I have sat back and watched the opposition to President Obama command the dialogue in the media regarding his plans. Whether it is about the stimulus plan or foreign policy (think the former VP!), the administration has been pushed around for the last week! The grass roots movement that helped push President Obama into the White House needs to rise up and fight on his behalf!!! We need to follow up and not just expect him to fight all our battles. WE WANTED A VOICE IN GOVERNMENT, SO LET'S USE IT!!!!
We need to write our congressmen and women, our local newspapers, and the television news media outlets and tell them that we want President Obama's plan to have a chance!!!! We had tax cuts and other policies from the Republicans for the last 8 years and it didn't work out. In fact, it has contributed to our debt, hurt job creation, and reduced services that are needed now. Changes are needed in the stimulus and senators appear willing to take some spending out, and that's great. We need to focus on strong job creation that will be around now and in the future.
President Obama HAS compromised and tried to find some conservative policy to use in the stimulus, but Republicans are just ignoring the outreach and simply biting the President's hand. It's time we bite back!!!!
Write your elected officials and tell them we are watching and will hold them accountable in the coming near term election if basic compromise is not found! We will hold accountable those people who played politics when Americans were losing their jobs. We will fight in the next election to get rid of old politicians who are not living up to the Change this country voted for in 2008!!!!
Spread the word to your family and friends to start writing as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Raul Dominguez
Obama Supporter
Torrance, CA
The grassroots movement that helped elect Barack Obama President needs to start writing letters to the editor of their papers, their local elected officials and members of the Senate to stop the gridlock in passing a stimulus package. When Republicans simply vote no on a bill because they want to stop some part of it, means that nothing gets accomplished. When Rush Limbaugh says he just wants "Obama's policies to fail", he's still advocating the country to fail because the administration is Obama's. I don't care if policies are conservative or liberal, if they help get Americans working, improve our economy, and stimulate the beginning of a global financial rally, then that's fine!!!
We need to work together. If Judd Gregg (R) comes over as Commerce Secretary, I hope a Republican is put in his Senate seat so pundits don't say the move was simply to get the Dems a full majority. We need serious people now to solve serious problems.
Please comment and send your thoughts to your contacts. Thanks, Raul
Again, I read articles where Senator Obama is hit with the elite and out of touch label because he's articulate and wants to use bottom up economics to help Americans! What is going on here?!!!!
In my hometown of San Pedro, CA, I always remember families working hard to give a better life for their kids. Helping them with homework, taking them to sports practices, volunteering to work the snack bar at the little league games, and wishing their kids would grow up to attend the best colleges and have a better career than our own. That is an American dream I think all of us have for our young.
So here is Barack Obama, a kid who worked hard to get a great education in Political Science and International Relations at Columbia, and get accepted to Harvard where he earned honors and being selected editor of the Harvard Law Review. We, as parents, dream of our kids doing that well. Achieving at the highest levels. We would be proud of our kid doing that.
And he goes back to his community to help others not so lucky and successful as he. Anyone would be proud of a young man for giving back and not forgetting where he was from!!!
And now he has experience in local, state and federal government where any mother would be beaming at a family function, "that's my son!!!!"
How could we not be proud of this man?
So now we have John McCain and Sarah Palin. He graduated near the bottom of his class. She needed six years and five schools to get a journalism degree that is unrelated to the job she wants now.
I know education isn't the only measure of the candidates, but please. We keep hearing these stupid comparisons between small town America and the elites and that Obama is part of the elite.
HE IS AN PRODUCT OF BOTH!!! He is from small beginnings, but he has benefitted from the best education that the United States can provide!!!!!
Why we don't celebrate that is incredibly stupid to me. As Americans, we should be proud that Barack Obama has achieved so much and can be a standard bearer for young Americans in the future.
I hope during the debates, Americans will finally see the comparison and make the right choice.
Obama '08!
