Early Voting for the entire state of Florida has just been extended.
Every Early Vote location in Florida will now be every day from 7am-7pm up through November 2.
Please pass along this great news to everyone you know who will be voting in Florida. Click here to find your nearest early vote location.
Here's the release:
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS ~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~October 28, 2008Contact:GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008. "I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote." Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting. Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting. Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29. Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217. STATE OF FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217 WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties; WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; andWHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008. GOVERNORATTEST:SECRETARY OF STATE
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS
~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~
October 28, 2008
Contact:
GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394
TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008.
"I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote."
Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting.
Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting.
Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29.
Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217.
STATE OF FLORIDA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217
WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and
WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and
WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and
WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties;
WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; and
WHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:
I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008.
GOVERNOR
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE
It's official, Barack sent out the email this morning, did you get it?
Friend --I have some important news that I want to make official.I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate. Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it:Welcome Joe Thanks for your support,Barack
I have some important news that I want to make official.
I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.
Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.
I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.
Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it:
Welcome Joe
Thanks for your support,
Barack
Send Joe a note! Welcome Joe!
Make sure to turn on your TV at 3:00 p.m. to join Obama and Biden in Springfield, Illinois. Or, watch online at http://www.BarackObama.com.
I have been following some of the events in the area of Russia and Georgia.
At this stage many Americans seem to believe that we should unconditionally back Georgia. However, if what is being said about Georgia launching attacks on South Ossetia in the middle of the night is true, and that they indiscrimately bombed civilian targets; we should withhold our unbridled support. There may be some behind the scenes action that need to be addressed. Does it seem strange, to anyone other than myself, that the President of Georgia regularly calls into U.S. news media outlets? He calls our media! Ordinarilly, journalists have to try to contact sitting heads of state; but he contacts U.S. news media personally. I think it is strange. This guy appears to be campaigning for someone.
The international press is saying that the military activity in South Ossetia was an attempt by Bush-Cheney to aid McCain whose only strong suite is war. ( http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/15/mccain-rises-to-abbas-defense/ )
I hope Senator Obama does not take the bait. He would be wise to determine who is zoomin' who before he weighs-in too heavily on this highly orchestrated drama.
Ever since last Friday I have been engaged in a back and forth email discussion with several former collegues; most of whom are McCain supporter's. After a few negative sounding rounds we decided to list 10 positive reasons for voting for our respective candidates... I sumitted these off of the top of my head:
Keith asked we submit 10 positive reason's for voting for my candidate (I am limited to only 10 but I could give more). So in that spirit I submit the following:1. Understands the U.S ConstitutionThis is the first and foremost qualification for the office of President. Each president swears under oath to uphold the constitution. Senator Obama taught constitutional law. He fully understands what it means and what it stands for. Further he understands how fragile the original document is in our ever-changing world. He has written extensively on how to be faithful to the constitution while still providing citizens the freedom to grow in an advanced society that the founding fathers could not foresee.
I apologize for not being in contact lately... we have been traveling for the month of April and will likely been out for most of May. I will be back in the loop by the first part of June. Hopefully, Senator Obama will have the nomination locked-in by then.
Dav
http://shibumi.us
I just responded to a 33 year-old stay at home dad who lives in Florida. He is giving up his support for Senator Obama because of Rev. Wright. This what he said:
I just watched Barack on Countdown with Keith Olberman. I expected to hear him distance himself from the vile, disgusting Rev Wright. He did not. This is the end of the campaign. It was wonderful to believe in Hope. It was wonderful to believe in the American people again. It was wonderful to make new friends who shared this beautiful feeling of being on the verge of a new dawn. I will miss you all. To borrow a borrowed phrase, Good Night and Good Luck. We will all need in the coming years.
My Reply:
The end? No. You, yourself, said we are on the verge of a new dawn. Tomorrow is coming; with or without the promise of hope. We have too much to lose if we give up because someone on our side said something stupid. I was shocked and felt weak in the gut when I heard Rev. Wright’s hateful words; much as I am sure you felt. I cannot even imagine how Senator Obama felt when he heard them. However, I can understand the frustration in the reverend’s life. I have lived that frustration. I have said hateful things. I see Barack Obama’s campaign and eventual administration as a bridge from those angry days of the past to the hopeful days of the future. I hope you do not believe we will cross that bridge by simply holding hands and singing. That would be nice, but in reality change always creates stress. Barack Obama is the only current option to lessen the friction as we focus on change for a better future. Obama can, and will, temper fiery rhetoric from old-schoolers such as Rev. Wright and myself. He can also speak the language of the modern world. Hang in here and help him make things better for those who will inherit this land. I do not think the Clintons know how to stop the kind of frustration we heard from the reverend? They didn’t do it in the past. Surely the hateful words won’t stop under the shock and awe of the McCain philosophy?Please consider what Reverend Wright has been through; and realize that Barack Obama does not share those same frustrations.The end? No. This is merely a small cloud on tomorrow's dawn. Please stay. You'll see, the sun will shine bright after this cloud moves on.
