It was a Monday evening on a college campus. The football game would be on in a couple hours, the barbecue was fired up and the burgers were cooking. However, the people congregating at the picnic tables weren’t discussing the Chargers versus the Jets. They weren’t focused on the busy first day of classes looming tomorrow. Instead, they were discussing something far more important and intriguing: their future and each other.
Yesterday, Northwestern University students congregated around four picnic tables and two grills for a “BBQ for Barack”. Almost 300 students showed up to find out more about the campaign and what they could do to help (and of course free burgers!). While the event, hosted by Northwestern University Students for Barack Obama and College Democrats, was designed to raise awareness about the organizations, it also raised awareness about the students themselves. Alison, a junior from Coconut Creek, FL felt that “everyone’s pretty enthusiastic. It’s really cool to actually see people out here wanting to do something!”
In a college student’s daily discussions, politics has difficulty getting the same play time as classes, parties and how unfair it is that all the freshmen get wireless in their dorms. However, this gathering clearly showed that there is a crowd that wants to discuss the issues that are important and relevant to the world outside campus life. Jacob, a senior from San Francisco, said there were “lots of familiar faces that you wouldn’t expect to see here. It’s always nice to see young faces, people my own age, interested.” And many of these students were far more than just interested. Approximately 140 students pledged to travel to Iowa with the campaign at least once, with more than 80 planning on going this Saturday.
NU students have often complained of political apathy on campus. This election, this candidate and this message have changed that. Today’s students are finding their voices and using them to declare the need for change in this country. Thousands of students across the country are sacrificing their time, a precious commodity in college, to help the campaign that has inspired millions. Anyone wanting to see the hope in Barack Obama’s campaign need only look out at that crowd of students and find inspiration.
Obama supporters shouldn't lose hope over recent national polls showing McCain with a slight lead. Individual states are important in an election, so the national numbers are not very pertinent. State polls show that Barack Obama still has the advantage. Read my blog post about the Electoral Math and why I am confident Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States:
http://saintsimonanu.blogspot.com/2008/09/prediction-barack-obama-will-be-next.html
I think taxes should be one of Obama's number one issues. The fact is that taxes are extremely important to Americans. One of the reasons that we declared independence was taxation without representation.
Many people still believe that Sen. Obama is going to raise their taxes. While this is true for some. It is the opposite of the truth in most cases. People need to know that chances are if Sen. Obama becomes president they will pay less taxes.
The first night of the Democratic National Convention was absolutely amazing. From Ted Kennedy to Michelle Obama, tonight was full of moments that caused jaws to drop and eyes to tear. You won't find many of those moments at the RNC next week, and I know our convention will only get better. Michelle Obama gave a heartfelt speech that rivals any speech given thus far in the campaign. She definitely has the chops to compete with her husband in that department.
And Ted Kennedy...wow!
He is truly an icon of the Democratic party and of this country. For years he has been a hero to the working class, the underdog, the little guy, the down-trodden...and tonight, he has become a hero to that new generation of Americans watching tonight, which includes me. His promise to be on the Senate floor, still fighting for the American people, next January touched me deeply because it represents one of the essential elements of our party and our country: hope. I am so proud to be a Democrat and an American tonight.
HQ you guys have lost touch with the Obama campaign fundraising base over the last 2 months since the primaries ended.
First, you stop putting up the counter which generated the most excitement - people want to see the counter "adding up" the donations.
The Hillary "pay off" also did not help you but that is another story I won't even get into because it's a touchy issue, still is crippling fundraising efforts overall.
Second, you have to come up with a BIG NUMBER. Don't do some 150,000 by July 4th deal (that number should be 1,000,000 donors not 150,000). DO A HUGE NUMBER - $100 Million!
At the average rate of $90, 1,000,000 donors would add $90 Million. We need a big score and this can happen. It doesn't matter WHEN it happens it just needs to happen. So what if it takes more than one reporting cycle, more than 30 days, who cares? We need to make this number.
Stop thinking SMALL HQ.
What happened to the Obama Mojo??? (i.e. "Yes We Can" ??? - where did that go?)
I can't believe HQ has let this happen. What are you guys thinking? Get Real and get back to the roots of what has been proven to work - THE COUNTER.
Every since you hid it donations have plummeted substantially.
Doing these "high dollar" fundraisers will make the core online contributor feel left out and is you don't need "our money" especially since most of us will never ever attend these events.