I WANT TO CONGRATULATE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FOR SELECTING BARACK MCCAIN AS THEIR CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! I FIND IT SO INTERESTING THAT SINCE THE CONVENTION, ALL BARACK MCCAIN SAYS IS HE'LL BRING REAL CHANGE! OH, AND THAT THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT NOW THAT HE'S COMING TO WASHINGTON. (EVEN THOUGH HE BEEN THERE FOR 23 YEARS!!!) HE EVEN SCOLDED REPUBLICANS AT THE CONVENTION FOR BEING CORRUPT WITH THE POWER OF LEADING WASHINGTON FOR THE BETTER PART OF 12 YEARS IN CONGRESS AND 8 IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
I GUESS IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE: BARACK MCCAIN '08!!!!
But since Senator Obama has managed his campaign so consistently and on message for two years, I think I'll stick with him!
GO OBAMA '08 FOR CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!!
I know people are getting so mad that Senator Obama's message keeps getting distorted by McCain and his surrogates. My concern is that in the past, journalists kept politicians honest by hitting them with good follow-up questions and great fact checking, DURING THE INTERVIEW! I'm amazed how so many surrogates get away with hitting Obama on raising taxes, buying his house directly from Resko, or even voting to kill new-borns.
But even the most basic falsehood that is being drummed up for ratings is the Hillary Clinton voter issue. So, Clinton supporters are running in mass to Senator McCain! Ok, so Senator McCain is now Pro-Choice or has Hillary changed. Is McCain now for Universal Healthcare? How about the war in Iraq? Bring the troops home immediately was Clinton's call. I guess John McCain has changed his mind! And the differences go on and on!!!
Even so, not one reporter on MSNBC, CNN, or even Fox News is asking the obvious questions here. I've written letters to the editor here on the Obama website. I urge you all to do the same. Please ask reporters to stop sleeping on the job! Ask the questions and the follow-ups and expose the many supposed Clinton defectors as the McCain supporters they really are. I know there are disappointed Hillary voters, but they're not stupid. They read the issues and know the facts. Senator Obama has to be their champion now.
Raul
I was disappointed to read excerpts from the Atlantic article exposing internal memos regarding Clinton campaign strategy from Mark Penn. It is so sad that Mr. Penn would lower himself and the Clinton campaign to even suggest that Barack Obama's childhood upbringing in Hawaii and Indonesia somehow disconnects him from American Roots. Did Mr. Penn get a "Fail" in grade school civics class? I believe Hawaii is the 50th state of our union! I'm sure many Hawaiian-Americans are extremely insulted by the notion that they don't have true American Roots!
There is no reason to back up to the past and re-live the negative aspects of the Democratic primary, but if Senator Clinton was surrounded by this kind of hate advice, I can see now why her campaign was so badly run. Let's be clear, she was the front-runner. She had the experience and name recognition. She was badly advised and then compounded her bad situation by hesitating in correcting problems and making strong decisions. I give her credit for not going with Penn's horrible strategy, which even if successful, would have split the party in half and SHE would have lost the general. Obama supporters wouldn't have supported her if she won by tearing him down.
Senator Clinton made the right move in the end, but it came late to save her campaign. Hopefully, she can remain a strong supporter of Senator Obama and help bring home a victory in November. With that, her reputation, her legacy of she and her husband will be strengthened, not weakened by what Mark Penn would have actually done to her if he had his way.
I have been helping other Obama supporters with voter registration in Hermosa Beach, CA. During these hours, I have met many Obama supporters that are happy to see us. Occasionally, I come across a McCain supporter or a individual who is negative of Senator Obama. Their main complaint is that Sen. Obama is not qualified to be President. My answer is this, Wanted: Professional with Top level graduate degree in a related field, with experience working in both a private and public setting, and a background in international relations to handle domestic and international issues with poise and sensibility. I usually get a laugh and a nod, but I really think these people come away at least thinking, "What do I want in the resume of my candidate?"
As people think about this election, I hope they really think about the kind of individual they want making decisions in their interest. Senator Obama has remained cool and collected during this election season. He has shown a intelligence and perspective that makes me feel he will not be rash. He will think things through and consult with his cabinet and world leaders to handle the most sensitive issues. Domestically, he will work to find compromise between owners and labor, federal and state concerns. He is the candidate that will actually be mature when dealing with the problems that all Americans face.
