By ADAM GOLDMAN and ROBERT TANNER, Associated Press WritersThu May 15, 2:53 PM ET
The way Sohale Siddiqi remembers it, he and his old roommate were walking his pug Charlie on Broadway when a large, scary bum approached them, stomping on the ground near the dog's head.
This was in the 1980s, a time when New York was a fearful place beset by drugs and crime, when the street smart knew that the best way to handle the city's derelicts was to avoid them entirely. But Siddiqi was angry and he confronted the bum, who approached him menacingly.
Until his skinny, Ivy League-educated friend — Barack Obama — intervened.
He "stepped right in between. ... He planted his face firmly in the face of the guy. `Hey, hey, hey.' And the guy backpedaled and we kept walking," Siddiqi recalls.
There was a time before Obama wore tailored suits — when his wardrobe consisted of $5 military-surplus khakis and used leather jackets, and he walked the streets of Manhattan for lack of bus fare. It was a time well before the political arena beckoned, when his friends thought he might become a writer or a lawyer, but certainly not the first black man with a real chance to become president of the United States.
Obama spent the six years between 1979 and 1985 at Occidental College in Los Angeles and then in New York at Columbia University and in the workplace. His memoir, "Dreams from My Father," talks about this time, but not in great detail; Siddiqi, for example, is identified only as "Sadik" — "a short, well-built Pakistani" who smoked marijuana, snorted cocaine and liked to party.
Obama's campaign wouldn't identify "Sadik," but The Associated Press located him in Seattle, where he raises money for a community theater.
Together, the recollections of Siddiqi and other friends and acquaintances from Obama's college years paint a portrait of the candidate as a young man.
They remember a good student with a sharp mind and unshakable integrity, a young man who already had a passion for the underprivileged. Some described the young Obama's personality as confident to the point of arrogance, a criticism that would emerge decades later, during the campaign.
Not everyone who knew Obama in those years is eager to talk.
Some explained that they feared inadvertently hurting Obama's campaign. Among his friends were Siddiqi and two other Pakistanis, all of them from Karachi; several of those interviewed said the Pakistanis were reluctant to talk for fear of stoking rumors that Obama is a Muslim.
"Obama in the eyes of some right wingers is basically Muslim until proved innocent," says Margot Mifflin, a friend from Occidental who is now a journalism professor at New York's Lehman College. "It's partly the Muslim factor by association and partly the fear of something being twisted."
The young man Mifflin remembers was "an unpretentious, down to earth, solidly middle-class guy who seemed somewhat more sophisticated than the average college student. He was slightly reserved and deliberate in a way that I sometimes thought betrayed an uncertainty."
But another former Oxy classmate, Robert McCrary, now general manager of a contract sewing company, saw him differently: "He definitely had a cocky, sometimes arrogant way about him. ... He was not open to others."
Of course, he was only 18 when he arrived at the small liberal arts college nicknamed "Oxy." His freshman roommates were Imad Husain, a Pakistani, who's now a Boston banker, and Paul Carpenter, now a Los Angeles lawyer.
Carpenter recalled Obama as "a good bodysurfer" who had "a funky red car, a Fiat," and who also played intramurals — flag football, tennis and water polo. "He was an athletic guy. He was gifted in that regard," said Carpenter. He also remembered Obama being "super bright. He could get through the course work in a fraction of the time it took me."
Obama had an international circle of friends — "a real eclectic sort of group," says Vinai Thummalapally, who himself came from Hyderabad, India.
As a freshman, he quickly became friends with Mohammed Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, two wealthy Pakistanis. There were others, Thummalapally recalls: a French student and both black and white Americans, including Jon K. Mitchell, who later played bass for country-swing band Asleep at the Wheel (Mitchell remembers that Obama wore puka shell necklaces all the time, though they were not in style, and that "we let it slide because he spent a lot of time growing up in Hawaii.")
The friends got together often to watch basketball games — they were Lakers fans — and eat the southern Indian food that Thummalapally cooked with his cousin.
There was serious talk, too. Obama had concerns about U.S. foreign policy — including the failed hostage rescue mission in Iran under Jimmy Carter, and American support of the Contras in Latin America.
Thummalapally lived with Obama the summer of 1980. The two ran together daily, three miles in the early morning, often chatting about their dreams. Thummalapally wanted to start a business back home; Obama talked about helping people.
"I want to get into public service," he recalls Obama saying. "I want to write and help people who are disadvantaged."
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In 1981, Obama transferred from Occidental to Columbia. In between, he traveled to Pakistan — a trip that enhanced his foreign policy qualifications, he maintained in a private speech at a San Francisco fundraiser last month. Obama spent "about three weeks" in Pakistan, traveling with Hamid and staying in Karachi with Chandoo's family, said Bill Burton, Obama's press secretary.
"He was clearly shocked by the economic disparity he saw in Pakistan. He couldn't get over the sight of rural peasants bowing to the wealthy landowners they worked for as they passed," says Margot Mifflin, who makes a brief appearance in Obama's memoir.
When Obama arrived in New York, he already knew Siddiqi — a friend of Chandoo's and Hamid's from Karachi who had visited Los Angeles. Looking back, Siddiqi acknowledges that he and Obama were an odd couple. Siddiqi would mock Obama's idealism — he just wanted to make a lot of money and buy things, while Obama wanted to help the poor.
"At that age, I thought he was a saint and a square, and he took himself too seriously," Siddiqi said. "I would ask him why he was so serious. He was genuinely concerned with the plight of the poor. He'd give me lectures, which I found very boring. He must have found me very irritating."
Siddiqi offered the most expansive account of Obama as a young man.
"We were both very lost. We were both alienated, although he might not put it that way. He arrived disheveled and without a place to stay," said Siddiqi, who at the time worked as a waiter and as a salesman at a boutique.
The Obama campaign declined to discuss Obama's time at Columbia and his friendships in general. It won't, for example, release his transcript or name his friends. It did, however, list five locations where Obama lived during his four years here: three on Manhattan's Upper West Side and two in Brooklyn — one in Park Slope, the other in Brooklyn Heights. His memoir mentions two others on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
In about 1982, Siddiqi and Obama got an apartment at a sixth-floor walkup on East 94th Street. Siddiqi managed to get the apartment thanks to subterfuge.
"We didn't have a chance in hell of getting this apartment unless we fabricated the lease application," Siddiqi said.
Siddiqi fudged his credentials, saying he had a high-paying job at a catering company, but Obama "wanted no part of it. He put down the truth."
The apartment was "a slum of a place" in a drug-ridden neighborhood filled with gunshots, he said. "It wasn't a comfortable existence. We were slumming it." What little furniture they had was found on the street, and guests would have to hold their dinner plates in their laps.
While Obama has acknowledged using marijuana and cocaine during high school in Hawaii, he writes in the memoir that he stopped using soon after his arrival in New York. His roommate had no such scruples.
But Siddiqi says that during their time together here, Obama always refused his offers of drugs.
In his memoir and in interviews, Obama has said he got serious and buckled down in New York. "I didn't socialize that much. I was like a monk," he said in a 2005 Columbia alumni magazine interview. He told biographer David Mendell: "For about two years there, I was just painfully alone and really not focused on anything, except maybe thinking a lot."
In his memoir, Obama recalls fasting on Sunday; Siddiqi says Obama was a follower of comedian-activist Dick Gregory's vegetarian diet. "I think self-deprivation was his schtick, denying himself pleasure, good food and all of that."
But it wasn't exactly an ascetic life. There was plenty of time for reading (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, V.S. Naipaul) and listening to music (Van Morrison, the Ohio Players, Bob Dylan). The two, along with others, went out for nights on the town. "He wasn't entirely a hermit," Siddiqi said.
Siddiqi said his female friends thought Obama was "a hunk."