And PLEASE lay off the trickster donation crap (send in $5 to get a chance to be 1 of 10 for the Arena in Denver). This is below our intelligence here. Sure we would like to attend this and would give $5. But don't talk down to us and use trickery to entice a donation. We are not stupid.
Get back to your roots.
Come up with a HUGE NUMBER, put the counter back up. Go back to what has worked and GET REAL. Come down a notch from the "corporate" mindset, please.
Do this and you will see more donations come in.
Senator Obama,I find your most recent support for HR 6304 galling. On this most crucial issue on whether or not the rule of law can swept aside when it becomes inexpedient to corporations and this nation's political leadership, you failed. You chose to forgo the mantra of change you've espoused throughout the campaign, failed to demonstrate the political leadership required to rally your party and fellow Senators in opposition to this measure, and instead cast your lot with a party whose consistent and flagrant disregard for American's civil liberties and rights will not be kindly judged by history. You have joined that ignominious group of hyperventilating, weak-kneed legislators who supported the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Compromise of 1850, the House Un-American Activities Committee, or 2006 Military Commissions Act. There is no way to correct, explain, or otherwise spin your actions on this matter: on a crucial issue at an essential time, not only did you fail to lead or cast the ethically correct vote, you failed to uphold the oath you swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.You, sir, have lost my support for you as a Presidential candidate and any other office you might run for in the future. There may yet be politicians out there who can realize the changes that need to be made in Washington, but it is apparent you are not one of them.
Sincerely,
Brian Keegan
They're all coming. It's here. California superdelegate Kamil Hasan, DNC member, endorses Barack Obama "His election as the President of the United States will not only help unite a very divided nation, but elevate the image of the United States in the world to a level not seen since John Kennedy was the President," said Hasan. District of Columbia superdelegate, and DNC member, Ben Johnson endorsed Barack Obama. “It’s time to close ranks behind Barack Obama, who has run an outstanding campaign and made many of us proud," said Johnson. Florida superdelegate and DNC Member Diane Glasser endorsed Barack Obama.
There's more!
Read more.
Carole
Obama-Clinton, a hate-filled dream ticket
By Andrew Sullivan
It is for many in the Obama camp an unthinkable thought. But politics is sometimes the art of adjusting today to what seemed inconceivable yesterday. I'm talking about the possibility — and the powerful logic — of a unity Obama-Clinton ticket for the Democrats.
I never thought I'd even consider it; but times change; politics shifts, and in the roiling flux of this American campaign, a bold unifying gesture could make the Democratic ticket — and an Obama presidency — unstoppable almost overnight. It's still highly unlikely, but so was JF Kennedy running with Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan running with the first George Bush.
The rationale for a fusion ticket is the same as for any grand political compromise. Very few people in Washington believe that Barack Obama can now be denied the Democratic nomination. Even after the past month, as Hillary Clinton has hung in there, as the scandal about Jeremiah Wright (Obama's firebrand cleric) scandal has battered the post-racial Obama brand, and as white Reagan Democrats have proven resistant to a new young black freshman senator, Obama has actually increased his number of delegates. Clinton simply cannot overcome the edge he built up in February and March, however cruel his April turned out to be. And the superdelegates — who will ultimately decide -- have also been slowly trending his way.
The decision last week by the former Clintonite Democratic Party chairman, Joe Andrew, to switch from Clinton to Obama confirmed the super-delegate trend.
And the raw truth is: Clinton's victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania and persistence in states such as North Carolina and Indiana, which vote this Tuesday, have kept Obama from closing the deal definitively. Worse: the demographics seem to be hardening into a difficult dynamic for him. White working-class women — crucial to Democratic marginal states — remain resistant to his charms. Hispanics are also iffier than they should be. Somehow, the Clintons' brutal assault on his brand, aided and abetted by conservative media outlets, such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, have managed to dent this unifier a little.
That, of course, is why so many in the Democratic party are furious at the Clintons. The only way Hillary can now win is by tearing down the Obama candidacy even further — a candidacy that has brought more new voters, more money and more enthusiasm into Democratic ranks than at any time since 1992. If she were somehow to persuade the superdelegates to pick her over the obvious favourite of primary voters, she would provoke an implosion in the party, brutal payback from young, black and independent Obama fans, and a real crisis at the Democratic convention.