Tell your friends, co-workers, and family to question: Who has the stronger resume? And remind them, just sitting in Congress for years when gridlock has been the norm isn't something to boast about on my resume!
Have a great week,
I'm disappointed to read that Senator Obama will not meet John McCain in town hall meetings. We know that town hall meetings are more comfortable than debates for Sen. McCain, but the general public will think Sen. Obama is ducking John McCain. If people are fooled by the gas tax holiday, the war on terrorism, and now, drilling for oil locallly that will solve our gas problems in one month, they are also going to be fooled that Sen. Obama is afraid to meet John McCain with the general public. This will be another advantage that the McCain camp can milk for all they want.
Senator Obama and his staff should know better by now. Meet with a mixed group of independents and talk about general issues and have no media moderators. The answers would be standard, but at least Senator Obama would appear strong that he met McCain on his terms and held his own. That would have been all he would have needed.
We'll see what happens from here.
what are your thoughts?
This is a post from back in April that now seems so ironic!
Barack Obama is getting hammered for being too liberal and only voting from the left or that he can't win against the Right. I think the real issue is how he would govern. If he could speak in Indiana (that primary is coming up) on the need to govern with openess rather than being centrist, you would have a leader in government rather than a follower. If he could speak about having an administration made up of Democrats, independents, and yes, even Republicans, he could really be a uniter. He should also speak more on the need for his administration to work more closely with Congress, especially the House. He needs to speak on the important relationship between local, state and federal representatives in working together in addressing issues, passing bills, and solving problems. In this way, he can talk about his state senator experience. His opponents keep minimizing those years. He needs to turn that into a positive.
Discussing how he will govern will reach voters easier by specifically stating his ability to work together with all types of politicians, use his authority to bring opposing groups together, and use his experience in local and state government to understand average Americans' concerns.
Note: This April blog was written because so many news stories were hitting him for being too liberal, not taking any positions that would show flexibiility with the center and right of the country. I believe he still should make that speech, but now he can speak about the need for all Americans, including those on the left and right, to know that he will be a President for all Americans.
I find it laughable that on the same day that Lou Dobbs asked Bill Scheider why Obama wasn't talking to White voters, Jessie Jackson was caught cursing out Obama for talking down to Blacks. He's going to be the President of the United States for ALL THE PEOPLE, not just one segment of the population.
And the grassroots movement that has been started better be ready to work. Evangelicals were successful at changing political policy not by winning one election, but by converting those wins into a movement organization that has grown for 30 years. This is only the begining!!!!
Thanks,
It has been a difficult week with Senator Obama getting hit hard by Obama supporters for agreeing to support the revised FISA bill. I know it was a bad bill. I know it gets the telecoms off. It definitely makes a mockery of the 4th Amendment. Having wrote this, I still have to back Senator Obama. I wrote up an event where I wanted supporters to write their newspaper or cable news channel to tell them that support for Obama remains strong. Most agreed, but a good number of supporters are so upset about the FISA bill that they fired off very negative responses. Again, while I understand the deep concern over this issue, the choice is still Senator Obama or Senator McCain. We know that there are deep differences between these two candidates. While FISA shows us that Senator Obama is not immune to the poilitcal tactics that are the current norm in Washington, we have to get him to the White House first before we can really start change.
This Congress is weak. It does not stand up to convervative issues. It does not stand on principal. And at this point, Senator Obama has no choice but to wade through the muck with subtle positioning which is totally political. It's sad.
The hope is that if Senator Obama is elected and the Congress can maintain or even increase it's majority in Congress, that a mandate for change will push a new agenda forward.
Americans need to see this reality now. We need to work at the grassroots level, dealing with our local officials, going to local political events and speaking our truth. As President Obama and a new Congress push the agenda, then average Americans need to push their local officials to work with them. ONLY THEN, WILL REAL CHANGE OCCUR.