"We were always competing," he said. "You know how it is. You go to a bar and you try hitting on the girls. He had a lot more success. I wouldn't out-compete him in picking up girls, that's for sure."
Obama was a tolerant roommate. Siddiqi's mother, who had never been around a black man, came to visit and she was rude; Obama was nothing but polite. Siddiqi himself could be intemperate — he called Obama an Uncle Tom, but "he was really patient. I'm surprised he suffered me."
Finally, their relationship started to fray. "I was partying all the time. I was disrupting his studies," Siddiqi said. Obama moved out.
In July 1985, after spending two years as a writer for a business newsletter and as a coordinator at City College in Harlem for an environmental and consumer advocacy group, Obama left New York for Chicago — where he found a job, a wife and, eventually, a political career.
Andrew Roth knew Obama at Occidental and in New York. He speaks bluntly: "The thought, believe me, never crossed my mind that he would be our first black president."
And yet, here he is, on the brink of the Democratic nomination. And he's gotten there with the help of some of those friends from so long ago.
Neither Hamid nor Chandoo would be interviewed for this story; Hamid is now a top executive at Pepsico in New York, and Chandoo is a self-employed financial consultant in the New York area.
Both have each contributed the maximum $2,300 to Obama's campaign, and records indicate each has joined an Asian-American council that supports his run for president. Both also are listed on Obama's campaign Web site as being among his top fundraisers, each bringing in between $100,000 and $200,000 in contributions from their networks of friends.
Both also attended Obama's wedding in 1992, according to published reports and other friends.
Thummalapally has stayed in contact with Obama, too, visiting him in New York, attending his wedding in 1992 and joining him in Springfield, Ill., for the Feb. 10, 2007, announcement of Obama's run for the White House.
President of a CD and DVD manufacturing company in Colorado Springs, Colo., Thummalapally also is listed as a top fundraiser on the campaign Web site.
Siddiqi has not kept in touch. His has been a difficult road; years after his time with Obama, Siddiqi says, he became addicted to cocaine and lost his business.
But when he needed help during his recovery, Obama — the roommate he drove away with his partying, the man he always suspected of looking down at him — gave him a job reference.
So yes, he's an Obama man, too. Witness the message on his answering machine:
"My name is Hal Siddiqi, and I approve of this message. Vote for peace, vote for hope, vote for change, and vote for Obama."
Associated Press writers Deborah Hastings in New York, Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles, Gene Johnson in Seattle, and AP researchers Judith Ausubel and Barbara Sambriski contributed to this story.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_el_pr/young_obama_1;_ylt=AkK6VYHfHBhg1GB6EroQmexh24cA%0A
May 11, 2008The Long RunPragmatic Politics, Forged on the South SideBy JO BECKER and CHRISTOPHER DREWIn August 1999, Barack Obama strolled amid the floats and bands making their way down Martin Luther King Drive on Chicago’s South Side. Billed as the largest African-American parade in the country, the summer rite was a draw over the years to boxing heroes like Muhammad Ali and jazz greats like Duke Ellington. It was also a must-stop for the city’s top politicians.Back then, Mr. Obama, a state senator who was contemplating a run for Congress, was so little-known in the community’s black neighborhoods that it was hard to find more than a few dozen people to walk with him, recalled Al Kindle, one of his advisers at the time. Mr. Obama was trounced a year later in the Congressional race — branded as an aloof outsider more at home in the halls of Harvard than in the rough wards of Chicago politics.But by 2006, Mr. Obama had remade his political fortunes. He was a freshman United States senator on the cusp of deciding to take on the formidable Hillary Rodham Clinton and embark on a long-shot White House run. When the parade wound its way through the South Side that summer, Mr. Obama was its grand marshal.The secret of his transformation, which has brought him to the brink of claiming the Democratic presidential nomination, can be described as the politics of maximum unity.He moved from his leftist Hyde Park base to more centrist circles; he forged early alliances with the good-government reform crowd only to be embraced later by the city’s all-powerful Democratic bosses; he railed against pork-barrel politics but engaged in it when needed; and he empathized with the views of his Palestinian friends before adroitly courting the city’s politically potent Jewish community.To broaden his appeal to African-Americans, Mr. Obama had to assiduously court older black leaders entrenched in Chicago’s ward politics while selling himself as a young, multicultural bridge to the wider political world.“There are some people who say he’s not strong enough on this or that, that he’s wishy-washy, that he’s trying to have it both ways,” said Abner J. Mikva, a former congressman and mentor to Mr. Obama. “But he’s not looking for how to exclude the people who don’t agree with him. He’s looking for ways to make the tent as large as possible.”Mr. Obama’s ability to replicate the eclectic coalition he built in Chicago and expand it to the national stage has allowed the one-term senator to match the Clintons at their signature game: collecting influential friends and supporters.An untraditional politician who at times uses traditional political tactics, Mr. Obama, 46, was portrayed in dozens of interviews with political leaders and longtime associates in Chicago as the ultimate pragmatist, a deliberate thinker who fashions carefully nuanced positions that manage to win him support from people with divergent views.“Most Americans are getting a small glimmer into the rough and tumble world of the South Side of Chicago politics, which is very, very difficult to navigate,” said Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr., an Illinois Democrat and ally of Mr. Obama’s. But Mr. Obama did it with skill: “It’s very unusual to have various factions agreeing with you and your politics,” Mr. Jackson added.Others see his deft movements as a politician’s shifting of positions and alliances for strategic advantage, leaving some disappointed and baffled about where he really stands.“He has a pattern of forming relationships with various communities and as he takes his next step up, kind of distancing himself from them and then positioning himself as the bridge,” said Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American author and co-founder of the online publication Electronic Intifada, who became acquainted with Mr. Obama in Chicago.Even moments that supporters see as his boldest are tempered by his political caution. The forceful speech he delivered in 2002 against the impending Iraq invasion — a speech that has helped define him nationally — was threaded with an unusual mantra for a 1960s-style antiwar rally: “I’m not opposed to all wars.” It was a refrain Mr. Obama had tested on his political advisers, and it was a display of his ability to speak to the audience before him while keeping in mind the broader audience to come.Perfect for Hyde ParkWhen Judson H. Miner invited a third-year Harvard Law School student named Barack Obama to lunch at the Thai Star Cafe in Chicago before his 1991 graduation, Mr. Miner thought he was recruiting the 29-year-old to work for his boutique civil rights law firm. Instead, Mr. Obama recruited him.Mr. Obama made it clear that he was less interested in a job than in learning the political lay of the land from a man who had served at the right hand of the city’s first black mayor, Harold Washington. Mr. Miner, who had helped with the historic 1983 election of Mr. Washington and served as his corporation counsel, proved a willing tutor.The confident younger man “cross-examined” Mr. Miner about how Mr. Washington had managed to emerge from an election riven by bigotry to form a governing coalition in which he “got along with all these different types of folks,” Mr. Miner recalled.Mr. Obama, who had spent time in Chicago as a community organizer in the 1980s and already knew he wanted to run for office, openly weighed the pros and cons of working for the law firm. On the one hand it was beloved by many of the city’s liberals and black leaders for its work on issues like voting rights and housing equality. On the other, the firm had clashed with Chicago’s powerful mayor, Richard M. Daley, who presided then and now over the city’s sprawling Democratic organization.