six months to Dodd's address to the firefighters in Washington:

In other news...

• There is an excellent post at Prairie Robin -- a blog I just discovered today -- on the significance of Iowa.
• Deo Gloria provides some fine insights on how politics and the church do and don't mesh.
• What's worse than high school students who can't find Iraq on a globe? Bloggers who still don't know the difference between Iowa and Idaho. You live by Des Moines? Is that near Cincinnati? Oh! You live in that state that produces all the potatoes! At least the author of that that last link corrected the mistake...