So what is she up to and what is Obama to do about it? There are three main theories behind Clinton's refusal to acquiesce to mathematics: she simply cannot tolerate losing a nomination she believes she has a dynastic right to; she is trying to ensure that Obama loses in 2008 in order to run again herself in 2012; or she wants to be offered the vice-presidential spot on an Obama-led ticket. I'm beginning to suspect the last option is the most plausible, and it gives Obama a potential opening: why not give her what she wants? An Obama-Clinton ticket would certainly give the Democrats a massive sigh of relief — and perhaps some euphoria.
The conservative white voters that Clinton has amazingly managed to attract could be combined with the massive infusion of new young votes, internet money, and African-American enthusiasm to create a potential tsunami in the election. Instead of having to pick between the first black president and the first woman president, the Democrats could offer voters both: the first black president and first female vice-president. Worries about Obama's relative youth and lack of Washington experience would be allayed by the presence of the Clintons. The toxicity of the Clinton baggage could be balanced by the hope Obama has inspired.
The Clintons could be deployed to shore up support in some of the Reagan Democrat states, while Obama wins over enough independents to carry the Mountain West and the upper Midwest. California, Ohio, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania could be secured. The downside? They hate each other. Over this campaign, Obama's supporters, along with many others, have been taken aback by the raw, unprincipled bare-knuckle politics that the Clintons have unleashed against the greatest talent to emerge in national politics since Bill Clinton himself. Moreover, the core appeal of Obama has been that he isn't a Clinton; he hasn't capitulated to the zero-sum politics of Karl Rove, George W Bush's mastermind. His outreach to new and young and non-Democratic voters has been premised on an end to the kind of politics the Clintons represent. When I raised the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket on my blog last week, Obama-supporting readers were outraged and offended. I can see why. I defer to nobody in my contempt and suspicion of the Clintons.
And yet I can also see that the new politics Obama represents has provoked a ferocious backlash from the established political class; and his weakness (as well as his appeal) as a candidate is his reluctance to engage in the kind of street-fighting that politics can sometimes — and must sometimes — become. By picking Clinton as a vice-president, he would be pulling a classic American manoeuvre — getting a surrogate to do the dirty pugilism of the campaign, while using his own extraordinary skills to provide a unifying and uplifting overall theme. Picking Clinton would also defuse genuine concerns among older voters that he is just too green to be entrusted with presidential power just yet.
Remember Kennedy-Johnson? They too loathed each other and cast extremely different shadows in American public life. But Kennedy put Johnson on his ticket in order to achieve exactly what Obama needs to achieve now: bringing more conservative, practically-minded voters into his camp. There are other figures who could do this for Obama — most obviously, the anti-war Reagan Democrat senator Jim Webb from Virginia. Webb also neutralizes McCain's veteran appeal to heartland voters. And Webb has a tough campaigning streak as well.But the hard reality is that the Democratic party is deeply divided and Webb cannot bring the losing faction with him.
The Clinton dynasty has lost to the new pretender, but it hasn't been defeated in one fell swoop. Dynasties rarely are. The old guard also has enough clout and enough support to threaten Obama with considerable collateral damage — if it wants to — and that's the message it is now clearly sending.
The old political adage that you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer therefore seems appropriate. Clinton will not be running for president in 2012 if she is vice-president in 2009. The same could not be said if she were consigned back to the Senate to lick her wounds and plot her future. If Obama wanted to flatter her even more, and keep her occupied, he could offer her the healthcare portfolio — allowing her a second chance to do what she so fatally failed to do 15 years ago. And if she turned him down, he could nonetheless say that at least he tried.
The biggest problem, of course, is Bill. He is an inveterate meddler, and thinks of Obama as his nemesis. Having a former president married to your vice-president could give Obama a huge headache as president. But what we've seen in this campaign is how resilient the Clintons are and how dangerous they will be to any Democratic president who isn't beholden to them. Better, perhaps, to co-opt them and bring them into the tent than to have them as dangerous dynastic rivals outside it.
There's also a way for Obama to explain this choice in a way that does not violate — and in fact strengthens — his core message. His model in this should be Abraham Lincoln. What Lincoln did, as Doris Kearns Goodwin explained in her brilliant book, "Team Of Rivals," was to bring his most bitter opponents into his cabinet in order to maintain national and party unity at a time of crisis. Obama — who is a green legislator from Illinois, just as Lincoln was — could signal to his own supporters in picking Clinton that he isn't capitulating to old politics, he is demonstrating his capacity to reach out and engage and co-opt his rivals and opponents. Done deftly, picking Clinton could even resonate with Obama's supporters as a statesmanlike gesture, a sign of the kind of reconciliation he wants to achieve at home and abroad and energize his own party for the fall. It is consonant with his core message: that he can unify the country in a way few other politicians can. It would even help heal the gulf that has opened up between the Clintons and black voters in this campaign. It's win-win all round.