“During the course of our talking, it came out that people who knew he was having lunch with me were trying to convince him that this was the worst place for him to go. He shared this with me — he was amused,” Mr. Miner said, laughing. “This isn’t where you land if you want to curry favor with the Democratic power structure.”It was, however, exactly where an aspiring politician might land if he happened to want to run for office from Hyde Park, a neighborhood with a long history of electing reform-minded politicians independent of the city’s legendary Democratic machine. Mr. Obama chose to put down roots in the neighborhood after graduating law school and marrying Michelle Robinson, a Chicago native and fellow lawyer.A tight-knit community that runs through the South Side, Hyde Park is a liberal bastion of integration in what is otherwise one of the nation’s most segregated cities. Mayor Washington had called it home, as did whites who marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and wealthy black entrepreneurs a generation removed from the civil rights battles of the 1960s.At its heart is the University of Chicago; at its borders are poor, predominately black neighborhoods blighted by rundown buildings and vacant lots. For Mr. Obama, who was born in Hawaii to a white Kansan mother and an African father and who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, it was a perfect fit.“He felt completely comfortable in Hyde Park,” said Martha Minow, his former law professor and a mentor. “It’s a place where you don’t have to wear a label on your forehead. You can go to a bookstore and there’s the homeless person and there’s the professor.”Mr. Obama quickly grounded himself in the community. He led a successful drive that registered nearly 150,000 black voters for the 1992 campaign. He became a part-time professor at the University of Chicago Law School. And, in 1993, he finally decided to join the law offices of Miner, Barnhill & Galland.The choice sent a signal that Mr. Obama was “allying himself with the independents, which is what you have to be if you’re going to be elected from the Hyde Park area,” said Don Rose, a longtime Democratic political consultant.Making ConnectionsThe decision to accept Mr. Miner’s job offer quickly paid off. By the time Mr. Obama announced his candidacy for the Illinois Senate in 1995 — at the very Hyde Park hotel where Mr. Washington had kicked off his mayoral campaign — he had cultivated a network of influential supporters.Mr. Miner was “enormously helpful” in introducing Mr. Obama to the liberal coalition of blacks and whites that had helped elect Mr. Washington, said Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend and close adviser. “It brought in a whole new circle of people.”Mr. Obama cultivated clients like Bishop Arthur M. Brazier, the influential pastor of an 18,000-member black church and founding president of the Woodlawn Organization, which focuses on improving conditions for blacks in a neighborhood adjacent to Hyde Park. The two men began talking politics over tennis games at Chicago’s elite East Bank Club, Mr. Brazier recalled.Mr. Obama also worked on housing redevelopment projects involving Antoin Rezko, who became one of Mr. Obama’s most generous donors. Mr. Rezko is currently on trial for corruption charges unrelated to Mr. Obama.It was through the law firm that Mr. Obama met Marilyn Katz, who gave him entry into another activist network: the foot soldiers of the white student and black power movements that helped define Chicago in the 1960s.As a leader of Students for a Democratic Society then, Ms. Katz organized Vietnam War protests, throwing nails in the street to thwart the police. But like many from that era, Ms. Katz had gone on to become a politically active member of the Chicago establishment, playing in a regular poker game with Mr. Miner while working as a consultant to his nemesis, Mayor Daley.“For better or worse, this is Chicago,” said Ms. Katz, who has held fund-raisers for Mr. Obama at her home. “Everyone is connected to everyone.”Mr. Obama was comfortable attending performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with city scions like Newton N. Minow, the father of Martha Minow. Mr. Minow, who had served in the Kennedy administration and managed the white-shoe law firm of Sidley Austin when Mr. Obama worked there after his first year of law school, began introducing him to Chicago’s business titans.Mr. Obama also fit in at Hyde Park’s fringes, among university faculty members like Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, unrepentant members of the radical Weather Underground that bombed the United States Capitol and the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War. Mr. Obama was introduced to the couple in 1995 at a meet-and-greet they held for him at their home, aides said.Now, along with Mr. Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Mr. Ayers has become a prime exhibit in the effort by Mr. Obama’s presidential rivals to highlight what could be politically radioactive associations. In 2001, Mr. Ayers said he did not regret the Weatherman bombings. Even so, in Hyde Park, he and his wife were viewed favorably for their work in addressing city problems. Mr. Ayers was just “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” Mr. Obama said recently.The two men were involved in efforts to reform the city’s education system. They appeared together on academic panels, including one organized by Michelle Obama to discuss the juvenile justice system, an area of mutual concern. Mr. Ayers’s book on the subject won a rave review in The Chicago Tribune by Mr. Obama, who called it “a searing and timely account.”Running and WinningMr. Obama further expanded his list of allies by joining the boards of two well-known charities: the Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation.These memberships have allowed him to help direct tens of millions of dollars in grants over the years to groups that championed the environment, campaign finance reform, gun control and other causes supported by the liberal network he was cultivating. Mr. Brazier’s group, the Woodlawn Organization, received money, for instance, as did antipoverty groups with ties to organized labor like Chicago Acorn, whose endorsement Mr. Obama sought and won in his State Senate race.On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama hewed closely to liberal orthodoxy, positions that have become controversial in the presidential race. A candidate questionnaire from one liberal group, for instance, detailed his views on hot-button issues like the death penalty (opposed) and a ban on handguns (in favor).Today, Mr. Obama espouses more centrist views and says a campaign aide had incorrectly characterized his views on those issues — a shift that does not sit well with some in the group, the Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization.“We certainly thought those were his positions,” said David Igasaki, the group’s chairman, who noted Mr. Obama had also interviewed with the group. “We understand that people change their views. But it sort of bothers me that he doesn’t acknowledge that. He tries to say that was never his view.”In any event, the group endorsed Mr. Obama, and he was easily elected to the State Senate in 1996.In the state Capitol in Springfield, Mr. Obama was guided through the political thicket by powerful mentors. It was not long into Mr. Obama’s first term when Mr. Mikva recalled getting a telephone call from Paul Simon, the recently retired United States senator. Mr. Mikva had become friends with Mr. Obama after returning from a stint as White House counsel for President Bill Clinton to teach law at the university.Mr. Simon suggested Mr. Mikva play matchmaker between Mr. Obama and Emil Jones Jr., the powerful Democratic leader of the State Senate. For the better part of a quarter century, Mr. Mikva had played in a golfing foursome that included Mr. Jones.“ ‘Say, our friend Barack Obama has a chance to push this campaign finance bill through,’ ” Mr. Mikva recalled Mr. Simon’s telling him. “ ‘Why don’t you call your friend Emil Jones and tell him how good he is.’ ”Mr. Mikva obliged, and in 1998, Mr. Obama passed one of his signature achievements in the Illinois Senate: sweeping legislation that banned most gifts from lobbyists and the personal use of campaign money by state lawmakers. His Hyde Park base applauded, but Mr. Obama would soon learn the limits of his appeal.Learning His LessonsThe next year, Mr. Obama called Mr. Minow, his former boss, asking to see him. Mr. Obama was eyeing the Hyde Park Congressional seat held by Bobby L. Rush, a former Black Panther leader. “Are you nuts?” Mr. Minow recalled telling the younger man. “Barack, I think this is a mistake.”Mr. Minow flipped through his Rolodex, calling black businesspeople and asking them if they would help finance Mr. Obama’s bid. He said he received a uniform answer: “No — let him wait his turn.” Nevertheless, the impatient Mr. Obama jumped into the race.Brimming with confidence, he equated Mr. Rush with “a politics that is rooted in the past” and cast himself as someone who could reach beyond the racial divide to get things done. But it quickly became clear that while he had solidified his support among Hyde Park’s denizens, he had not built enough bridges to the surrounding black communities.That failure was apparent on the summer day in 1999 when he walked through the South Side during the Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic. Other politicians rode on colorful floats, trailed by throngs. But Mr. Obama was on foot as he made his way through the cheering paradegoers who had shown up to celebrate black pride.