In the meantime, please sign up in your community to go to a platform event to help establish this new agenda. Let's give it a little more time and work for the change we all want.
To all you great supporters for change!!! I need some feedback from the many intelligent, articulate people I've read blogs from over this long campaign!
I am so charged up by the newest polls that are starting to show a real bump from Hillary Clinton supporters in getting behind Barack Obama. Senator Obama can not only thank the millions of supporters who have been with him all the way, but the millions of Clinton supporters who worked so hard for Hillary, but understand that Senator Obama would be the better candidate than John McCain.
One note: I feel that Senator Obama can learn from how he has reached out to Senator Clinton's supporters. He didn't insult them, make them feel different or unwanted. He has been very careful as have millions of original Obama supporters who have text, e-mailed, and phoned Hillary supporters to welcome them.
WE NEED TO WELCOME REPUBLICANS TO THIS MOVEMENT!!!! I don't like Senator Obama and his supporters on TV using terms like "The Republicans" in talking about 527's, smear tactics, etc. Instead he should refer to these enemies as professional lobbyists and power brokers who need to be singled out consistently!!! There are millions of Americans who are frustrated with their party and are thinking about Senator Obama but aren't quite sure if they can switch! I'm a Democrat, but I work in a environment that is very mixed ethnically and politically. I hear this a lot. We need to extend the Unity message to ALL AMERICANS!!!! Stop saying "disaffected" Republicans, just "Republicans". Stop saying "we want EVEN Republicans", when just "We want all Americans to be part of the this movement" will do. I don't think Hillary supporters would have been so forgiving if we sent out statements that she has "disaffected" supporters or "we want everyone, EVEN HILLARY"S PEOPLE!!!" That would have been insulting.
So please consider this comment as you speak with people about Senator Obama. And send a blog out on this subject if you can add to it.
I hope when Michelle Obama is on the View tomorrow she can continue the dialogue that it doesn't matter what sex you are, what party you belong to, or what color skin you have, but that the country would be energized with Barack Obama as the new President of the United States. I know it sounds over the top but, the entire world would be energized. It would cause so many people from across every political and social line to take a look at our system of government. This kind of change WOULD be different from previous elections. For conservatives, it won't be the scary tax and spend doomsday they envision, but a fair tax system. For independents, it will mean inclusion in discussion to work out critical issues like healthcare, Social Security and Medicare. For Democrats, it will mean some real discussion with a President to address real reform in government, dealing with Iraq and the entire Middle East situation, and for the millions of grassroots volunteers it will mean having a voice that will be heard at the local and state level with cooperation from Washington!
I can't wait. One more push, everybody! Let's work hard in the summer to get out the vote for Senator Obama for President!!!
This wasn't what I signed up for! This campaign would be different because Barack Obama would reach out to Democrats, Independents as well as Republicans. Over the past eight months, I've spent countless hours reaching out to Hillary supporters and non-Dems to speak the truth about Barack. He said he would tell us the truth even when it wasn't politically easy.
In this opening week of the general election, I've heard Barack tell us about more stimulus spending, a middle class tax cut all the way up to families earning $150,000 a year, money for college, money for early ed, and of course, healthcare. The only revenue generation to pay for any of this is a tax on 1% of the highest earners, windfall profit tax on big oil that will be hard to collect, let alone pass Congress. WHERE IS THE PAY AS YOU GO PLAN THAT IS ON THE WEBSITE!!!! My friends who are independents and Republicans are already giving me the "I told you so!"
I know Barack is giving a speech next week to give more details, but folks, even I, as a fully committed Obama supporter can see that this sounds like the kind of liberal big spending style that will lose in November.
Where is the "targeted stimulus" like $1000 IF you buy an American car with high MPG, or apply $1000 to child care when adding a second job or more hours. That is REAL stimulus to our economy than handouts which get spent on foreign made goods. The $150,000 cutoff seems like $50,000 more than what a true national middle class is. That seems like pandering. Where is the talk of a small business stimulus where if a business hires a new worker, the company gets the stimulus and the worker GETS A JOB!!!!
