My husband and I along with my friend state Senator Jacqueline Collins just returned from Iowa. I was thoroughly impressed with Mike Blake, the brother who is the Policy Deputy Director for Iowa. Mike Blake did a phenomenal job working with the small (2.3%) African American community in Iowa. The political education outreach that he and his team implemented was highly effective. It was stroke of genuis to have Michelle and Barack's personal friends attend church services, community events and midnight watch services within the community. Iowans got another more personal picture of the Obama's through their friends.
Everyone we talked to at the church services we attended down to Arva Kelley the night auditor at our hotel was registered, knew their precinct, knew why they should caucus, knew who they were caucusing for, knew to bring the rest of their family, friends and neighbors, knew they had to be there on time and knew that they were at a historic moment. The number of Black folks who came out to participate in the Iowa caucus quadrupled!!! This probably accounts for a percentage point or two of Obama's margin of victory. The best quote I heard during a Kwanzaa celebration..."if Black folks cannot get behind Barack Obama with all of his qualifications then what you are really saying is that no Black man would ever be good enough for you...is this a message you want to give to our children?"
No one should vote for Barack simply because he is black. Black folks have already proven that we do not have missplaced racial loyalty when it comes to politics. The real issue is can we recognize and see one of our own as President? Thank God for free thinking Iowans who have thrown off the shackles of possibility blindness. Black Iowans and white Iowans are ready for a black president.
Dr. Patricia Jones BlessmanClinical Psychologist
Our company is up and running. If you want a one of a kind, hand made Obama shirt, go to www.visiblemanonline.com. These are the shirts that looked great during the Walk for Change. These are the shirts that sold out during Camp Obama. We've expanded our means of production and can now accommodate all orders. Buy your shirts now.
Scott
Hey guys,
This article from the Sioux City Journal didn't make the Obama homepage, but I think it's worth reading. Enjoy!
Warnstadt endorses Obama By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer 2 comment(s) | Share | Small | Large Seeing a candidate he thinks can not only win the 2008 presidential election, but govern in the following years, Iowa Sen. Steve Warnstadt, D-Sioux City, has announced his endorsement of Barack Obama.U.S. Sen. Obama, D-Ill., has campaigned twice in Sioux City this year and Warnstadt liked what he saw then and has seen previously."America is facing a lot of division, and I think (Obama) has unique skills to bring people together," Warnstadt said.Warnstadt also thinks Obama is making a strong move for change in his refusal to accept political action committee donations. "I like the way he has limited campaign financing to non-PACs. He has decided to reach out aggressively to ordinary individuals," he said.Warnstadt's role with the Obama campaign is yet to be defined, but he said he is "impressed with how the campaign is turning to individuals. This is not a top-down campaign."With Warnstadt's endorsement, four of the five Sioux City statehouse lawmakers have settled on a candidate for the 2008 presidency. The first to endorse was House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, who supports former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican. The other Sioux City Republican serving in the legislature, Iowa Sen. Ron Wieck, has not settled on a candidate."I continue to watch where they are on the issues," Wieck said, adding that he will endorse at some point before the Jan. 14 Iowa caucuses.Of the two other statehouse Democrats, Iowa Rep. Wes Whitead supports John Edwards and Iowa Rep. Roger Wendt has endorsed Hillary Clinton. Whitead will speak on behalf of Edwards at the Northwest Iowa Labor Council annual Labor Day Picnic on Monday.Northwest Iowa Labor Council president John Hamm said the picnic field of speakers is the best ever. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden will take part, while former President Bill Clinton will also attend and introduce his wife. Estimates are that 5,000 or more people will attend the labor council event at Riverside Park in Sioux City.Parking will be available on both sides of Riverside Boulevard and on the grass between the railroad and Riverside Boulevard, Hamm said. Also, parking is available in the park's lots.The appearance of three presidential candidates at the picnic ends a fallow period with few candidates since the Aug. 11 Iowa Republican Party straw poll, which was won by Romney. Many candidates from the two major parties campaigned in Sioux City in late July and early August, but since the straw poll the only stop was by Edwards on Aug. 14.Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
BlogForChange - Part I --
By James Hansen and Scott Safranek
During June 9th's Walk for Change, Scott Safranek and James Hansen canvassed a couple of blocks in Jefferson Park, CA.
Our first few doors didn’t amount to much. People weren't home and, even when we could hear movement and voices, they wouldn't come to the door. We caught a woman on her way out and were able to get a curt exchange with just enough time to leave our literature on her doorstep. Not much, but something.