“People were asking, who is he?” said Mr. Kindle, who served as one of his emissaries to the black community. “You could see how humbling it was in his face.”The campaign, as Mr. Mikva put it, was “a disaster from beginning to end.” Yet in ultimately losing, Mr. Obama learned that he needed to expand his base to be able to bounce back onto a larger stage, according to Mr. Mikva and others. “The beauty of Obama,” Mr. Kindle said, “is that he was willing to be taken to the woodshed” and “allow himself to grow.”Mr. Obama, who had a reputation in Springfield as standoffish (“He socialized, but he did not hang out,” Mr. Kindle said), began making courtesy calls to black politicians and members of the clergy. He assured them that he had nothing against Mr. Rush and that “it was all cool,” said Ron Lester, who was Mr. Obama’s pollster during the race.Mr. Jones, the State Senate president who by then had become Mr. Obama’s political benefactor, stepped up to help as well. The two were an unlikely pair: the Harvard-educated lawyer and the former sewer inspector who had risen through the ranks of Chicago ward politics. Mr. Jones let Mr. Obama take center stage on legislation important to the black community, like forcing the police to tape interrogations.His willingness to negotiate — the interrogation law ended up with a host of exceptions — gained him a reputation as a pragmatist who could sell compromise as a victory to all sides, said Peter Baroni, then the legal counsel to the Republican caucus.“He took what came into the fray as a very leftist bill, a very leftist proposal, a very non-law-enforcement bill,” Mr. Baroni said, “and he appeased law enforcement and brought everyone around to support it.”Before his loss to Mr. Rush, Mr. Obama’s typical response for requests for state money would be a lecture, recalled Dan Shomon, a former Obama aide. “He would say something like: ‘You know what, you’re not going to get your money, and you know why? Let me explain the state budget,’ ” Mr. Shomon said. “Then he’d give a 20-minute treatise on how the Republicans wouldn’t raise taxes, so there wasn’t any money to do what they wanted to do.”Now, Mr. Obama more eagerly met the demands for spending earmarks for churches and community groups in his district, said State Senator Donne E. Trotter, then the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I know this firsthand, because the community groups in his district stopped coming to me,” Mr. Trotter said.Typical of Mr. Obama’s earmarks was a $100,000 grant for a youth center at a Catholic church run by the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a controversial priest who was one of the few South Side clergymen to back Mr. Obama against Mr. Rush.Father Pfleger has long worked with South Side political leaders to reduce crime and improve the community. But he has drawn fire from some quarters for defending the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and inviting him to speak at his church. Father Pfleger, who did not return calls for comment, is one of the religious leaders whose “faith testimonials” Mr. Obama has posted on his presidential campaign Web site.David Axelrod, the chief strategist for the Obama presidential campaign, said that Father Pfleger was “remaking the face” of Chicago’s South Side and that all of Mr. Obama’s earmarks went to worthy programs like his.With his black base more secure, Mr. Obama began in 2002 to contemplate a run for the United States Senate.“I had lunch with him at the Quadrangle Club, and we were discussing the different bases he had to touch. I said, ‘You have to talk to the Jackson boys first,’ ” Mr. Mikva recalled, referring to Representative Jackson and his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson. “Because Jesse Jackson Jr. had his eye on that seat. He said, ‘I know. I’m working on that.’ ”Mr. Obama soon sat down with the younger Mr. Jackson at the 312 Chicago restaurant. Michelle Obama had attended high school with Mr. Jackson’s sister and been close to the family for years, and the congressman had attended the Obamas’ wedding. “He said, ‘Jesse, if you’re running for the U.S. Senate I’m not going to run,’ ” Mr. Jackson recalled.But Mr. Jackson had already decided against it, and he gave Mr. Obama his blessing.A Pivotal MomentBetty Lu Saltzman, a Democratic doyenne from Chicago’s lakefront liberal crowd, convened a small group of activists, including Ms. Katz, in her living room to organize a rally to protest the United States’ impending invasion of Iraq. It was late September 2002, and Mr. Obama was on the top of Ms. Saltzman’s list of desired speakers.She first met him when he ran the black voter registration drive in the 1992 election, and was so impressed that she immediately took him under her wing, introducing him to wealthy donors and talking him up to friends like Mr. Axelrod. But with just a few days to go before the rally, Ms. Saltzman was having trouble reaching Mr. Obama. Finally, she said she left word with his wife.But before Mr. Obama called her back, he dialed up some advice.With his possible run for the United States Senate, he wanted to speak with Mr. Axelrod and others about the ramifications of broadcasting his reservations about a war the public was fast getting behind. An antiwar speech would play to his Chicago liberal base, and could help him in what was expected to be a hotly contested primary, they told him, but it also could hurt him in the general election.“This was a call to assess just how risky was this,” said Pete Giangreco, who along with Mr. Axelrod described the conversation. When Mr. Obama tossed out the idea of calling it a “dumb war,” Mr. Giangreco said he cringed. “I remember thinking, ‘this puts us in the weak defense category, doesn’t it?’ ”The rally was held on Oct. 2, 2002, in Federal Plaza before nearly 2,000 people. On the podium before speaking, Mr. Obama joked about the dated nature of crowd-pleasing protest songs like “Give Peace a Chance.” “ ‘Can’t they play something else?’ ” Ms. Saltzman recalled his saying.The speech, friends say, was vintage Obama, a bold but nuanced message that has become the touchstone of his presidential campaign: While he said the Iraq war would lead to “an occupation of undetermined length with undetermined costs and undetermined consequences,” he was also careful to emphasize that there were times when military intervention was necessary.“What’s fascinating about Barack is what he’s trying to do is reframe and change the discourse so you build support for liberal alternatives within the electorate,” said Will Burns, a former aide whom Mr. Obama also consulted on the speech. “He has an ability to frame stuff so it’s not an all or nothing proposition.”Still, Mr. Obama’s refrain about supporting some wars perplexed some in the crowd.An event organizer, Carl Davidson, recalled that a friend “nudged me and said, ‘Who does he think this speech is for? It’s not for this crowd.’ I thought, ‘This guy’s got bigger fish to fry.’ At the time, though, I was only thinking about the U.S. Senate.”Straddling Two WorldsAs Mr. Obama moved closer to running, he paid a visit to James S. Crown and his father, Lester, billionaire investors who presided over a sprawling Chicago business dynasty and prominent leaders in the Jewish community.As the meeting ended, the younger Mr. Crown said, his father — who is “fairly hawkish” about Israel’s security — was noncommittal about Mr. Obama. But, James Crown said, “I pulled him down to my office, and I said, ‘Hey, look, I think you should run, and I want you to win.’ ”In courting families like the Crowns, Mr. Obama was gaining entree into the upper echelon of the city’s corporate boardrooms, a ripe source of campaign money. But he was also seeking to broaden his appeal to Jewish voters, and he was wading more deeply into one of the touchiest issues in American politics: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.For years, the Obamas had been regular dinner guests at the Hyde Park home of Rashid Khalidi, a Middle East scholar at the University of Chicago and an adviser to the Palestinian delegation to the 1990s peace talks. Mr. Khalidi said the talk would often turn to the Middle East, and he talked with Mr. Obama about issues like living conditions in the occupied territories. In 2000, the Khalidis held a fund-raiser for Mr. Obama during his Congressional campaign. Both Mr. Khalidi and Mr. Abunimah, of the Electronic Intifada, said Mr. Obama had spoken at the fund-raiser and had called for the United States to adopt a more “evenhanded approach” to the Palestinian-Israel conflict.Still, Mr. Khalidi said ascertaining Mr. Obama’s precise position was often difficult. “You may come away thinking, ‘Wow, he agrees with me,’ ” he said. “But later, when you get home and think about it, you are not sure.”A.J. Wolf, a Hyde Park rabbi who is a friend of Mr. Obama’s and has often invited Mr. Khalidi to speak at his synagogue, said Mr. Obama had disappointed him by not being more assertive about the need for both Israel and the Palestinians to move toward peace. “He’s played all those notes right for the Israel lobby,” said Mr. Wolf, who is sometimes critical of Israel.During the Senate campaign, Mr. Obama joined in a “Walk for Israel” rally along Lake Michigan on Israel Solidarity Day. The Crowns and other Jewish leaders raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for him. Several days before the primary in 2004, some of his Jewish supporters took offense that Mr. Obama had not taken