Is Obama the best pro-veg*n candidate now?

[Guest guest]

I know this list is meant more for local concerns, but since we have a

primary election coming up in California on Feb 5th, I thought it

would be appropriate. Especially since California is most likely going

to decide who the Democratic candidate will be. And with the polls

running so close, a strong Bay Area turnout could even tip the

election. So our votes will actually count this year! yay, for once!

 

Anyway - I've been a Dennis Kucinich voter since 2004, since he was

the only vegan in the race. But now that he dropped out, I thought I'd

look to see who is the best for representing the animals. No one was

perfect, but it looks like Obama is exceptionally good.

 

Here are some links and quotes I found, hopefully they will help you

make a decision when casting your vote on February 5th. (You were

planning to vote, right? I'm sure there are Green party voters on

this list, but for those of us who are Democrats and would like a

chance to vote our values on Feb 5, here is some info I found:

 

 

http://news./s/ap/20080116/ap_on_el_pr/political_play_of_the_day

 

[Obama] said he sponsored a bill to prevent horse slaughter in the

Illinois state Senate and has been

repeatedly endorsed by the Humane Society.

 

" I think how we treat our animals reflects how we treat each other, "

he said. " And it's very important

that we have a president who is mindful of the cruelty that is

perpetrated on animals. "

 

 

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/obama_vs_clinton_food_fight

 

On Monday, Clinton named Joy Philippi, the former president of a the

National Pork Producers Council,

the main trade group representing confined animal feeding operators,

as co-chair of Rural Americans for Hillary.

 

 

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/9510

 

Sen. Barak Obama, D-Ill., says he is baffled as to why the ALF is the

foremost target, since the FBI itself has

stated that ALF-attributed crimes are on the decline.

 

 

http://www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/Writings_Speeches/showtrials_and_scar\

ecrows.htm

 

[Obama said,] " I hope we are not headed down the path of infringing

on the ability of legitimate advocacy

organizations to express their opinions and to raise funds in order

to do so. I do not want Americans to

equate groups that advocate violence with mainstream environmental

organizations. "

 

 

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0123-31.htm

 

And even Illinois Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama has

said, " poor treatment of poultry

by the food processing industry... must not be tolerated. "

[Guest guest]

Interesting information. Remaining neutral as to candidate of my

choice, there is at least one animal-rights oriented website

(circulated on here, I think) that gives Hilary a 100+ both on her

voting record and sponsorship of animal rights bills in the Senate.

Obama received a score of 60.

 

FYI, I have heard that the ban on horse slaughter has led to even

worse treatment of these poor animals as they are transported to

Canada for slaughter there.

[Guest guest]

Miles,

Can you point us to the website?

 

Thanks,

 

Ajay

 

--- Myles Silton <msilton wrote:

 

> Interesting information. Remaining neutral as to

> candidate of my

> choice, there is at least one animal-rights oriented

> website

> (circulated on here, I think) that gives Hilary a

> 100+ both on her

> voting record and sponsorship of animal rights bills

> in the Senate.

> Obama received a score of 60.

>

> FYI, I have heard that the ban on horse slaughter

> has led to even

> worse treatment of these poor animals as they are

> transported to

> Canada for slaughter there.

>

[Guest guest]

When I get home I'll try to dig it up. I'll go through my search

history.

On Jan 29, 2008, at 11:15 AM, Ajay wrote:

 

> Miles,

> Can you point us to the website?

>

> Thanks,

>

> Ajay

>

> --- Myles Silton <msilton wrote:

>

>> Interesting information. Remaining neutral as to

>> candidate of my

>> choice, there is at least one animal-rights oriented

>> website

>> (circulated on here, I think) that gives Hilary a

>> 100+ both on her

>> voting record and sponsorship of animal rights bills

>> in the Senate.

>> Obama received a score of 60.

>>

>> FYI, I have heard that the ban on horse slaughter

>> has led to even

>> worse treatment of these poor animals as they are

>> transported to

>> Canada for slaughter there.

>>

>

[Guest guest]

This is the scorecard you're thinking of:

 

http://www.fund.org/pdfs/HumaneScorecard2006_final.pdf

 

It's the Humane Society's 2006 scorecard, and rates each senator on

six different points. If you look at the chart, you'll see that Obama

gets two " neutrals " because he didn't cosponsor the Horse Slaughter

bill and he didn't cosponsor the Downed Animal Protection Act in 2006.

He doesn't receive any negative marks. So his voting record, based on

what has passed through the senate is still animal friendly. It's

worth noting that he *is* a current cosponsor of new horse slaughter

legislation and has cosponsored anti dogfighting and cockfighing

legislation, so his status will be upgraded by the Humane Society.

[ reference:

http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/2007/12/the-president-3.html

]

 

That said, the scorecard only tells part of the story, and the less

important part of the story at that. All we can tell here is whether

our legislators voted for or against very mainstream, " no-brainer "

bills. It doesn't tell us what kind of leadership they would offer as

president. This is typically the problem with scorecards, which rate

politicians only on how well they do at maintaining the status quo,

not on how well they would push things forward. Nor do scorecards rate

the behind the scenes work that politicians do; they only count votes

and cosponsorships.

 

For example, in the links I provided, Hillary Clinton has already

shown that lobbyists for the meat industry (specifically, pork

producers and confined animal feeding operators) will play a part in

shaping her policy as president. This is consistent with her tendency

to favor corporations over people when drafting public policy. In

contrast, when crafting farm policy, an Obama administration would

bring more players to the table, including seats for those who

represent animal welfare concerns.

 

Governing philosophy also matters. In 2006, the Animal Enterprise

Terrorism Act was introduced, and I along with many others in San

Francisco called Pelosi's office to urge her to use her new powers as

Speaker to prevent this bill from coming to a vote. Future bills in

the style of the AETA could be used to pressure and demonize

legitimate organizations like PETA, and harm all animal activists in

the process.

 

We know that Hillary Clinton has already bought into Bush's " war on

terror " ideology, which is being used to justify the recent ramping up

on " ecoterrorism " and " animal rights terrorism " . It's not too much of

a stretch for " terrorism " to include all peaceful protests, a

disturbing trend that we've seen in recent years. Obama, from the

links I posted, has already made it clear that he agrees this trend is

dangerous, and that ramping up efforts to stop " ecoterrorism " is a

dangerous attack on the right to protest.

 

So even though Obama may not have cosponsored the Horse Slaughter

bill, he still voted for it, and more importantly, he'll defend your

right to protest and organize on behalf of the animals. Clinton, in

contrast, will draft policy that's favorable to the animal farming

industry, and will not a be strong advocate for your right to organize

on behalf of the animals.

 

On Jan 29, 2008, at 11:03 AM, Myles Silton wrote:

> Interesting information. Remaining neutral as to candidate of my

> choice, there is at least one animal-rights oriented website

> (circulated on here, I think) that gives Hilary a 100+ both on her

> voting record and sponsorship of animal rights bills in the Senate.

> Obama received a score of 60.