A supporter’s simple advice to Senator Obama. I have no idea if anyone in the Obama campaign reads these blogs. But if you do read this, please consider my thoughts for a moment.
It is a long run to Pennsylvania Tuesday. Hillary Clinton is trying to change the game. Her attacks are designed to keep Senator Obama off-balance and away from his strong side.
The Senator should stick to his own game. For most of the week, he must ignore what comes out of the Clinton camp. Ignoring her will really punish the Clinton ego. At each week’s end, have someone do a data dump on her ridiculous ruminations. Every Friday (or day of your choosing), an articulate surrogate should counter all of her malicious and inaccurate assertions. Line-up every point clearly and succinctly in one place. An Op-Ed piece in a widely read publication would do nicely. Have the surrogate of the week, one who the media would eagerly publish, hammer home measured facts to quiet Mrs. Clinton’s half-truths and silly innuendoes.
Incorporate Samantha Power back into the Obama campaign. She has a lot to offer. People make mistakes. If I had been fired for every mistake I made, my resume would be the size of an encyclopedia. If necessary, ask Senator Obama to publicly renounce what she said, but not renounce her. After that, put her back to work. Clinton surrogates have said much worst than Ms. Power would ever say about an opponent.
During the majority of the week, the Senator should talk about his presidency. Show the world what he brings to the table. It is time to discuss, with glowing detail, his vision for the future. If Clinton sends some energy his way, he can harness that energy and deflect it into the direction of HIS choice; not hers.
The Clintons are no longer the drivers in this contest. Make sure Hillary Clinton understands that; and make sure the rest of the country fully understands who is really in command of this race.
From now until Pennsylvania play your own game, Senator. Hillary Clinton is merely a “Huckabee-type” of annoyance. Never stop showing your presidential side.
President Pork Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks,
“The House and Senate bills have too much pork,” President Bush declared on Wednesday, referring to the latest “supplemental” spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pork? Let’s see. The bill is a monstrosity. No question about that: $122 billion to finish off the year’s fighting — and raise the cost of the wars this year alone to $200 billion, or $3.8 billion a week, or, essentially, $500 million a day. Put aside for now the demonstrated futility of it all. Let’s just take that $500 million a day, most of it in Iraq, some of it to feed Halliburton’s various frauds as it pretends to feed, clothe and toilet the troops, and compare the $500 million a day to what Bush calls Pork. According to a Times blog, the entire porkish amount adds up to some $5.5 billion, $4.2 billion of which being agricultural supports, and $640 million for something called “LIHEAP.” Hmmm. Sounds suspicious. Let’s see.
Let me begin by saying thanks to Tony Owens for filling in for me & reading my speech Sunday, and all of you who organized this event. I'd also like to thank my wife and Sarah Willis for helping to promote this wonderful gathering.
I was asked to come here and talk about the issues with you, the issues as Mr. Obama sees them. I having been trying to find clever ways to recite words you can find on a website to no avail. So I'm just going to ask you a questions and let you figure out the answers for yourself.
I ask you, are you better off right now than you were eight years ago.
I remember hearing Bill Clinton say this at the 2000 Convention, but unlike President Clinton, I'm not going to answer this for you.
Are you better off now, is the world a better place, are you safer when you sleep, is this a time where you are proud to raise your children, are neighbors more like a family then people who just live on the same street?
There are many people who want to answer this question for you,
those who wish to push their wills and ideas upon on the public
serving only opinion and calling it fact
now I am not one of these people.
I am not here to tell you what to feel or think,
What I want is simple and it's for you to go on
From this event with an investigative spirit,
one that questions before it believes.
Now when you turn of your talk radio and Rush or Fraken are silenced,
when the Television is off and our nightly reminders of the evil among us is over,
when you lie your head upon your pillow before sleep,
ask yourself,
am I better off now than I was 8 eight years ago.
We live in an every changing world,
with partisans and pundits,
drive by medias and boosters of bias,
I know it can all get just a little too loud.
With so much stimulus, with so much activity,
different people trying to tell us what to believe and when to believe it,
I understand how most people can turn the channel or move to the arts and entertainment section instead of being reminded of the problems facing us.
We live in a time of so many lights and screens and LCDs that everything becomes blinding and at the end of the day all we can see are the very few things directly in front of us, like our family, our pocket books. We live in a time were a few wish to change the minds of the many, to believe as they believe, to feel as they feel. That's why I'm not going to speak about issues to you.
Are You better off now?
