LOL!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8lvc-azCXY
Pittsburgh Steelers owner backs Obama
The owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team today endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, in a move that could strengthen the Illinois Democrat's appeal to the team's vast and devoted fan base.
The city of Pittsburgh is utterly mad about Steelers football, and Dan Rooney's team in 2006 delivered a Super Bowl championship. His influence competes with that of the city's 28-year old mayor, who is backing Obama's rival Hillary Clinton.
Obama is a fan of the Chicago Bears.
Rooney is the son of Steelers founder Art Rooney, and has managed the club's operations since the 1960's. In 2000, Rooney was inducted into the professional football hall of fame.
In a statement released by the Obama campaign today, Rooney praised Obama's "thoughtful, strategic approach."
"Our country needs a new direction and a new kind of leadership – the kind of leadership, judgment and experience that Senator Obama has demonstrated in more than 20 years of public service, and in a particularly impressive way in this campaign," he said.
"Senator Obama has rejected the say-and-do anything tactics that puts winning elections ahead of governing the country. And he has rejected the back-room politics in favour of opening government up to the people."
He continued, "True sports fans know that you support your team even when they are the underdogs. Barack Obama is the underdog here but it is with great pride that I join his team."
Rooney's nod puts him at odds with Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravehstahl, who is himself known as a committed Steelers' fan.
Clinton is ahead in the polls in Pennsylvania, although in recent weeks Obama has narrowed her lead.
Rooney's endorsement could attract working class voters in western Pennsylvania. That's a segment of the Democratic electorate that has in other states been drawn to Clinton.
PLEASE FORWARD!!
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Obama: $1 Million in a Minute
The latest salvo in the Presidential hopeful's Web campaign is a site designed to process a million dollars in 60 seconds.
by Matt Vella
As the Democratic Presidential hopefuls approach Pennsylvania's Apr. 22 vote, Senator Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) campaign, trailing in statewide polls, is set to get a shot in the arm. Later this week, a small band of independent Obama supporters plans to launch another new fund-raising Web site, AnObamaMinute.com, with the goal of raising $1 million dollars in one minute.
Last week the Obama camp announced it had raised $40 million in March alone, nearly twice the amount raised by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) during the same period. In all, he has raised some $234 million. Through February, Clinton's campaign had raised $156 million.
AnObamaMinute.com calls for pledgers (who can pre-register) to register a donation within 60 seconds, at 1pm on Apr. 21. Could the site be interpreted as just another stunt in an environment where $1 million isn't what it used to be? "There is certainly an element of theater," admits one member of Obama's national finance committee who's familiar with the project (the campaign is participating to make sure all contributions meet federal giving requirements). But, it is also another ambitious fund-raising effort in a political season marked by campaigns that have aggressively pushed the boundaries of raising money, both off and online.
The site also plays to Obama's strengths, the success he has had with grassroots organizations, and an online strategy that stretches far, wide, and deep (BusinessWeek.com, 3/5/08). This year, all of the candidates have tried to perfect their nascent Internet playbooks, embracing cutting-edge Web tools, including blogs and social networks, in an attempt to foster vibrant, engaged online communities. Manhattan-based photographer Scott Cohen is the ardent Obama fan who conceived of the project and commissioned Clever Design to create the site.
Obama has successfully tapped into a large community that's prepared to give a little. Donors giving $200 or less account for nearly 40% of donations to his campaign, according to campaign finance Web site OpenSecrets.org. By comparison, such small donations account for just 23% of Clinton's contributions and 24% of funds received by the Republican hopeful, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Analysts say the site further underscores the engagement and enthusiasm that has buoyed Obama's campaign. "Obama is already the greatest fund-raising success in American history," says Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "This is another wrinkle, another innovation that confirms the Internet's potential."
"In some ways, the Internet connects Obama supporters better," adds Sabato. "Clinton and McCain supporters are generally older, and this kind of high-speed fund-raising may not exactly be the way they think."
The irony, of course, is that Pennsylvania primary voters tend to be older, comprising exactly the demographic that might not be attuned to such online events. His war chest well-funded, Obama's biggest hurdle is to convince more white, working, and lower- and middle-class voters to back him.
Matt Vella is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York.