I hesitate to propose this, but I do think it is now worth actively considering for the first time in this campaign. The test of a president is his ability to recognise his own weaknesses and adjust to them. If he can do that while strengthening his core message, and make his own election close to unstoppable, what would hold him back?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article3866584.ece
Andrew Sullivan is an author, academic and journalist. He holds a PhD from Harvard in political science, and is a former editor of The New Republic. His 1995 book, Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality, became one of the best-selling books on gay rights. He has been a regular columnist for The Sunday Times since the 1990s, and also writes for Time and other publications.
By Christopher Hass - May 6th, 2008 at 1:03 pm EDT
Yesterday Dan Frydman, one of our headquarters interns, left Chicago to help Get Out The Vote in Northern Indiana. Here's his firsthand account from the front lines:
After waking up to a beautiful Monday morning in Chicago, I made the quick one-hour drive along Lake Michigan to Hammond, IN. I reported to Carpenter's Hall Local 599 on E. Highland at 10 a.m., where I joined up with other local and out-of-state volunteers who were hitting the streets to canvass for Barack. Today was my first canvassing experience, and to be honest, I felt a little apprehensive about knocking on strangers' doors in the middle of the day. However, the local field organizers prepared a great orientation that put me completely at ease with the task at-hand. During the orientation, we learned the basics of canvassing, and were provided with talking points and literature to help us reach out to both Obama supporters as well as undecided voters. What impressed me most during the orientation was the amount of faith and responsibility that the Obama staffers put in us. Despite the information packets and talking points, the field organizers encouraged us to speak from our hearts when meeting with residents, and continually stressed the importance of the work that we were about to do. I had a great time canvassing in Highland, Indiana. Over the course of the day I knocked on almost 90 doors in Precinct 26. Although a lot of folks were at work or running errands, I had the chance to meet a lot of really interesting people. Almost all of the Obama supporters I spoke with expressed gratitude that we were taking the time to reach out to them and provide helpful information about voting rules, locations, and times for Tuesday's primary. I also met with some residents whose primary votes remained uncommitted as of today. Most were receptive to our efforts, and seemed interested to hear an Obama supporter speak truthfully and passionately about Barack's message of change — right on their doorstep. One woman told me that although she was still undecided, all of her children were voting for Barack, and that she was happy that I'd stopped by to talk with her. It was great to get out and meet voters one-on-one, and to know that the conversations I had with them might actually encourage them to vote for Barack the very next day. The atmosphere I saw in Indiana was inspiring. The Schererville office had an amazing corps of volunteers and staff, including the mother-daughter team of Amy and Natalie. Twenty-three year-old Natalie says that she got involved after seeing Barack at a rally in Gary. She found herself inspired by his optimism and enthusiasm, and decided that she "had to channel the energy that he was giving into something productive for his campaign." Since then, she and her mother have been logging heavy hours at the office, doing whatever it takes to help Barack connect with voters in their area. I also met Chelsea, a 24 year-old Schererville local who first got involved with the campaign by phonebanking along with her husband Ryan during earlier contests. When the Schererville office opened a couple of weeks back, she immediately pitched-in, helping out with canvassing and other events, including a "Bluesin' for Barack," Fundraiser held at Bar Jade on Highway 30. Chelsea talked about the dedication of these volunteers — some of whom have been working until 4:00 A.M. in recent days — and added that "our people are ready to do anything they can to help out, and don't demand anything in return." She was amazed by the passion and commitment shown by these local volunteers, and said that "their work has given me faith that the country is going in the right direction."
After waking up to a beautiful Monday morning in Chicago, I made the quick one-hour drive along Lake Michigan to Hammond, IN. I reported to Carpenter's Hall Local 599 on E. Highland at 10 a.m., where I joined up with other local and out-of-state volunteers who were hitting the streets to canvass for Barack.
Today was my first canvassing experience, and to be honest, I felt a little apprehensive about knocking on strangers' doors in the middle of the day. However, the local field organizers prepared a great orientation that put me completely at ease with the task at-hand. During the orientation, we learned the basics of canvassing, and were provided with talking points and literature to help us reach out to both Obama supporters as well as undecided voters.