Look I'm not a business owner, my wife and I together make $150,000 per year. So what I'm saying is that we don't need a handout. We want Americans getting jobs. We want the automakers to build more fuel efficient cars. The oil companies are not going to give back profits, the Saudis aren't going to increase production. We shouldn't just drill away like McCain wants either. And we don't need the gas tax holiday, either! We need that money for roads and bridges which means JOBS!!!!!
Where is the incentive for large corporations to invest in American workers? Let's give rebates to companies who hire these workers. So if they hire American workers, their taxes stay put, if they don't, THEN the taxes go up.
In this way, we can get Independents and Republicans to see Barack has a DIFFERENT as well as specific plan to get the economy going. New hires will creat more tax revenue. More middle class jobs with higher pay creates more tax revenue. C'mon, people!!!!
Please e-mail the Obama campaign and urge them to balance their economic policy more. Tell Obama "WE CAN STAND THE TRUTH"! We can't afford to lose the middle to John McCain. Just two states or 12-15 electoral votes and all this work is for not. This first week of economic policy, in my opinion, was terrible!!!!
So, please give me your feedback. I'm always impressed and learn from Obama supporters' comments.
Thank you.
A NY Times article detailed a potential 75 million dollar boost to the Obama campaign from the Clinton fundraising machine now that the primaries are over. More importantly, the Obama staffers are seriously considering taking it! I want some opinions here!!!!! This $200 million campaign was built primarily by small donations including mine. The grass roots organization has only started to be tapped. More importantly, doesn't Obama look like a hypocrite if he starts making appearances at Clinton BIG DONOR functions. I can only think of the huge mistake of going to that stupid CA fundraiser in San Francisco that gave us $100,000, but also "bitter" comments. We learned that perception is so important in politics even with that unfair incident. WE DON"T NEED THAT MONEY! If anything, how about planning fundraisers for charity with that money. How about bringing awareness to poverty by having Obama and Senator Edwards at inner city projects where that money could be donated. How about having Senator Clinton meet with Obama to deliver donated campaign funds to New Orleans residents still needing aid. How about Obama meeting with Iraq veterans delivering campaign funds donated for their needs. All these projects could be planned as campaign events to meet campaign election rules, but would really be put to good use. Barack Obama doesn't need big donor cash to finish this job. WE NEED TO HELP HIM FINISH OFF JOHN MCCAIN!!! Your thoughts, please!
Senator McCain has invited Senator Obama to Iraq to show him the "progress" in that country in order to "teach" him about the situation. I jumped out of my seat!!! Not because I was mad, but because I can't believe how dumb Senator McCain and his advisors really are!!! I have had both relatives and friends in Iraq and in military service in general, and contrary to popular belief, not all military are conservative Republicans. And not every soldier wants to stay indefinitely in Iraq. This would be the biggest public relations disaster in political history! Can you imagine: CNN, Reuters, ABC, NBC, CBS, and of course, FOX covering American soldiers shaking hands and taking pictures with both Senators. And in particular, Senator Obama!!!! If there is anything more American (think Bob Hope and the USO), more patriotic, more bipartisan!!!! Senator Obama should take that invitation right now!!!! In one huge move, he would look Presidential (probably making McCain look small once the two address the troops) and make Senator Clinton seem irrelevant. It would be the biggest political blunder McCain could have made. Obama would shine!
Please write the campaign and urge him to accept!!!!
I've been getting e-mails regarding a plan to fix polls in Puerto Rico. People are mad that Clinton supporters are pushing up polls with phoney voting. Some Obama supporters are showing ways to combat this. PLEASE AVOID GETTING INTO THIS GAME! We need to get back to the important work of getting Barack Obama elected in November. Focus all your energy on getting out the vote. Make calls in Montana and South Dakota to encourage registration regardless of their candidate choice. And if anyone is still undecided, to encourage them to vote for Senator Obama. We need to get back to the very successful strategy of grass roots campaigning. Don't get caught up in the negative tactics! You know better! We've done so well to this point! LET'S FINISH THE JOB!!!
Thank you, Raul