Obama Didn't Want My Money - Updated w/link to letter [Daily Kos]
by Borell Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 10:12:52 AM PDT
I just had the strangest experience. A presidential candidate gave me back my donation, told me would not accept it because of what I do for a living, and it left me more committeed to the candidate and conviced that he is the person that must be the next president.
I went to the mailbox and found a letter from the Obama Campaign. Enclosed was a check for $100, the return of my contribution from earlier this month along with a letter explaining why it would not be accepted.
You see, I am a registered lobbyist for a non-profit organziation. We are a non-partisan, non-political membership organziation, we do not have a political action committee and strictly observe a policy of non-particpation in any event that even remotely appears political. I serve as their legislative rep, trying to ensure that expertise of our membership is heard by public officials on issues related to their area of expertise (public safety).
I guess given the fact that I was not a corporate/industry lobbyist, I never really considered that Obama's no-lobbyist money ban would apply to me, but it did! The letter thanked me for my interest in the campaign, but stated flately that my donation was not acceptable.
It's not often you get told that you are persona non grata and end up praising the person who exiled you. But that what I am doing. Obama actions are living up to his words. Through the actions of his campaign he is demonstrating that his values are real and his commitment is certain.
Another aspect that is quite impressive to me is that the Obama campaign has a mechnism set up to check each donation, even one as small as mine, against the lobbyist database, and then return it.
If I ever doubted the sincerity of the Obama Campaign, this action removed any questions.
I know my donation is not going to make a difference one way or another, and I hope that I am not the type of "corrupt lobbyist" that has infested washington.
Obama, and his campaign, are committed to bringing about change. They are doing this in both large and small steps. Refusing my money is a small step, but it spoke volumes to me. It showed me Obama means what he says and backs it up with action. It shows me that no detail is to small and that his organization is top notch. It strengthened my commitment to see him elected President.
I guess I just can't use my money to do it:).
p.s.: As a side note, last year my spouse had set up automatic monthly payments to Hillary (nothing big $10/month) but after switching to Obama, had to battle with the Clinton campaign to cancel the automatic payment. I find it ironic that one campaign won't take my money, the other won't give it back!
Updated to add: I though we had finally stopped the payments to the Clinton Campaign, but after checking with my spouse, it turns out they are still taking the payments 3-4 months after we asked them to stop.
Updated: Couldn't figure out how to post the image of the letter on the site. So below is a link. If nyone can figure out how to post in the comments, pls feel free. Thanks
http://s297.photobucket.com/...
Ohio Hospital Contests a Story Clinton Tells
Over the last five weeks, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has featured in her campaign stump speeches the story of a health care horror: an uninsured pregnant woman who lost her baby and died herself after being denied care by an Ohio hospital because she could not come up with a $100 fee.
The woman, Trina Bachtel, did die last August, two weeks after her baby boy was stillborn at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio. But hospital administrators said Friday that Ms. Bachtel was under the care of an obstetrics practice affiliated with the hospital, that she was never refused treatment and that she was, in fact, insured.
“We implore the Clinton campaign to immediately desist from repeating this story,” said Rick Castrop, chief executive officer of the O’Bleness Health System.
Clinton Now Slipping Even in Pennsylvania
Photo: Getty Images
• Mark Halperin lists fifteen things Clinton has to do to really "win" Pennsylvania. The most important: dominate the white, working-class voters to prove to the superdelegates that Reverend Wright has hurt Obama. [Page/Time]
• Jay Newton-Small says Obama's Pennsylvania strategy is completely unconventional, for both his decision to campaign in Clinton working-class strongholds and hold quirky events involving bowling, visiting a chocolate factory, and feeding milk to a baby cow. [Time]
• Ariel Alexovich looks at the Jewish vote in Pennsylvania. Clinton has the endorsement of the two biggest Jewish politicians, but 70 Jewish leaders recently signed an open letter in support of Obama. [Caucus/NYT]
• Perry Bacon Jr. and Shailagh Murray note that while stumping in Pennsylvania, Clinton has criticized Obama for wanting her to drop out, while in fact Obama has said she should keep running if she wants. Obama's new tone is an intentional effort to avoid appearing like a bully to — yep — blue-collar Democrats. [Trail/WP]
• Timothy McNulty explores the white male vote in Pennsylvania, which has often gone to Obama in other states but is leaning toward Clinton owing to the issues of race and experience. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
• Carrie Budoff Brown looks at Pennsylvania's struggle to ditch the increasingly inaccurate characterization given to it by James Carville more than twenty years ago, which is, approximately, "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between." [Politico]
• Bill Barol finds five tongue-in-cheek similarities between Clinton and Rocky Balboa. Number three: Rocky faced off against the Russian Ivan Drago, while Clinton faced off against an 8-year-old Bosnian girl who read her poetry. [HuffPo]
• Maggie Haberman points out a big problem with Clinton's Rocky metaphor: Rocky lost. The paper also runs its own Clinton-Rocky comparison. [NYP]
• Ryan J. Davis believes that Clinton is like Rocky, but more like the Rocky from the fourth sequel, when he became an increasingly irrelevant and desperate old fighter. [Hill] —Dan Amira
Related: Hillary’s Wrong Numbers: Obama Polls Up, Clinton Funds Down
For a complete and regularly updated guide to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain — from First Love to Most Embarrassing Gaffe — read the 2008 Electopedia.