the opportunity on a campaign questionnaire to denounce Yasir Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, or to strongly support Israel’s building of a security fence.But in a sign of how far Mr. Obama had come in his coalition-building, friends from the American Israel Political Action Committee, the national pro-Israel lobbying group, helped him rush out a response to smooth over the flap.In an e-mail message, Mr. Obama blamed a staff member for the oversight, and expressed the hope that “none of this has raised any questions on your part regarding my fundamental commitment to Israel’s security.” Mr. Abunimah has written of running into the candidate around that time and has said that Mr. Obama told him: “I’m sorry I haven’t said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I’m hoping that when things calm down I can be more upfront.”The Obama camp has denied Mr. Abunimah’s account. Mr. Khalidi, who is now the director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, said, “I’m unhappy about the positions he’s taken, but I can’t say I’m terribly disappointed.” He added: “People think he’s a saint. He’s not. He’s a politician.”Mr. Crown, for his part, could not be more pleased. Since Mr. Obama was elected to the Senate Mr. Crown said that even his father had been won over, helping to arrange meetings for Mr. Obama in a visit to Israel. James Crown said he had “never had even the slightest glimmer of concern that Barack wasn’t terrific” on Israel — a view that Mr. Obama jokingly reinforced at a meeting last year in Mr. Crown’s office.As Mr. Mikva recounted it, after discussing a lukewarm response by more conservative Jews to some of Mr. Obama’s comments, “I turned to Barack and said, ‘Your name could be Chaim Weizmann, the founder of the Jewish state, and some of these Jewish Republicans wouldn’t vote for you.’ ” And, Mr. Mikva said, “He joked, ‘Well, you know my name is “Baruch” Obama.’ ”But for all of Mr. Obama’s attentiveness to Jewish concerns about Israel, Republican Party officials have made it clear that they think this is an area of vulnerability. Though Mr. Obama has condemned Hamas, a militant Palestinian group, as a terrorist organization, just last week Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, suggested that the group wanted to see Mr. Obama in the White House. Mr. Obama denounced that suggestion as a “smear.”Embracing the MachineWhen Mr. Obama delivered a now-famous speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention that catapulted him onto the national stage, sitting in the audience was Mayor Daley of Chicago.As Mr. Obama spoke, Mr. Daley and other Illinois officials “were just as wide-eyed as the thousands of conventiongoers,” said James A. DeLeo, a Democratic leader in the Illinois Senate.The mayor and the senator had some ties, but they had never had a close relationship. Mr. Obama’s friend Ms. Jarrett had worked for Mr. Daley, and had hired Michelle Obama into the administration in the early 1990s. Yet Mr. Obama had run multiple times as a candidate without the mayor’s help.Now, as Mr. Obama ascended to the larger stage, he also took the final step in his evolution from Hyde Park independent to mainstream Chicago politician, establishing an overt alliance with Mr. Daley. “Over the years, Senator Obama and I have been like-minded in most of the issues facing Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement.His former chief of staff, Gary Chico, said the mayor’s alliance with the senator was “based on mutual interest and what the mayor saw in the man. They’re both pragmatic.”But Mr. Obama’s closer relationship with the mayor, coupled with some of his endorsements of Democrats who championed the kind of patronage politics Mr. Obama had once denounced, left some supporters feeling as though he was straying from his roots in the reform movement.Last year, Mr. Mikva said he took Mr. Obama aside to complain about his endorsement of an alderwoman who had supported Mr. Obama in his United States Senate run and was the focus of newspaper reports about questionable spending on a $19.5 million cultural center. Mr. Mikva said Mr. Obama’s response was simple: “Sometimes you pay your debts.” Early last year, Mr. Obama endorsed Mr. Daley in his re-election bid, asserting that Chicago had blossomed during his tenure.Mr. Miner, the mentor who had brought Mr. Obama into his law firm in the early 1990s, said he remained an enthusiastic Obama supporter. But, when it comes to some of Mr. Obama’s endorsements, “I don’t know who he’s listening to,” Mr. Miner said.“I’ve thought sometimes that I should have picked up the phone and called him,” Mr. Miner said. “Why did he think he needed to do this?”Just before Mr. Obama complimented Mr. Daley, the mayor did something unusual, as well. He broke with his tradition of remaining neutral in Democratic primaries and threw his support behind Mr. Obama’s presidential bid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/us/politics/11chicago.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1210522503-RROYK/Fq0ek+ru837XfpRA&oref=slogin
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
Barack Obama erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among superdelegates Saturday when he added more endorsements from the group of Democrats who will decide the party's nomination for president.
Obama added superdelegates from Utah and Ohio, as well as two from the Virgin Islands who had previously backed Clinton. The additions enabled Obama to surpass Clinton's total for the first time in the campaign. He had picked up nine endorsements Friday.
The milestone is important because Clinton would need to win over the superdelegates by a wide margin to claim the nomination. They are a group that Clinton owned before the first caucus, when she was able to cash in on the popularity of the Clinton brand among the party faithful.
Those party insiders, however, have been steadily streaming to Obama since he started posting wins in early voting states.
"I always felt that if anybody establishes himself as the clear leader, the superdelegates would fall in line," said Don Fowler, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
"It is perceived that he is the leader," said Fowler, a superdelegate from South Carolina who supports Clinton. "The trickle is going to become an avalanche."
Superdelegates are the party and elected officials who will automatically attend the Democratic national convention this August in Denver. They can support whomever they choose, regardless of what happens in the primaries.
They are key because neither Obama nor Clinton can win the nomination without them.
Nearly 800 superdelegates will attend the convention. Obama has endorsements from 275, according to the latest tally by The Associated Press. Clinton has 271.5.
Many of the superdelegates who endorsed Obama in the past week said it is time for the party to unite behind him. Obama is coming off a big win in North Carolina's Democratic primary Tuesday. Clinton narrowly won the primary Indiana's primary the same day, but Obama did better than many expected.
Since then, Obama has added 20 superdelegates since and Clinton has had a net increase of one.
Kevin Rodriquez of the Virgin Islands said in a statement that he switched from Clinton to Obama because he thinks Obama has brought energy and excitement to the party.
"He has shown he can connect with Democrats, Republicans and independents across this country, whether we live on the mainland or an island," Rodriquez said.
Senator Barack Obama has caught up to his opponent, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the count of superdelegates, one of the few mathematical areas where Mrs. Clinton still maintained an advantage in the race.
Mr. Obama picked up endorsements on Friday from three more superdelegates, the Democratic Party insiders who are granted autonomy to support whomever they wish at the convention in August. One, a New Jersey congressman, switched his allegiance away from Mrs. Clinton, allowing the Illinois senator to pull even with his rival, according to the latest New York Times count.
The Times’s tally shows each candidate with 263 superdelegates, based on telephone polls conducted with CBS News as well as public endorsements. A separate count by The Associated Press shows Mr. Obama still trailing by fewer than four votes. And a measure by ABC News shows the Illinois senator already ahead, 267 to 265.
Mrs. Clinton trails her opponent in the popular vote and the total Democratic delegate count. But this is the first time since the outset of the race that she has lost the lead in one of her few remaining trump cards.
Superdelegates represent up to a fifth of the Democratic convention delegation, and have historically supported the front-runner at the convention. More than 250 superdelegates have yet to publicly announce their decisions.
On Thursday, Mr. Obama picked up the support of Representative Donald Payne of New Jersey, who told The Star-Ledger of Newark that he was switching away from Mrs. Clinton after thinking through “one of the most difficult decisions I have made.” Peter DeFazio, an Oregon congressman, also said he would back Mr. Obama.
Ed Espinoza, a Californian who is a member of the party’s national committee, pledged his support on Friday, according to the Obama campaign.