What impressed me most during the orientation was the amount of faith and responsibility that the Obama staffers put in us. Despite the information packets and talking points, the field organizers encouraged us to speak from our hearts when meeting with residents, and continually stressed the importance of the work that we were about to do.
I had a great time canvassing in Highland, Indiana. Over the course of the day I knocked on almost 90 doors in Precinct 26. Although a lot of folks were at work or running errands, I had the chance to meet a lot of really interesting people. Almost all of the Obama supporters I spoke with expressed gratitude that we were taking the time to reach out to them and provide helpful information about voting rules, locations, and times for Tuesday's primary.
I also met with some residents whose primary votes remained uncommitted as of today. Most were receptive to our efforts, and seemed interested to hear an Obama supporter speak truthfully and passionately about Barack's message of change — right on their doorstep. One woman told me that although she was still undecided, all of her children were voting for Barack, and that she was happy that I'd stopped by to talk with her. It was great to get out and meet voters one-on-one, and to know that the conversations I had with them might actually encourage them to vote for Barack the very next day.
The atmosphere I saw in Indiana was inspiring. The Schererville office had an amazing corps of volunteers and staff, including the mother-daughter team of Amy and Natalie. Twenty-three year-old Natalie says that she got involved after seeing Barack at a rally in Gary. She found herself inspired by his optimism and enthusiasm, and decided that she "had to channel the energy that he was giving into something productive for his campaign." Since then, she and her mother have been logging heavy hours at the office, doing whatever it takes to help Barack connect with voters in their area.
I also met Chelsea, a 24 year-old Schererville local who first got involved with the campaign by phonebanking along with her husband Ryan during earlier contests. When the Schererville office opened a couple of weeks back, she immediately pitched-in, helping out with canvassing and other events, including a "Bluesin' for Barack," Fundraiser held at Bar Jade on Highway 30.
Chelsea talked about the dedication of these volunteers — some of whom have been working until 4:00 A.M. in recent days — and added that "our people are ready to do anything they can to help out, and don't demand anything in return." She was amazed by the passion and commitment shown by these local volunteers, and said that "their work has given me faith that the country is going in the right direction."
Right now volunteers like Chelsea, Amy, Natalie, and Ryan are going door to door, block by block, to make sure every one of our supporters in Indiana and in North Carolina make it to the polls today, but they're not doing this alone. All across the country, people like you are helping Get Out The Vote www.barackobama.com voters in Indiana and North Carolina.
It only takes a minute to get started. Together, block by block and call by call, we can make a difference here in these final few hours.
http://www.cnn.com/league/index.html
My 'rock road' cred:
Though I have lived in California for over half my life, I grew up in Indiana, on a farm five miles southwest of Ireland, Indiana, in the southern part of the state. My mom, Fern still lives on the farm. My brothers and cousins are capable of giving me endless grief about what a delicate flower I've become (some will tell you I've always been) how I'd much rather shoot skeet than deer, how I will goof around with a turtle I find in a field when I should be digging post holes, what a chickenshit I am on the four-wheelers, or how I refuse to drink Pucker -- whatever the hell that stuff is. But we will always love each other no matter what, and Indiana, and our farm in particular, is still the land to which my life is rooted.
The smell of new-mown hay, the moonlight on the Wabash, Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson, the taste of real produce grown near Vincennes, the Little Five, Mellencamp's music, and open-wheeled racing give me pangs of nostalgia to this day.
I am writing this partially in support of Senator Obama, but just as much as an homage to all my deer-hunting, Pucker drinking, four-wheel riding Hoosier homies, many of whom are blood.
Here are four reasons as solid as a John Wooden basketball drill why you should be the ones to put an exclamation point on the Obama campaign by passing him the ball next Tuesday.
Reason One: Caginess. As any Hoosier can tell you, a cager is a basketball player. What they do not tell you, or let on very often, is that Hoosiers are cagey folks. They may come off like rubes to you and smell faintly of something that was not bought in a store, but they cannot be outfoxed. When the NCAA appropriated "March Madness" Sweet Sixteen and "Final Four" from Indiana's high school basketball tournament for its own use, the city of Indianapolis ended up as the location of the NCAA's new national headquarters, and all the revenue and jobs it generated for the state.
Obama's a cager and he is cagey, too. He has not been thrown off his game by Hillary's Kitchen Sink offense, or by a hot-dogging teammate like Jeremiah Wright who's taking ridiculous shots from behind the arc when he should be running the offense and playing his role. And he certainly has the game to stuff a two-hand set-shooter like "Branch" McCain, good as the Ol' Branchster might have been in his day.