It was just after noon when we reached the small one story duplex surrounded by a chain-link fence. Almost all the houses in this neighborhood had fences, and we knew we were imposing as we unclasped the gates. This fence had two gates, each with a path to a separate front door on a shared porch. The lawn was spotty but well kept. The paint was old but nowhere flaking.
We opened the first gate and approached. The large wooden door stood open, but an iron “screen” door, whose tiny holes gave a bit of ventilation, allowed us to see only passing shadows inside. We tried the doorbell with little faith.
“Who is it?” an African American male voice asked.
“Hi, I’m Scott Safranek. I’m a volunteer with Senator Obama’s campaign for President. Are you registered to vote?”
A shadow moved behind the door.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
The voice was now coming from directly behind the screen, but there was still no way to see who was speaking.
“I’m a volunteer for Barack Obama, sir. Are you registered to vote?”
“Of course I’m registered to vote.”
This would be a common theme in the neighborhood. Despite any talk of self-disenfranchised minorities, the area demonstrated little will to lay politically idle. Some of this can be attributed to the work of the area’s State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and his organization, AAVREP. His name would often bring knowing smiles to the faces we met.
“Is there anyone else in the house who might not be registered?”
“Nah. Only one person lives here, my sister. Who’d you folks say you were with? Barack O-bama?”
The “O” was emphasized, lending a cartoon quality to his tone, giving us hope that this conversation might be different. The screen door finally opened, and the man stood on his threshold. He was in his late thirties, wearing a black button down with short sleeves and a broad grey stripe across his chest. His pants were neatly pressed and on his face he wore a smile.
“Do you support the Senator’s campaign for President?”
“Well now, we got two good people running. It might be Hillary. It might be Barack. Both of them’d be a whole lot better than what we got. So yeah, I’d support Barack, but I also support Hillary.”
“So you’re undecided?”
“Yeah, I’m undecided. It’s still early. What are you guys doing out here this early anyway?”
“For the most part, we’re just trying to start some conversations, get people thinking about the campaign. Also get people registered.”
We told him about the Senator’s “Walk for Change,” and that we were volunteers. That fact seemed to surprise some people and that’s understandable. AAVREP pays its workers $5 for every voter they register. As the conversation went on, he moved from the doorway to take a seat on his porch.
“So what issue is going to decide this for you?”
“Whew, I guess I’d have to say jobs. We used to have railway jobs around here, but now it’s tough to find work. I don’t know what he can do about that, but we have to find a way to get some work here. That and the war.”
“You know that Obama was against this war from the beginning, right?”
“Course I know.”
“And at the same time Hillary was voting for it?”
“That’s true, too,” he nodded.
As we continued to talk we could see him warming up not only to us, but also to the idea of an Obama presidency. For all the worry we might have had about starting conversations, it was seeming that the difficulty might actually be in trying to leave. Our walk was just starting, and we had more houses to get to. We had him fill out a small card so that the campaign could be in touch with him, and then made our way over to the next door, again barred only by the thick black heavy iron screen.
We knocked and waited.
“Yeah, who’s there?” a thick voice came from behind the screen.
“Hi, I’m James Hansen, I’m a volunteer with Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Are you registered to vote?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Do you have a few minutes to talk with us about the upcoming campaign?”
A well-built black man who looked just a bit over 50 stepped out of his doorway and onto his porch, where he took a seat on the ledge.
“I sure do.”
“What issues are most important to you?”
“War,” he said matter-of-factly, but he was worried we had misunderstood him. “I don’t necessarily like the way it was managed, but when you got a man like that in charge of a country, you just can’t have that. We had to go in there and take him out.”
“So you don’t approve of the way Bush has handled the war?”
“Nooo,” he said sternly. “He’s got our forces stretched too thin. Sending those kids out there without the Humvees, without the body armor. You can’t do that. I was a soldier for a time, and we have to do a better job keeping up our military."
"How long did you serve?"
"1971-1982." He looked up at us and said, "Does Obama have an opinion on the draft?”
“He hasn't come out with a position, but he wants to increase the size of the armed forces by about 50,000 soldiers and 25,000 marines. He wants to pay them more too, cutting out defense spending to programs like Star Wars and all that. Not to mention better benefits after they serve."
"You heard about that army hospital over in DC? What's it called, Army Reed or something? Just terrible what they were doing to those veterans. Obama want to do anything about all that?"
"Walter Reed. And yeah, that's really the point of all this. Military spending is going through the roof and we don't have the soldiers to show for it. Places like Darfur and Afghanistan don't need F-22s, they need boots on the ground."
"Yeah, we gotta do something about that, but we need a draft to do it right."