WALLINGFORD, Pa. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama says as president he would consider putting Al Gore in a Cabinet-level position — or higher.
A woman at a town hall asked the Illinois senator if elected president would he consider tapping the former vice president for his Cabinet, or an even higher level office, to address global warming.
"I would," Obama said. "Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem. He's somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I'm already consulting with him in terms of these issues but climate change is real."
Gore, who's work on climate change earned him a Nobel Prize, he is popular among Democrats.
link
More great news!!
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PPP Penn Release
Obama overtakes Clinton in PA
April 2, 2008 - Raleigh, N.C.
Barack Obama has taken the lead over Hillary Clinton 45-43 inPennsylvania, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling.
It’s a remarkable turn around from PPP’s last Pennsylvania poll, conducted two and ahalf weeks ago, that showed Clinton with a 26 point lead in the state. That poll wasreleased at the height of the Jeremiah Wright controversy and the day before Obama’smajor speech on race in Philadelphia. Obama has been trending upward in nationalpolling and in many state level polls since then and this survey reflects that pattern.
“In the last few weeks there has been increasing attention given to the fact that acontinuing divisive Democratic nomination fight could hurt the party’s chances ofdefeating John McCain this fall,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling.“The major movement in Obama’s direction in Pennsylvania could be an indication thatDemocrats in that state think it’s time to wrap it up.”
Obama is narrowing the gap with white voters, trailing just 49-38, while maintaining hiscustomary significant advantage with black voters. He leads that group 75-17.
Obama also leads among all age groups except senior citizens, with whom Clinton has a50-34 advantage. The poll shows the standard gender gap with Obama leading by 15points among men while trailing by 10 points with women.
PPP surveyed 1224 likely Democratic primary voters on March 31st and April 1st. Thesurvey’s margin of errors is +/- 2.8%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewedand weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
Public Policy Polling had the most accurate numbers of any company in the country forthe Democratic primaries in South Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as the closestnumbers for any organization that polled the contests in both Texas and Ohio.
Complete results are attached and can be found at www.publicpolicypolling.com.
If you would like an interview regarding this release, please contact Dean Debnam at(888) 621-6988 or 919-880-4888.
More great news!
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Former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton is backing Sen. Barack Obama in an endorsement that could boost the presidential hopeful's national security standing, The Associated Press has learned.
Hamilton, who during a three-decade House career rose to be chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees, also was vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission. He planned to announce his endorsement of Obama on Wednesday.
In an interview Hamilton said he viewed the Illinois senator as a champion of "the politics of consensus and not of partisan division."
"I think he is driven by the search for the common good," Hamilton said.
Link to full article: "Obama to Get Endorsement of Lee Hamilton"
Obama often bantered and joked with the audience and maintained a casual style that seemed to impress many attendees. He thanked the audience for its support during a long presidential race. "There have been babies that have been born and are now walking and talking" since he first announced his candidacy 15 months ago, Obama said jokingly. "I am running because of what Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] called the fierce urgency of now," he added, dismissing the concerns of those who suggested he not run for president now because he is young enough to wait.
But what the crowd seemed to appreciate most were answers perceived as frank and straightforward that didn't so much tell people what they wanted to hear as they did urge collaboration and participation from ordinary citizens in addressing issues such as wage discrimination and education.
