Because these are the Democratic sponsors of the resolution, that's why:

Sponsor: Sen. Evan Bayh [D-IN]
Sen. Maria Cantwell [D-WA]
Sen. Robert Casey [D-PA]
Sen. Kent Conrad [D-ND]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D-MD]
Sen. Patty Murray [D-WA]
Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR]

Our goal is to elect more Democrats, is it not?

More on the flip

My apologies if this has been diaried elsewhere on dKos, but I had not seen a comprehensive story on this issue in some time, and especially not since some very good news came down this week.  Please recommend this story so that more people become aware of it.

Speculation that Barack Obama will choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate has peaked now that Obama has clinched the nomination. Common wisdom is that he must do this for the women who supported Clinton and have been bitterly disappointed by her defeat. But bringing her onto the ticket has significant problems, and Obama would be well served to use other means to heal the wounds of a brutal primary season.

That’s why he should pledge to appoint women to at least fifty percent of the cabinet seats in his administration. This may not be enough for many in the Clinton camp to bring them on board, but it would go a long way toward it. Beyond that, it’s time that women got their fair share of the real power in the executive government. A fully balanced cabinet is in the best interests of the country and certainly in keeping with the mission of the Obama campaign.

Within the past month I put forth 19 polls with 15 candidates each to figure out who you guys want in an Obama cabinet. With voting in all rounds now over I compiled five different cabinets and will put them all up for a vote this week.

Who got included in the final cabinets: the top three in each poll automatically made it into these final cabinet polls, in some cases also the 4th and 5th. However, to make sure that the cabinets are as diverse as possible I gave some candidates who didn't have enough votes a wildcard.

Each day this week you can rate a cabinet. Today, you can rate a possible Obama/Napolitano cabinet on a scale from 1 (hate it) to 10 (love it). At the end I will post the results and the cabinet with the highest average wins.

Within the past month I put forth 19 polls with 15 candidates each to figure out who you guys want in an Obama cabinet. With voting in all rounds now over I compiled five different cabinets and will put them all up for a vote this week.

Who got included in the final cabinets: the top three in each poll automatically made it into these final cabinet polls, in some cases also the 4th and 5th. However, to make sure that the cabinets are as diverse as possible I gave some candidates who didn't have enough votes a wildcard.

Each day this week you can rate a cabinet. Today, you can rate a possible Obama/Richardson cabinet on a scale from 1 (hate it) to 10 (love it). At the end I will post the results and the cabinet with the highest average wins.

One of Hillary Clinton's high profile supporters is fellow Senator Maria Cantwell from the state of Washington. Follow me over the fold to see why I believe Senator Cantwell should now consider switching her support and what Washington state residents can do about it.

Everyone's talking about Obama's running mate. But who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?

Today you can vote on the next Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Also, the previous rounds are still open for voting. More below the fold.

(The Diary title above is the one we'd prefer instead of the one the Times used.)

A step in the right direction on national climate policy
By K.C. Golden
Special to The Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/...
crossposted at http://www.climatesolutions.org

Sen. Maria Cantwell will hold constituent meetings this week to talk about federal climate policy in advance of a Senate vote on the Climate Security Act in June.

The U.S. stands alone among the world's advanced economies with no national climate policy. But with congressional debate under way and all three major presidential candidates committed to climate action, our shameful abdication of responsibility for solutions appears to be coming to an end. Cantwell deserves thanks for her strong leadership on energy and climate, and for inviting this dialogue.

As I hear more and more about how important the popular vote is to H. Clinton's chance at the nomination it strikes me that both Washington State Senators have endorsed Clinton. H. Clinton would disenfranchise the entire state of Washington and my two state Senators are not saying a word about it.

I am trying to convince my Senator that it is time for her to declare for Obama.  I live in Washington state and Sen. Cantwell has promised to support the candidate who won the most states and the pledged delegate count.  Additionally, Obama won Washington by a delegate count of nearly 3-1 in the state convention.  Sen. Cantwell is very responsive to her constituents normally, but now she is benefiting from our inaction.

Please, if you are from the state of Washington or have family from the state, fax her or call her DC and state offices.

Her DC fax number is 202-228-0514.

We can make this happen today.

Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?

Today you can vote on the next Secretary of Energy. Also, the previous rounds are still open for voting. More below the fold.

Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?

Today you can vote on the next Secretary of Transportation. Also, the previous rounds are still open for voting. More below the fold.

Yesterday's Attorney General poll needed no runoff as John Edwards won more than 50% in the first round. Results below the fold.

With the Obama Veepstakes poll now concluded and Gov. Bill Richardson as your chosen running mate (which was covered by the Santa Fe Reporter) it's time to take this a step further:

Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?

Today you can vote on the next Secretary of the Interior:

It certainly sounds like Senator Maria Cantwell (WA), who endorsed Hillary Clinton and is a superdelegate, will back Barack Obama if he remains the pledged delegate leader come June:

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, one of Washington’s 17 Democratic superdelegates, isn’t ready to shift her allegiance from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama — yet.

But in an interview with The Columbian’s editorial board Monday, she said the candidate with the most pledged delegates at the end of the primary season in late June will have the strongest claim to the party’s presidential nomination.

"I definitely don’t want the superdelegates to be the deciding factor," she said.

Link

Oh boy. Methinks the exodus may be close.

The Democratic party should come together around the candidate with the most delegates, the most states and the largest popular vote, Cantwell said. The pledged delegate count will be the most important factor, she said, because that is the basis of the nominating process.

Cantwell talks to the Columbian Editorial Board

"I think it’s important that we let it play out in June," she said. At that point, she said, "I’d be urging my party to make a decision."

Today is St. Patrick's Day. As the New York Times reported yesterday, the heavy hitters are concerned that the race will continue to drag on, nothing will get resolved, and John McCain will benefit because people would see him as above the fray. We know that there was a high-level meeting recently between Barack Obama and Al Gore. What I'm hoping is that people will come together, meet with Hillary Clinton, and tell her that she has two weeks to get out of the race with dignity.

But there were rumors that Edwards would, in fact, endorse Hillary. But that was simply the opinion of one talking head. As of this writing, there was nothing on Drudge or Raw Story indicating that at all. All of this is conjecture at this point. We need to stay focused, keep doing what we are doing, and let the chips fall where they may. We need to operate under the assumption that there will be a primary fight until the convention, unless Hillary or Obama throws in the towel.

IT IS TIME.

It is time to get off the sidelines and implore our respective superdelegates to either drop their previous endorsements of Hillary Clinton or to openly commit to Barack Obama.  The following is the text of a letter I am sending to my Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell in Washington State who both endorsed Clinton before our caucuses showed overwhelming support for Obama.  

Please feel free to plagiarize as you wish, but in any case do consider writing your own representatives this week and letting them know that we will not stand for the voters' stated preference to be overturned by party insiders.