"Maybe," we acknowledged, surprised to see this position in only our second conversation. You could see where he was coming from, but we also knew the draft is a non-starter on the Hill. There are few less-likely changes imaginable.
"What you guys doing involved with this stuff now anyway?"
"Obama just inspires us. He's an amazing person, and he's really just the kind of person we need to fix this country."
"Well, maybe to you folks he's just an amazing guy, but to me, it's one of those things that I'd like to see just once before I die. But I tell you, I'm just not sure it can happen. Hillary's got Bill behind her, and she's gonna do a fine job. But Obama, that would be something pretty special. I don't know."
The conversation wound down after that. We did our best to convince him that Obama was different, that Bradley's '82 campaign was a long time ago, that Obama has a real chance and is worth voting for. He seemed hopeful but not yet convinced.
“You already talk to that Republican over there?” He gestured towards the neighbor we had just spoken with.
"Yeah. We were just there. It was great talking with you. We're going to go try to hit some more houses, but thank you very much for your time."
We shook hands with him. He had a firm handshake and waved goodbye to us as we walked along his path and out the chain-link fence.
As we walked out, we noticed two kids, early twenties, sitting in a white SUV. We began to make our way to the next house when the Army fellow called out to us, pointing back at the two kids we had just passed by.
“They’re not at home, but we got a couple more Republicans right here.” The very mention of 'Republican' again sufficing for a joke.
We headed over to the truck on his recommendation. The two kids opened their doors a little awkwardly. We tried to kind of lean our way into the doors to carry on a conversation.
"Afternoon," we greeted.
"Hey there," said the white kid in the passenger seat. The black kid next to him nodded his head towards us.
"You guys registered to vote?"
"Yeah."
"That's great to hear."
"How do you guys feel about Bush?"
"We hate him."
It just got boring asking everyone if they were Democrats. It almost went without saying. I felt a little sheepish going for the easy victory, but it was a quick and easy way to build up a bit of rapport.
"What do you guys know about Barack Obama?"
"He's running for President," said the white guy.
“Anything else?”
“Not really.”
“Hey, we’re going up to have a few beers with that guy. You want to come up and talk over there?”
He gestured back at the porch of the first man we talked to. The black kid was mostly staying quiet.
“That sounds great.”
As we walked back to the porch we had just left, the soldier came out of his door too and pulled up a chair over to his friend’s side of the house. The two kids stood leaning against the porch pillars and the first man came out of his home with a few half-size bottles of Mickey’s. Inside, you could here the crisp bass of a smooth jazz album playing over what appeared to be a quality stereo.
“Our buddy here is putting in a new stereo for his sister,” the white kid said, gesturing.
“Tryin’ to,” said the soldier, leaning back against the wall a little.
“Did you guys vote in the last election?”
“Yeah,” they all said. The white kid continued — “We have a precinct a couple blocks north of here. Real close. We try to go to all of them.”
“It’s just crazy what Bush has done to our country,” said the budding stereo mechanic. “You go traveling, and they just don’t treat you the way they used to. It used to be they loved Americans; now it’s not so much. It’s Bush.”
The soldier leaned forward again. “Say, why don’t you let me have one of those voter registration cards. I moved a little while ago and I just want to make sure they’ve got me in the right place.” We took out a card and were excited for our first chance to register someone.
“In a lot of ways, you know, Barack is kind of the Anti-Bush. He is already looked at as a role model in Africa and around the world. Father from Kenya, mother from Kansas; you don’t think that’ll put a different face out there for the rest of the world to see?”
“It would, but all that foreign stuff, you gotta have experience."
"Do you?"
“Absolutely. You don't want someone up there learning on the job. With Hillary at least, you know she's been there."
"But would you say that she really has the experience? She was First Lady, sure, but..."
"Hillary doesn’t need experience. She’s got Bill.”
“It’s still going to be her call though. In the end, it’s not going to be Bill making these decisions, it's going to be Hillary. And I don't mean to say that Hillary can't do a good job. She's up to the task, she'd make a good President. But we don't have to settle for adequate. We can get the right person for our moment in history. You put Barack Obama in the White House and we can change this country."
We can’t say for sure that we convinced any of these people, but we could see in their eyes the faint beginnings of belief taking hold, that 1982 was 25 years ago, that there is power in hope, and that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change. We know that Barack Obama should be our next President and, if these beliefs continue to spread, he will be.
Barack Obama's Unbounded Constituency
Barack Obama confronts political challenges with an unyielding desire to build consensus. He creates real discussions with hostile audiences, seeking out would-be antagonists and engaging them in surprisingly disarmed exchanges. His broad appeal affords him a real chance to establish a sweeping Democratic majority in 2008 and beyond. But Presidents do not simply win and lose political battles; they determine the political climate. Barack Obama seems uncommonly fit to clear the air of our poisoned debate and put to rest the unnatural rightward creep of our politics.