Reason Two: Growth Determines Harvest. As any Hoosier can tell you, if you are going to be productive in the fall, you've got to work hard and have some luck with the weather in the spring and early summer. Hillary was busy counting her chickens before they hatched on Super Tuesday while Obama was busy lining up caucuses and building his organization. Because he has been so productive early in the growing season, Obama not only has the lead right now, he is the candidate best prepared to reap a bumper crop of votes come November. All he needs is nice steady shower of Hoosier support on May 6.
Reason Three: Patience. As any Hoosier can also tell you, things can take awhile. A quilt gets made one stitch at a time. If you get in a hurry about getting the cow back into the barn, the cow will not go back into the barn. Somewhere on his journey, Obama learned a similar kind of patience. He knows that lasting solutions do not have quick fixes, that they can take awhile. Hoosiers laugh at the idea that a single sandbag like the Clinton-McCain gas relief plan can stop the flood of money going to Arab Emirates and the oil companies. A vote for Obama is a vote acknowledging that Hoosier-style patience and hard work are what it's going to take to get the economy back on track.
Reason Four: Calmness at Crunch Time. As any Hoosier can tell you, when the game was on the line, Bird was unflappable. He wanted the ball in his hands, and every man, woman and child of us wanted him to have it.
The Clintons are formidable players, make no mistake about that. They are not the kind of players anybody wants to play against, you'd much rather have them on your team. They set a vicious pick. They hustle and scrap hard, and they hold you by the jersey and throw elbows when they think the ref isn't looking. They are tireless and do not have any quit in their constitutions. Like the Van Arsdale twins they can confuse you as to which of them is which with the old 'knee-pad switch' trick.
But when the game is on the line, as it is with this election, we want the ball in Obama's hands. He has Bird's unflappable calm, and like Bird, the bigger the game, the more difficult the circumstances, the better he plays. Give Barrack the ball on Tuesday. It will be one hell of an assist.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-bonifer/4-reasons-why-hoosiers-sh_b_99855.html
"We are the ones we have been waiting for" -Obama.
Yes the objective has changed since the freedom riders during the 60's, but the spirit has been resurrected! This weekend many of us will be riding together from Illinois to Indiana, and even some to North Carolina knowing what's at stake; making our way to forming a more perfect union. To everyone who will be travelling to all who will be making phone calls, our role this weekend is just as important as the role that our great senator Mr. Obama has this weekend. We must demonstrate the passion and enthusiasm I know all of us have for this campaign and what it stands for! Its no mistake why so many young people have faith and believe in Senator Obama; its because young people have they have such huge stake in the future of this country. They're the ones in Iraq, they're the ones who upon leaving high school or college, must find a job in this sputtering economy, and they know that by the time they reach their golden years, the road we're on now will they will be living in an environment that could face massive devastation! He's the only one still in this presidential race who believes in us and has asked us to shoulder responsibility for OUR country and will give us the tools we need to do so!
SO LET'S GET FIRED UP PEOPLE!!! THIS IS OUR TIME TO HEAL OUR COUNTRY AND CHANGE THIS WORLD! LET'S SHOW INDIANA AND NORTH CAROLINA WHO BARACK OBAMA IS!!!!
Blessings and love to this country,
Jay
January 27, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
A President Like My Father By CAROLINE KENNEDY
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.
My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.
We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.
Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.
I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html
Obama Has Republicans Dusting Off `Liberal' Attacks (Update1)
By Indira Lakshmanan
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama promises to bridge the ideological divide between Red states and Blue states, bringing Republicans and independents into a post-partisan coalition.
Republicans plan to paint Obama as a liberal who is out of step with mainstream Americans on abortion, crime and health care, the same label used against failed Democratic candidates George McGovern and John Kerry.
``For someone who's been in office as little as Barack Obama, the guy has a record that defines the word liberal,'' said Chris LaCivita, a Republican media adviser to the Swift Boat veterans who assailed Kerry's Vietnam War record during the Massachusetts senator's 2004 presidential bid.
Opponents such as LaCivita said Obama's vulnerabilities include his support for gay rights, late-term abortions and benefits for illegal aliens. They also portray him as soft on crime, tough on guns and as an advocate of socialized medicine.