Mr. Obama’s gains came as other senior members of his party appeared to be closing ranks around him. The Huffington Post reported that Representative Rahm Emanuel, the influential Democrat from Illinois, referred to Mr. Obama as the “presumptive nominee” at a discussion panel held by The New Yorker on Friday morning.
(A spokeswoman for Mr. Emanuel told the Politico that “all Rahm said was that Senator Obama was now the front-runner, which by and large means, because of the calendar, he is the presumptive nominee, at this point.”)
Meanwhile, the fate of another significant endorsement in the race may hang on the interpretation of a pronoun — for now, anyway.
Appearing on MSNBC this morning, John Edwards said he was “very likely” to endorse the candidate he voted for in the North Carolina primary on Tuesday. But, the anchors asked, which candidate was it?
In his demurral, Mr. Edwards may have slipped: “I just voted — I just voted for him on Tuesday,” he said. But given Mr. Edwards’s Southern accent, that pesky pronoun may have been plural, albeit in a shortened form: “I just voted for ’em on Tuesday.”
David Schuster, an MSNBC host, attempted to ferret out the truth. “So it was a him or a her that you voted for?” he asked, interrupting the former senator. Mr. Edwards then backpedaled, saying, “No, no,” and laughing.
Ariel Alexovich and Julie Bosman contributed reporting.
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 3 minutes ago
Barack Obama all but erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among national convention superdelegates on Friday and won fresh labor backing as elements of the Democratic Party began coalescing around the Illinois senator for the fall campaign.
Obama picked up the backing of five superdelegates, including Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who had been a Clinton supporter.
In addition, the American Federation of Government Employees announced its support for Obama. The union claims about 600,000 members who work in the federal and Washington, D.C., governments.
Obama, who won a convincing victory in the North Carolina primary and lost Indiana narrowly on Tuesday, has been steadily gaining strength in the days since.
Clinton also gained a superdelegate.
The developments left the former first lady with 271.5 superdelegates, to 268 for Obama. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63.
In addition to Payne, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and two members of the Democratic National Committee from California announced they were supporting Obama.
"The election is over, everybody knows that. Obama has won," said Vernon Watkins, one of the two.
So, too, John Gage, president of the AFGE.
"Our people, I think, recognize the enthusiasm and vitality behind Senator Obama's campaign," he said in a statement.
"After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," said Payne, who in a statement said that Clinton is a good friend and he still holds her in high regard. Clinton's new supporter was Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa. His congressional district voted overwhelmingly for the former first lady in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.
Both Obama and Clinton have courted superdelegates in recent days in private meetings at party headquarters not far from the Capitol.
Despite Watkins' assessment, Clinton has shown no signs she is ready to quit the race. She is heavily favored to win Tuesday's primary in West Virginia, and is in the midst of a two-day swing through several other states with upcoming elections.
Associated Press Writers Jesse Holland and Matthew Daly in Washington and Solvej Schou in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects Obama total; UPDATES with Payne quote)
Today, as President of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), I announced our endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Because the gun issue has recently become a factor in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, I want to share the remarks I made today: As a gun rights organization we have not come to this decision lightly. We were formed two years ago because our research shows that millions of gun owners wanted a change. They not only wanted an organization that would protect their gun rights but an organization that was also committed to the protection of their communities as well as the protection of our lands. We reached out to the Obama campaign several weeks ago to offer our support and approval as was reported by Paul Bedard of US News and World Report. We believe recent attacks on Senator Obama's stand on the 2nd Amendment and his commitment to our hunting and shooting heritage are unfair and American Hunters and Shooters Association is stepping up to set the record straight. Senator Obama has clearly demonstrated his commitment to the 2nd Amendment by his vote in support of the Vitter amendment to HR 5441, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill of 2007. This amendment prevents the Government from confiscating guns in a time of crisis or emergency. Imagine how the citizens felt during Hurricane Katrina when government agents kicked in doors to confiscate law abiding citizens' guns at a time when they needed them the most. We know Senator Obama "gets it." To say that he is an elitist is patently ridiculous. To hunters and shooters everywhere, Senator Obama's vote demonstrated a fundamental understanding of the meaning of the 2nd Amendment which means he recognizes the individual right of all citizens to keep and bear arms. Senator Clinton, on the hand, failed to grasp the importance of this critical issue to hunters and shooters and voted against this Amendment. She turned her back on America's gun owners. In addition, Senator Obama's commitment to conservation and protection of our natural resources and access to public lands demonstrates to us his commitment to America's hunting and shooting heritage. Senator Obama will be a strong and authentic voice for America's hunters and shooters and it is with great pleasure that we endorse his candidacy. Ray Schoenke Wednesday, April 16, 2008
http://www.huntersandshooters.com/index.php
Moderators George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson spent the first 50 minutes obsessed with distractions that only political insiders care about--gaffes, polling numbers, the stale Rev. Wright story, and the old-news Bosnia story. And, channeling Karl Rove, they directed a video question to Barack Obama asking if he loves the American flag or not. Seriously! I just signed a petition to ABC and other media that says: "Debate moderators abuse the public trust every time they ask trivial questions about gaffes and 'gotchas' that only political insiders care about. Enough with the distractions--ABC and other networks must focus on issues that affect people's daily lives." Want to sign it too? We need a bunch of signers for ABC to take this concern seriously. Click here to sign: http://pol.moveon.org/enoughdistractions/?r_by=-9098666-hcN_Vf&rc=paste Thanks!
Barack and Basketball - REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Lqm5emQl4
By Anne E. Kornblut and Jon CohenWashington Post Staff WritersWednesday, April 16, 2008; A06
PHILADELPHIA, April 15 -- Lost in the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign's aggressive attacks on Barack Obama in recent days is a deep and enduring problem that threatens to undercut any inroads Clinton has made in her struggle to overtake him in the Democratic presidential race: She has lost trust among voters, a majority of whom now view her as dishonest.
Her advisers' efforts to deal with the problem -- by having her acknowledge her mistakes and crack self-deprecating jokes -- do not seem to have succeeded. Privately, the aides admit that the recent controversy over her claim to have ducked sniper fire on a trip to Bosnia probably made things worse.
Clinton is viewed as "honest and trustworthy" by just 39 percent of Americans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, compared with 52 percent in May 2006. Nearly six in 10 said in the new poll that she is not honest and trustworthy. And now, compared with Obama, Clinton has a deep trust deficit among Democrats, trailing him by 23 points as the more honest, an area on which she once led both Obama and John Edwards.
Among Democrats, 63 percent called her honest, down 18 points from 2006; among independents, her trust level has dropped 13 points, to 37 percent. Republicans held Clinton in low regard on this in the past (23 percent called her honest two years ago), but it is even lower now, at 16 percent. Majorities of men and women now say the phrase does not apply to Clinton; two years ago, narrow majorities of both did.
Advisers argue that her positive ratings have dipped as she has been defined by her opponents -- a normal campaign occurrence -- and that her honesty problem reflects the pounding she took from Republicans in the 1990s. But the Bosnia incident and the way the campaign handled it have left advisers divided over what a candidate can do after such a steep drop in trust.
Some of her aides believe that after Clinton told the Bosnia story -- of having run from her military aircraft into a hangar to avoid sniper fire -- when television images of the event showed otherwise, the campaign had no choice but to say she "misspoke." Communications director Howard Wolfson first did so on a conference call with reporters, and Clinton repeated the explanation over the course of several days.
Other Clinton advisers thought that response did not come quickly enough -- and that when it did, without further explanation or talking points for surrogates to use, it only worsened the perception that she had lied. Making the situation more difficult was a split within the campaign over whether Clinton had exaggerated, or simply confused the landing with another trip. One Clinton insider announced in a strategy meeting it was ridiculous to have imagined the first lady ever having been in danger, or for Clinton to have thought she was -- a slap at the senator from New York that other advisers described as disrespectful.