In these tumultuous times we have many problems.
We have numerous wars on numerous fronts,
the rate that many of us face in rent is rising
but the rate of pay is not.
We are paying more for gas,
for power,
for Internet access
all things necessary in our changing times.
Our schools look more like prisons than places of higher learning.
Our citizen still face oppression disguised as issues of states rights.
Our hero's are entering rehab or being released from jail.
All these problems we face together are being used to divide us,
shown to us over and over, interpreted and spun
on the all media outlets.
We are told we are many separate Americas
and this creates the fear needed to create followers,
but there is a man running today
a man who tells us this is not true
that there is no black or white America
only the Untied states, only our union.
My grandfather used to tell me that there is no shame in failed ideas;
only the refusal to admit our failures carries shame.
Weather it's the war on terror or the war on drugs or the war on difference,
Our government is refusing to admit its failures,
declining to try new directions and accept new lifestyles
because they didn't think they up
or because they don't approve.
It's easy to be become cynical,
it's easy to be become jaded
because the aforementioned are easier to swallow than any form of shame.
Robert Green Ingersoll said
"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart."
I bring this up because heart is completely necessary for hope.
The heart has an obligation and self-interest in being full partners with hope,
It cannot wait for other abstracts to act first.
Without heart we can't find the strength to roll up our sleeves
and push forward in front of looming obstacles,
we can't get hit hard and continue moving towards a promised progress,
towards a better tomorrow not only for us and our families, but for all Americans. We can not lose heart,
we can not welcome into our lives indifference
if we want hope to have any chance in a cynical society.
Dr, Martin Luther King Jr. once said
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Everywhere I go I hear people losing hope,
I see it everywhere I go and this worries me.
When hope is lost, we are left with only indifference,
with selfishness, and the need to place blame.
It is only in Hope that we can conquer shame,
only hope can bring us together as one union,
indivisible, where justice for all is possible
where we can see passed phenotypes and gender and sexuality,
with hope the future is nothing but infinite progress.
Mr. Obama has spent much time talking about the audacity hope
and I want to second that idea,
the bravado we must have to wish for a better tomorrow,
what tenacity to put our shoulders to the wheel of status quo
and push it towards something different, towards liberty.
I believe, no I feel, in the deepest realms of my being,
that Senator Obama is the man to lead us
from the pits of two minute sound bit issues and solution spin
towards the round table of bi-partisan conversation and compromise.
He urges us to not only let hope into our hearts
but to spread it around like gossip,
to our neighbors, friends, family, community,
to the world.
Senator Obama reminds us of the genius
our founders showed by designing a system of government that can be changed and that in the face of impossible odds,
people who love their country can change it.
He reminds us to have heart
in the face of all our obstacles, he reminds us of hope.
As a people, we are faced with many important decisions,
Some of us have children going to war, some have them going to college,
There is the rent and food and clothing,
But none more important than the one we choose to led us.
Into the fire and into the fight, the one we choose
Must come with the answer to my question,
Are we truly better off now than eight years ago
They must re-sew the fractured fabric Of the American dream
and return it to the many and not the select few,
because that is what makes this country great
and I quote Senator Obama
If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read,
that matters to me, even if it's not my child.
If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription
and has to choose between medicine and the rent,
that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother.
If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process,
that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief "I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper" that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams,
yet still come together as a single American family.
"E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.
The end of this road is far off.
Most Americans haven't even given this race much thought,
so I salute all of you here today.
It is not only our responsibility, it is our job to give this decision,
the decision of who should be president of these united states,
it's due diligence, to read and listen, to question and investigate.
I urge everyone to go home and read the about the issues
set forth by not only Senator Obama, but all the candidates,
I urge you to make up your own mind.
Until these races end,
people are going to try and sway you towards one side or another
and that is not what I hope to achieve today,
though I'd pleased to see a million Obama tee-shirts
in St. Johns and Flagler county.
I hope that after hearing my words,
you go back into your homes
and ask yourself am I better off today
and after doing so explore the issues and solutions before you
find one that suits your own morality, your own heart.
I'd like to end with a quote of Senator Obama.
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?
What Bush SquanderedPierre Tristam/Daytona Beach News-Journal, March 13, 2007
Browsing through a used bookstore the other day I did something I hadn’t done since reaching the age of consent two and a half decades ago. I picked up one of those old National Geographic issues with the pictures of doffed and frolicking natives. Except that the natives inside weren’t the bouncy kind from Bali or Burundi . They were from countries we’ve come to know as breeders of anti-Americanism or out-and-out enmity: France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the kind of places where, if President Bush was to venture — as he has been venturing through Latin America last week — he’d be burned in effigy and local authorities would have to mobilize the equivalent of two military brigades to protect him. Colombia , the third-biggest recipient of American aid in the last decade and supposedly its greatest ally south of the Rio Grande , had to do just that for a Bush stop-over lasting just a few hours on Sunday.