Obama, 46, has disavowed or tempered some of the stances he or his campaign once espoused, though on the whole, he stands by what he calls a ``progressive, pragmatic'' agenda. Obama argues that his appeal to voters in so-called Red states such as Virginia, which consistently vote Republican in presidential elections, added to victories in Democratic ``Blue'' states, will lead to victory in the November election.
Gay Marriage
He opposes gay marriage, while supporting civil unions and gays in the military. His abortion views adhere to the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, which permits procedures in the third trimester when the mother is at risk. He favors drivers' licenses for undocumented immigrants and state tuition benefits for their children. On crime, he advocates eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug offenders. He said capital punishment is warranted for certain crimes, yet he can't support it due to inequities in its application. While he backs restrictions on guns, he has never voted to ban ownership.
He wants to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts, raise the capital-gains tax rate, expand government's role in health care and advocates greater regulation of financial institutions. He also favors a less confrontational foreign policy than Bush, 61.
At same time he proposes some tax cuts, would expand government and regulatory powers only modestly and wants to boost the size of the military.
Out of Sync
Conservatives claim Obama's positions place him out of sync with most Americans. They point to the National Journal's 2007 rating of him as the most liberal senator and intend to cite it in advertisements and fundraising appeals.
``It's an easy case to make that Barack Obama is both culturally and ideologically way out of the mainstream,'' said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster.
The National Journal rated Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, as the 16th most liberal, even though the analysis found the two lawmakers differed on just two ``key'' bills.
The magazine said Clinton, 60, voted against establishing a Senate office to handle ethics complaints, which Obama supported. Clinton also opposed a proposal, backed by Obama, that would allow some immigrants to remain in the U.S. while their visas were being renewed.
`Remarkably Misleading'
Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters for America, a Washington-based media watchdog organization, criticized the rating, saying it is ``remarkably misleading'' to count Obama votes such as those he cast in favor of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and ethics overhaul as ``liberal.''
Obama's campaign said he is in line with the majority of Americans who support reasonable abortion and gun rights, common sense on immigration and crime and fairness in taxes and health care.
For his part, the presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, 71, has abandoned stances that are at odds with his party's conservative base -- including his effort to legalize undocumented immigrants and his opposition to Bush's tax cuts. Similarly, Obama has moderated or qualified positions over the years.
He has been criticized by Clinton for responses to a voters' group questionnaire during his first Illinois state Senate run in 1996. In the survey, his answers said he supported federal single-payer health care in principle and a ban on handguns. He opposed capital punishment and restrictions on abortion. Obama has said his then-campaign manager wrote the answers and they didn't reflect his beliefs then or now.
Obama's Questionnaire
Lois and Alan Dobry, board members of the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization, interviewed Obama when he submitted the questionnaire. It is inconceivable, they said, that he was unaware of the answers, which he defended.
``He was unequivocal,'' Alan Dobry said.
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said the senator never agreed with the controversial answers. Obama has a record of ``reaching across the aisle,'' he said.
The Republicans' attack is ``the same playbook they use every four years,'' said Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's communications chief in 2004. ``Whoever the nominee is, they will allege that person is too liberal.''
The assault has begun. The North Carolina Republican Party is running a television ad that brands him as ``too extreme'' by linking him to his former pastor. Obama yesterday denounced ``ridiculous'' comments by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who repeated contentions this week that the government may have helped spread AIDS and was partly to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks.
``If they think that's bad,'' LaCivita said of the ad, ``it's only a matter of time before they see the really bad stuff.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 30, 2008 09:23 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a9NviYExc3Gc&refer=politics
Visit Barck Obama' 08 Web Site
“I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists – and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not get a job in my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”
-- Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, November 10, 2007
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
Popular culture includes many references to "the system." Mass advertising, for example, occasionally affirms “beating the system.” The American Heritage Dictionary recently added the phrase “the system” and defines it as “the prevailing socialorder; the establishment.”
By building on this common-sense knowledge and clarifying the nature of today’s dominant social system, we can lay the foundation for transforming that system.
A system is a group of elements that work together as an integrated whole to perform a particular function. These components create a reality that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Systems adjust to maintain stability. A worker, for example, can cope with a bad job by getting sick, which enables the worker to escape temporarily. But after she is cured and returns to the workplace, the job eventually leads to another illness. The cycle repeats itself, the worker keeps the job, and the boss is happy.
A nation is a unified social system, a coherent whole composed of many social systems that fit together, as individuals participate in and rely on interlocking social networks. Without this harmony and sense of common identity, nation-based societies would disintegrate.