At the same time, die-hard Clinton loyalists thought her communications operation did not defend her heartily enough, which press aides said they thought was impossible. "Continuing to say it did happen when it didn't happen is not a strategy," one adviser said.
The problem was exacerbated when Bill Clinton, in defending her confused memory of the Bosnia event, got key details of the incident wrong, before later saying his wife had told him to stay out of it.
Two staffers from the Clinton White House years, Lissa Muscatine and Melanne Verveer, wrote a New York Times op-ed article recalling the perils of the trip, trying to justify why Clinton had gotten the story wrong. "As has been reported, Mrs. Clinton's trip to Bosnia included a U.S.O. component with the comedian Sinbad and the singer Sheryl Crow. The helicopters that carried them to performances at American base camps zigzagged just above the trees to avoid potential ground fire, according to Carey Cavanaugh, who was then a State Department official traveling with Sinbad, and helicopters flew alongside to deal with the threat of anti-aircraft fire or snipers. These facts explain why many of us, including the first lady, believed that the conditions on the ground were precarious. We were worried about sniper fire and were prepared to rush off the tarmac when we landed," they wrote.
Senior Clinton advisers argued that the Bosnia story would not have developed the way it did if it were not for a story line about Clinton that goes back to the 1990s, when scandals involving the first lady, including the firings in the White House travel office and her financial dealings, resulted in widespread doubts about her trustworthiness. That framework, they argue, made it easier for Clinton to be perceived as dishonest, a problem that first arose in her presidential campaign in a debate last fall when she gave conflicting answers on whether she supports allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.
The new poll suggests that much of her problem is with men. Nearly two-thirds of men said Clinton is not honest and trustworthy (an increase of 19 points), compared with 53 percent of women (up 12 points). Democratic men, in particular, have shifted: About four in 10 now do not believe Clinton to be honest and trustworthy, nearly triple the percentage saying so in 2006.
The percentage calling Clinton honest has dropped steeply among whites with higher incomes and levels of education. And while majorities of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents across demographic lines said she is honest and trustworthy, the class divisions remain: The percentage of white Democrats without college degrees calling Clinton honest hardly budged in two years, while those with college degrees have dropped off significantly on the question (from 82 percent to 53 percent).
Among whites, the percentage saying Clinton is honest and trustworthy has declined 10 points, compared with 26 points among nonwhites. That number has declined more sharply among liberals (down 30 points) than among moderates (down 13) or conservatives (down 4 points). Head to head with Obama on honesty among Democrats, Clinton faces a 23-point deficit overall, 17 points among whites and nearly 50 points among African Americans.
Cohen reported from Washington. Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.
Hillary Clinton commands the support of the highest-profile Jewish politicians and fund-raisers in Pennsylvania (more to come on that later in the week). But Barack Obama’s biggest Jewish backers in the state have issued a letter explaining why they like their guy:
March 31, 2008 Dear Friend: We are writing as American Jews from all across Pennsylvania to ask that you join us in supporting Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States. Much has been said and many questions have been raised within the Jewish community in recent weeks about Senator Obama’s sensitivity to our community and his record on Israel. Unfortunately, much of the discourse has been based more on politics and positioning and less on facts and fair-minded analysis. We are writing to set the record straight and tell you why we intend to vote for Barack Obama. Each of us – us members of the Jewish community – takes great pride in our commitment to Judaism. For us, the strategy of assigning guilt by association – as has been to done to Senator Obama – runs counter to our teachings and dishonors Jewish law and ethical traditions. Jewish law neither condemns thoughts nor does it denounce the musing of other’s hearts. By contrast, under Jewish law, we – all of us – are judged by our actions and our actions alone. Senator Obama has earned our respect and gratitude because of his support for traditional Jewish values and his commitment to a peaceful and prosperous Israel. His support for Tikkun Olam – “repairing the world” – and social justice is evident through his accomplishments in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate. Without exception, Senator Obama has voted 100% consistently with the position of AIPAC on foreign aid and all other legislation and resolutions affecting Israel. These are the kind of actions for which we are grateful as a community. And, these are facts. For a more in depth look at the Senator’s strong record on issues that matter to our community, please click here. Earlier this month, responding to withering criticism of the pastor of his church, Senator Obama delivered a courageous and powerful speech that demonstrated his unique ability to talk frankly about the continuing racial tension in our country. His speech itself will not lead to racial reconciliation or a complete understanding of our different religious and cultural traditions, but it has opened a new door for Americans of all backgrounds to begin speaking openly with one another. It is a speech that will serve as a teaching tool for all our citizens and will surely serve the interests of the Jewish community. In trying to place the speech in historical context, The New York Times editorialized that the “Inaugural addresses by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion…” While we are profoundly disturbed by the unpatriotic, bigoted and anti-Semitic comments of the retired pastor of Senator Obama’s church, we are moved that Barack stood up at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia earlier this month, and “condemned in unequivocal terms the statements of Reverend Wright” and expressed his own views on issues near and dear to the heart and soul of the Jewish community. Specifically, in repudiating the remarks of his former pastor, Senator Obama said Reverend Wright “expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country…a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a great rabbinic scholar of the 20th century, was known equally for his theological scholarship and as well as for having marched alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Heschel once recalled that when marching in Selma, he was confronted by a host of people who were filled with hate and ignorance. They jeered at the Rabbi who afterwards declared to his fellow Jews: “When I marched in Selma, my feet were praying.” Later, Heschel would recount that while he had always found comfort in his Siddur, his prayer book, it was in Selma where he learned to pray with his feet as well. We have each chosen to pray with our feet and stand with Barack Obama because he is sensitive to the issues of the Jewish community and a stalwart supporter of Israel. We respectfully ask that you stand with Senator Barack Obama and vote for him on April 22. The Honorable Josh Shapiro Deputy Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Abington, PA The Honorable Daylin Leach Pennsylvania House of Representatives Ardmore, PA Rabbi Robyn Frisch Rydal, PA Rabbi Seth Frisch Rydal, PA Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer Philadelphia, PA Rabbi Jonathan H. Gerard Easton, PA Rabbi David A. Teutsch Philadelphia, PA Rabbi Joshua Waxman Fort Washington, PA Robert S. Adelson Merion, PA David Ainsman Pittsburgh, PA Meryl Ainsman Pittsburgh, PA Mark Alderman Bryn Mawr, PA Marian Allen Pittsburgh, PA Tom Allen Pittsburgh, PA Irl Barg Chester County, PA Henri J. Barkey International Relations Dept., Lehigh University Allentown, PA Dr. Steve Barrer Abington, PA Daniel Berger, Esq. Philadelphia, PA Todd W. Bernstein Philadelphia, PA James D. Bloom Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA Peter Buttenwieser Philadelphia, PA Daniel Clearfield Harrisburg, PA Carl Cohen Pittsburgh, PA Dan Cohen, Pittsburgh, PA Hillary Cohen Pittsburgh, PA Marcia Cooper Pittsburgh, PA Mickie Diamond Pittsburgh, PA David Ehrenwerth Pittsburgh, PA Judy Ehrenwerth Pittsburgh, PA Justin Ehrenwerth Pittsburgh, PA Bradley T. Forman Harrisburg, PA Sue Friedberg Pittsburgh, PA Aaron J. Friewald, Esq. Wynnewood, PA Jeffrey Frutkin Spring House, PA Serena Fujita Bucknell University Lewisburg PA Bernard Gerber, Berks County, PA Susan Golomb Pittsburgh, PA Stephen M. Goodman Philadelphia, PA Mahnaz Harrison Pittsburgh, PA Ross Harrison Pittsburgh, PA Rick Horowitz Wynnewood, PA Ruth Horowitz Wynnewood, PA Eve Klothen, Esq. Swarthmore, PA Joseph Kohn, Esq. Devon, PA Dean Kross, M.D. Pittsburgh, PA David Landau Wallingford, PA Clifford Levine, Esq. Pittsburgh, PA Rosanne M. Levine Pittsburgh, PA Daniel E. Loeb Publisher, Philadelphia Jewish Voice Philadelphia, PA Cathy Lewis Long Pittsburgh, PA Andrea M. Lowenstein Pittsburgh, PA Michael E. Lowenstein Pittsburgh, PA Jules Mermelstein Township Commissioner Upper Dublin, PA Morey Myers, Esq. Scranton PA Sondra Myers Scranton, PA Jacob Naveh Pittsburgh, PA Todd Reidbord Pittsburgh, PA Stephan Rosenfeld Jenkintown, PA Jeff Shell Philadelphia, PA Laura Shell Penn Valley, PA Stephanie Shell Ardmore, PA Carl Shuman, Harrisburg, PA Alan Siger Pittsburgh, PA Patricia Siger Pittsburgh, PA Prof. Lawrence Silberstein Director, Berman Center for Jewish Studies, Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA Larry Silverman Pittsburgh, PA Roger Simon Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA Jill Stein Villanova, PA Lem Tarshis Blue Bell, PA Jill Zipin Philadelphia, PA http://elections.jta.org/2008/04/01/pa-jews-for-obama/
March 31, 2008
Dear Friend:
We are writing as American Jews from all across Pennsylvania to ask that you join us in supporting Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.