But the Geographic was dated May 1960. The 63 pages featuring all those countries fell under the banner of a single article entitled, “When the President Goes Abroad.” And in every country, in almost every picture, Dwight Eisenhower’s presence was cause for delirious celebration. It didn’t matter where: Madrid , Kabul , Teheran, even Karachi , that now-seething Pakistani sweatshop of hatred for America . (Daniel Perl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, was beheaded by Islamic militants he was investigating in Karachi ). “From his open car,” the Geographic wrote of Eisenhower’s stop in Karachi , Eisenhower “waved to cheering Pathan tribesmen wearing baggy white trousers, long-tailed white shirts, and faded turbans.” The car he was traveling in was actually an open horse-drawn-carriage, slow and providing not even shade from the sun.
Iraq War Anniversary Vigil
Americans across the country are more concerned than ever about our direction in Iraq. Now is the time for Congress to force a change.On March 19th, thousands of us from organizations across the movement will gather together to observe the fourth anniversary of the war through candlelight vigils. We’ll solemnly honor the sacrifice made by more than 3,000 servicemen and women, and we'll contemplate the path ahead of us. We cannot send tens of thousands of exhausted, under-equipped, and unprepared troops into the middle of an Iraqi civil war.Join us at a candlelight vigil on Monday, March 19th. Honor the sacrifice. Stop the escalation. Bring the troops home.
Events in your area: International Speedway & Nova Road 4 registered participant(s) (100 maximum) International Speedway & Nova Road Daytona Beach, FL 32114 Description Hi everyone...I hope you will join me at our usual corner, International Speedway & Nova Road at 6pm on March 19th. Children and pets are all welcome too! Parking is best at "Books a Million" parking lot. Come on everyone - let's show them that Florida says NO MORE with a big candlelight vigil in honor of our fallen soldiers!
Right now, there are 1058 gatherings planned
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Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks, March 9, 2007
James Madison didn’t have Britney Spears and Harry Potter in mind when he worried about the tyranny of the majority. His concerns oriented more toward the danger of political blocs acting like mobs by force of numbers. Madison’s solution: the Bill of Rights as a legal check, and the multiplication of political factions for civic balance. Great for the polity. But what about majorities outside the political process, where market forces apply but the Bill of Rights doesn’t, where most of us spend our lives and sustain the cultural swarms and smarms of Nielsen ratings and Hollywood IQs, where careers and counter-trends are made, mangled and spat out on whims, where the narrow aperture of what makes a news cycle and how long it makes it for is a modern Crock Inquisitor? Tyranny in those cases is so alive in the United States, so bouncy, that it provides a full-frontal view of American society’s Achilles’ hells (no, not heels): love of judgment, the need to conform, the comfort of mobs. It’s a story as old and treaded over as “The Scarlet Letter,” “Main Street,” “The Crucible” and “The Human Stain.” If those are refined examples, lost for the most part on dozing English majors and faithful choirs, the themes behind those works have been on display for the last few weeks with the vengeance of the Furies. The people involved — Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith and Daniel Radcliffe, the 17-year-old star of the Harry Potter manufacturing co. — are either dead or rich, famous and seasoned enough in public-lynching theater to handle it. But it doesn’t diminish the luridness of the spectacle, or what it says about those who pile it on. And the society they pile it on.
Pounce it on is more like it: Should Britney Spears have been partying so much? Should she have shaved her head? Was that an unshaven hair under her left armpit? Was her bikini wax Brazilian enough? Should she have gotten so many tattoos? Shouldn’t she be wearing underwear more often?
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | March 9, 2007
Philip W. Johnston, the Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman who served in the Clinton administration, declared his support yesterday for Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton's top rival for the party's presidential nomination.
Calling Obama "the future of our party," Johnston also said the first-term Illinois Democrat's strong opposition to the war in Iraq was an important factor in his decision. Johnston, who met with Obama last week in Washington, said he will join the candidate's national finance committee and offer advice on healthcare.
Johnston, who plans to step down this spring as state party chairman, was appointed New England regional administrator of the US Department of Health and Human Services during President Clinton's first term. He now operates a healthcare consulting business.
Backing Obama "was a difficult choice, in that I had been a Clinton appointee and I know Hillary, and I respect her a great deal," Johnston said.
Johnston, who won the Clinton administration post because of his strong ties to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, said he is disappointed that Mrs. Clinton, a second-term senator from New York, has not acknowledged that she made a mistake by voting in 2002 to support the Iraq war resolution.
Johnston is not the first significant Bay State Democrat with Clinton ties to join the Obama