In fact, he seems to enjoy a surprising affinity with his opponents' constituencies. Barack Obama's support of reproductive rights, gun control and stem cell research made him an unlikely guest at Pastor Rick Warren's Orange County mega-church last December. His invitation to speak on World AIDS Day riled many in the evangelical community, but the Senator was not cowed. He stood before the assembly and argued that AIDS cannot be fought with mere calls for abstinence and monogamy; condoms must be made more widely available. He chastised them for "too often ... point[ing] to the unfaithful husband or the promiscuous youth or the gay man and say[ing] 'This is your fault. You have sinned.'" He ended by reminding them that their faith demands they address the needs of all who suffer, from the Africans orphaned by AIDS to the victims of Katrina, from the gang members of South Central to the 47 million Americans without health insurance -- that these traditionally liberal causes should be what binds us together and not what drives us apart. The evangelical congregation gave Senator Obama a standing ovation.
Barack Obama's connectedness with Americans of all political stripes has yielded important legislative results. In his first years in the Illinois State Senate, Obama worked with Republicans to craft Illinois's first ethics reform in two decades. The legislation, supported by Illinois Progressive Interest Research Group (PIRG) and other good-government groups, was widely regarded as some of the toughest in the country and, despite significant initial resistance within both parties, the bill passed with near unanimous support. Later, in the US Senate, Barack Obama saw the need to update the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars and trucks, which had been stagnant for 20 years. Undaunted by this issue's historically poor track record among conservatives, Obama enlisted the help of Republican Richard Lugar, the senior Senator from Indiana. Together they assembled uncommon bipartisan support for yearly increases and other measures described in their Obama-Luger-Biden bill.
Democratic primaries often present voters with a dilemma. Confronted with the coming general election, it is natural to give weight to the candidate more palatable to Independents and moderate Republicans. But primaries are also about electing leaders and forward thinkers, the idealists who exemplify the best our party has to offer, the reformers who offer the potential for transformational change. This time around Democrats are lucky. Barack Obama rescues us from this traditional compromise. The promise of Barack Obama is not the promise of triangulation, of mediocrity rushing to a safer middle, but the promise of our entire political spectrum working together to achieve progressive goals. Welcome to the politics of persuasion.
Experience is No Substitute for Judgment
Senator Obama's rapid ascent has aroused the suspicion of some political observers who question the breadth and depth of his experience. The man is brilliant, they say, charismatic, a natural leader with transformational potential -- but he is not ready. Not yet. He is too young, too new to the national stage, too unfamiliar with the intricacies of foreign policy. Barack Obama must wait, they say; he will be a great president, but not just yet.
Senator Obama is not without experience. His history with politics at the community level gives him an excellent and much needed perspective on domestic issues. He worked for years as a civil rights attorney and constitutional law professor. He was a highly respected legislator in the Illinois State Senate before rising to the US Senate, where he continues to garner strong bipartisan support for traditionally liberal causes. But we admit his public resume is not that long.
Concerns over a candidate's preparedness are appropriate and justified. But what is unjustified, what is illogical, what is frankly unsupported by historical fact, is the claim that extensive experience is a prerequisite to a strong and successful presidency. The parallels between Obama and Lincoln are many and well documented, but Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt also took office with comparable resumes. When Wilson was elected in 1912, the man who went on to win World War I was an academic with a half term's experience as New Jersey's Governor. Eleven years earlier, Roosevelt took office after serving just one year as Governor of New York and one year as Vice President. Still, his far-sighted and imaginative leadership pioneered environmentalism by founding the national park service and ushered in the post-colonial era by expelling European powers from our hemisphere.
And we have all seen that experience is fallible. Two of the worst presidents in the annals of our history, Richard Nixon and James Buchanan, came to office well prepared by paper standards. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz had a combined forty years of service under five different administrations when President Bush was inaugurated in 2001. But that didn't keep them from designing a rather unsuccessful foreign policy.
So why did these seemingly competent people fail to steward our country effectively? Because when confronting the questions that matter most, experience is simply no substitute for good judgment.
It doesn't take experience at all. What it takes is judgment. The kind of judgment that led Barack Obama, a full three months before the invasion of Iraq, to say "I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al-Qaeda." The upstart State Senator from Illinois with a funny name got it right when so much of this country was caught up in the race to war. Barack Obama might not have the most experience, but he certainly has the judgment we need in the White House for the next eight years.