Much has been said and many questions have been raised within the Jewish community in recent weeks about Senator Obama’s sensitivity to our community and his record on Israel. Unfortunately, much of the discourse has been based more on politics and positioning and less on facts and fair-minded analysis. We are writing to set the record straight and tell you why we intend to vote for Barack Obama.
Each of us – us members of the Jewish community – takes great pride in our commitment to Judaism. For us, the strategy of assigning guilt by association – as has been to done to Senator Obama – runs counter to our teachings and dishonors Jewish law and ethical traditions. Jewish law neither condemns thoughts nor does it denounce the musing of other’s hearts. By contrast, under Jewish law, we – all of us – are judged by our actions and our actions alone.
Senator Obama has earned our respect and gratitude because of his support for traditional Jewish values and his commitment to a peaceful and prosperous Israel. His support for Tikkun Olam – “repairing the world” – and social justice is evident through his accomplishments in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate. Without exception, Senator Obama has voted 100% consistently with the position of AIPAC on foreign aid and all other legislation and resolutions affecting Israel. These are the kind of actions for which we are grateful as a community. And, these are facts. For a more in depth look at the Senator’s strong record on issues that matter to our community, please click here.
Earlier this month, responding to withering criticism of the pastor of his church, Senator Obama delivered a courageous and powerful speech that demonstrated his unique ability to talk frankly about the continuing racial tension in our country. His speech itself will not lead to racial reconciliation or a complete understanding of our different religious and cultural traditions, but it has opened a new door for Americans of all backgrounds to begin speaking openly with one another. It is a speech that will serve as a teaching tool for all our citizens and will surely serve the interests of the Jewish community. In trying to place the speech in historical context, The New York Times editorialized that the “Inaugural addresses by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion…”
While we are profoundly disturbed by the unpatriotic, bigoted and anti-Semitic comments of the retired pastor of Senator Obama’s church, we are moved that Barack stood up at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia earlier this month, and “condemned in unequivocal terms the statements of Reverend Wright” and expressed his own views on issues near and dear to the heart and soul of the Jewish community.
Specifically, in repudiating the remarks of his former pastor, Senator Obama said Reverend Wright “expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country…a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.”
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a great rabbinic scholar of the 20th century, was known equally for his theological scholarship and as well as for having marched alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement.
Heschel once recalled that when marching in Selma, he was confronted by a host of people who were filled with hate and ignorance. They jeered at the Rabbi who afterwards declared to his fellow Jews: “When I marched in Selma, my feet were praying.” Later, Heschel would recount that while he had always found comfort in his Siddur, his prayer book, it was in Selma where he learned to pray with his feet as well.
We have each chosen to pray with our feet and stand with Barack Obama because he is sensitive to the issues of the Jewish community and a stalwart supporter of Israel.
We respectfully ask that you stand with Senator Barack Obama and vote for him on April 22.
The Honorable Josh Shapiro Deputy Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Abington, PA
The Honorable Daylin Leach Pennsylvania House of Representatives Ardmore, PA
Rabbi Robyn Frisch Rydal, PA
Rabbi Seth Frisch Rydal, PA
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer Philadelphia, PA
Rabbi Jonathan H. Gerard Easton, PA
Rabbi David A. Teutsch Philadelphia, PA
Rabbi Joshua Waxman Fort Washington, PA
Robert S. Adelson Merion, PA
David Ainsman Pittsburgh, PA
Meryl Ainsman Pittsburgh, PA
Mark Alderman Bryn Mawr, PA
Marian Allen Pittsburgh, PA
Tom Allen Pittsburgh, PA
Irl Barg Chester County, PA
Henri J. Barkey International Relations Dept., Lehigh University Allentown, PA
Dr. Steve Barrer Abington, PA
Daniel Berger, Esq. Philadelphia, PA
Todd W. Bernstein Philadelphia, PA
James D. Bloom Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA
Peter Buttenwieser Philadelphia, PA
Daniel Clearfield Harrisburg, PA
Carl Cohen Pittsburgh, PA
Dan Cohen, Pittsburgh, PA
Hillary Cohen Pittsburgh, PA
Marcia Cooper Pittsburgh, PA
Mickie Diamond Pittsburgh, PA
David Ehrenwerth Pittsburgh, PA
Judy Ehrenwerth Pittsburgh, PA
Justin Ehrenwerth Pittsburgh, PA
Bradley T. Forman Harrisburg, PA
Sue Friedberg Pittsburgh, PA
Aaron J. Friewald, Esq. Wynnewood, PA
Jeffrey Frutkin Spring House, PA
Serena Fujita Bucknell University Lewisburg PA
Bernard Gerber, Berks County, PA
Susan Golomb Pittsburgh, PA
Stephen M. Goodman Philadelphia, PA
Mahnaz Harrison Pittsburgh, PA
Ross Harrison Pittsburgh, PA
Rick Horowitz Wynnewood, PA
Ruth Horowitz Wynnewood, PA
Eve Klothen, Esq. Swarthmore, PA
Joseph Kohn, Esq. Devon, PA
Dean Kross, M.D. Pittsburgh, PA
David Landau Wallingford, PA
Clifford Levine, Esq. Pittsburgh, PA
Rosanne M. Levine Pittsburgh, PA
Daniel E. Loeb Publisher, Philadelphia Jewish Voice Philadelphia, PA
Cathy Lewis Long Pittsburgh, PA
Andrea M. Lowenstein Pittsburgh, PA
Michael E. Lowenstein Pittsburgh, PA
Jules Mermelstein Township Commissioner Upper Dublin, PA
Morey Myers, Esq. Scranton PA
Sondra Myers Scranton, PA
Jacob Naveh Pittsburgh, PA
Todd Reidbord Pittsburgh, PA
Stephan Rosenfeld Jenkintown, PA
Jeff Shell Philadelphia, PA
Laura Shell Penn Valley, PA
Stephanie Shell Ardmore, PA
Carl Shuman, Harrisburg, PA
Alan Siger Pittsburgh, PA
Patricia Siger Pittsburgh, PA
Prof. Lawrence Silberstein Director, Berman Center for Jewish Studies, Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
Larry Silverman Pittsburgh, PA
Roger Simon Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
Jill Stein Villanova, PA
Lem Tarshis Blue Bell, PA
Jill Zipin Philadelphia, PA
http://elections.jta.org/2008/04/01/pa-jews-for-obama/