His answer to a question about how to better educate children drew cheers. In addition to any efforts the government and school systems might make, "Parents have to take some responsibility," he said. "And if your child's misbehaving in school, don't cuss out the teacher.... Education is not some passive thing where you can just pour it in your ear and you're educated."
That type of response—encouraging people to take some responsibility but showing his concern for any number of issues—were what many attendees said they found most impressive. "I thought he was excellent," said 48-year-old Brenda Alton, a resident of Steelton, Pa., and pastor of a Harrisburg church. "He was real with us." One of the things Alton liked best was that Obama acknowledged that fixing some issues would take time, "but he also challenged us as people."
Full article: Obama's 'Realness' Excites Crowds in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Barack Obama has won the overall delegate race in Texas thanks to a strong showing in Democratic county conventions this past weekend.
Obama picked up seven of nine outstanding delegates, giving him a total of 99 Texas delegates to the party's national convention this summer. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the other two, giving her a total of 94 Texas delegates, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press.
Texas Democrats held both a presidential primary and caucus. Clinton narrowly won the popular vote in the state's primary March 4, earning her 65 national convention delegates to Obama's 61.
Precinct caucuses began immediately after polls closed primary night and quickly devolved into chaos in many parts of the state because of an unprecedented turnout of more than 1 million Democrats. The state party was never able to provide complete results from the caucuses, which is why the AP withheld nine delegates.
The precinct caucuses elected delegates to about 280 county and state senate district conventions on Saturday. The AP awarded the remaining delegates based on results from Saturday's conventions, showing Obama with about 58 percent of vote, compared to 42 percent for Clinton.
Obama won 38 delegates through the caucus/convention system, and Clinton won 29.
The final delegate allocation will be decided at the party's state convention June 6-7, and the numbers could change if either campaign is unable to maintain the level of support they had over the weekend.
Obama leads the overall race for the Democratic nomination with 1,631 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,501, according to the latest AP tally.
Pat Buchanan Says Black Americans Should Be Grateful for Years of Oppression and Segregation
While progressives and average Americans who think Barack Obama's speech presented a difficult challenge wring their hands worrying about appearing to be racist if they broach the subject in any significant way, the depth of the problem at hand is clear when we have folks on the right like Pat Buchanan just laying it on the line with this kind of mind-blower.
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.
Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.
...We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?
I love Dave Neiwert's comment on Pat's "A Brief for Whitey" essay. It's below the fold.
Damn, I'm sure most black people forgot to be grateful for segregation, the lynching era, sundown towns, and the continuing discrimination they face both in employment and in residence. Because the institutional conditions created by those decades of bigotry have in fact gone largely unchanged, though to white guys like Buchanan, that simply isn't a factor:
Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent? Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?
Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.
Tracking Poll Shows Obama Rebounding After Race Speech
Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report at 8:44 AM on March 23, 2008
Following up on an earlier item, it seems pretty clear that Barack Obama’s speech on race in America has helped the senator rebound a bit. The latest CBS News poll highlighted the trend, as does the latest Gallup tracking poll.
Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential nomination preferences showing 48% of Democratic voters favoring Obama and 45% Clinton.
Obama’s campaign clearly suffered in recent days from negative press, mostly centering around his association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Perhaps as a result, Clinton moved into the lead in Gallup’s Wednesday release, covering March 16-18 polling. But Obama has now edged back ahead of Clinton due to a strong showing for him in Friday night’s polling, perhaps in response to the endorsement he received from well-respected New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former rival for the nomination.
More specifically, four days ago, the Gallup tracking poll showed Clinton leading Obama by seven (49%-42%), her largest lead since early February. Today’s tracking poll, however, shows Obama back up by three (48%-45%), pointing a 10-point swing in less than a week.
In Jim VandeHei’s and Mike Allen’s much-discussed Politico piece yesterday, the two wrote, “[E]ven some of Clinton's own advisers now concede that she cannot win unless Obama is hit by a political meteor. Something that merely undermines him won’t be enough. It would have to be some development that essentially disqualifies him.”
There was clearly some hope in the Clinton campaign that the Jeremiah Wright story would be that political meteor, which contributed to the campaign quietly pushing the controversy. Given Obama’s rebound in the polls, it appears this won’t be the bolide the Clintons were hoping for.
Article link: Tracking Poll Shows Obama Rebounding After Race Speech
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Great news!
March 21, 2008, 4:59 pm
Poll: Obama Receives High Marks for Race Speech
A new national poll released Friday showed voters who heard or read about Barack Obama’s speech on his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and race relations, broadly approved of it.
Seven in 10 said he did a good job talking about race relations and as many said he did a good job explaining his relationship with Reverend Wright, according to a CBS News poll conducted Thursday.
More than six in 10, moreover, said they mostly agreed with what he said about race relations in this country, including a broad majority of Democrats and independents, but fewer — four in 10 — Republicans. How the issue will ultimately affect Mr. Obama’s presidential aspirations remains to be seen. But seven in 10 voters nationwide who have followed the issue said it will make no difference in their vote decision, while the rest evenly divided over whether they will be more or less likely to vote for him.
Still, the poll found that public perceptions that Mr. Obama would be able to unite the country as president have fallen. Just over half of registered voters now say he would be that kind of president, down from two-thirds who said so a month ago.
The CBS News poll was conducted March 20 among 542 registered voters who were initially interviewed in a March 15-18 CBS News poll. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
NYT link
2 fired over Obama passport breach Third employee at State disciplined over accessing candidate’s records
BREAKING NEWSNBC - updated 8:54 p.m. ET, Thurs., March. 20, 2008
Two contract employees of the State Department were fired and a third person was disciplined for inappropriately looking at Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's passport file.
Spokesman Sean McCormack Thursday night confirmed instances of what he called "imprudent curiosity" by the State Department employees.
McCormack said the department itself detected the breaches, which occurred separately on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14.
The three people who had access to Obama's passport records were contract employees of the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, NBC News reported.
A senior official told NBC News there was "no political motivation" to the incidents, adding that the three were low-level contract employees doing administrative work and accessed Obama's records out of "curiosity."
This official told NBC News that he does not believe any of the information was sent anywhere.
A spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign called for a complete investigation. The spokesman, Bill Burton, also demanded to know who looked at the file and why, and why the State Department did not reveal details of the security breach until now.
Monitoring systems are tripped when an employee accesses the records of the high-profile individual, a department official told NBC News. "When the monitoring system is tripped, we immediately seek an explanation for the records access. If the explanation is not satisfactory, the supervisor is notified."
Explaining why the contractors had access to the files, the official said: "The State Department uses cleared contractors to design, build and maintain our systems and cleared contract employees provide support to government employees and several steps of passport processing including data entry, file searches, customer service and quality control.
"Each time an employee logs on, he or she acknowledges the records are protected by the privacy act and that they are only available on a need-to-know basis," the official added.
This breaking news story will be updated.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23736254/
Interesting article by Frank Schaeffer:
Obama's Minister Committed "Treason" But When My Father Said the Same Thing He Was a Republican Hero
When Senator Obama's preacher thundered about racism and injustice Obama suffered smear-by-association. But when my late father -- Religious Right leader Francis Schaeffer -- denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the US government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr. Every Sunday thousands of right wing white preachers (following in my father's footsteps) rail against America's sins from tens of thousands of pulpits. They tell us that America is complicit in the "murder of the unborn," has become "Sodom" by coddling gays, and that our public schools are sinful places full of evolutionists and sex educators hell-bent on corrupting children. They say, as my dad often did, that we are, "under the judgment of God." They call America evil and warn of immanent destruction. By comparison Obama's minister's shouted "controversial" comments were mild. All he said was that God should damn America for our racism and violence and that no one had ever used the N-word about Hillary Clinton.
Dad and I were amongst the founders of the Religious right. In the 1970s and 1980s, while Dad and I crisscrossed America denouncing our nation's sins instead of getting in trouble we became darlings of the Republican Party. (This was while I was my father's sidekick before I dropped out of the evangelical movement altogether.) We were rewarded for our "stand" by people such as Congressman Jack Kemp, the Fords, Reagan and the Bush family. The top Republican leadership depended on preachers and agitators like us to energize their rank and file. No one called us un-American.
Will the right wing make an issue of this in the fall? Of course, but they'll be blowing it ridiculously out of proportion.
Full Article: "Obama Condemns His Pastor's Controversial Remarks, Right Wing Bloggers Unconvinced"