Modern social systems consist of formal public institutions (such as education, government, economy, media, religion, entertainment, sports, and science), informal social institutions (such as families), a common culture whose ideas and values are embedded within individuals, individuals who perpetuate the prevailing social order through their daily actions, and the natural environment within which they operate. All of these elements are interwoven into self-perpetuating social systems that reproduce themselves in the hearts, minds, and bodies of their members.
In recent decades, the world’s various societies have become integrated into a global social system. As the planet has been globalized, we have witnessed the consolidation of a global social system that shapes and manages the entire world. Throughout the world wherever you go, societies function in much the same manner. And they cooperate to protect each other’s interests.
Since human beings are purposeful creatures, social systems are devoted to a central purpose. To endure over time, a social system, whether an organization or society-at-large, must have a primary purpose. Secondary goals serve the primary purpose.
As one can determine the purpose of a tree by its fruit, one can determine a social system’s purpose by observing its nature. Being the world’s most powerful country, the United States clearly manifests the nature of our global social system.
Two central facts stand out concerning the United States: 1) One percent of the population owns 50 percent of the nation's wealth, and 2) We have the best government that money can buy.
These conditions are not God-given and they don't emerge spontaneously. Our society intentionally manufactures these realities. More than any other force, this dynamic explains how our society works. The global society’s primary purpose is to protect the wealth and power of the wealthy and powerful.Our society then persuades people that the elite are entitled to their wealth and power.
Wealth breeds power and power breeds wealth. Most people who are addicted to the pursuit of one, desire both. Money is a way to keep score, to know who has the most power. The lust for power and the desire to make money are so interwoven, they have become one. Life is a never-ending competition, as people strive for more money and power.
In 1912 former President Theodore Roosevelt stated, "Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people...[an] unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics." That same condition prevails today.
This country has never been a land of equal opportunity. From childhood on, the super-rich use their enormous advantages for their own benefit and pass on those advantages to their children and grandchildren. The top-level managers of our institutions carefully screen applicants to the corridors of power in order to assure that lower-level mangers operate within the limits of what is expected of them. If these trainees don’t play the game properly, the "old boys’ network" replaces them with others who are willing to act properly.
Any adolescent can resolve to enter the upper ranks, but only a few succeed, for the number of seats in the theater is always far less than the number of people who want inside. The overwhelming majority of Americans never rise far above the status of their parents. The social inheritance of wealth and power has replaced biological inheritance.
The governing elite move back-and-forth through the revolving door of big business, media, the military, and government -- enriching themselves and their friends along the way. This elite consists of people who share common values and characteristics. They circulate in the highest circles and collaborate to wield controlling influence over all of our major institutions.
A few positions of power are left open for people who aren't born into privilege. This limited openness enables the elite to argue that the system is fair. It also serves as a safety valve to let off pressure, as the more ambitious try to gain what is denied to the great majority.
So individual executives are not the primary problem. They deserve neither primary credit nor blame. They are disposable and they know it. “The players change but the game remains the same.” The system is self-perpetuating. The main problem is the "prevailing social order."
Real progress requires transforming this social system from bottom to top and from inside to outside. Through systemic reform, we can avoid only placing Band-Aids on gaping wounds. We can correct causes rather than merely attack symptoms. Otherwise, our actions allow the dominant social system to re-create the same problems.
Why Address the System?
We need to talk about systemic reform for many reasons.
Talking about systemic reform will help make it happen because naming a nightmare makes it easier to deal with it.
By placing our own specific work within the framework of systemic transformation, we can clarify our work’s connection with other work and help validate that other work, rather than discounting other efforts by insisting that our issue is the single most important issue.
By elaborating concretely what we mean by “systemic reform,” we can move beyond abstract rhetoric and more effectively connect with people.
Presenting a vision of systemic change will inspire people who want to do more than tinker.
Agreement on a long-term commitment to systemic change will help hold the progressive movement together over the long haul.
A focus on systemic change discourages scapegoating certain elements of the global social system – such as corporations, rich people, politicians, a particular President, the media, the ruling elite, the American people, the Republicans, or whomever. We can’t justifiably place primary blame on specific individuals or groups of individuals. All of us are responsible. Without our consent, the system could not function. Understanding that our social system is self-perpetuating helps us let go of excessive anger and adopt a more positive attitude that can be more effective in the long run.
Understanding and talking about our social system helps avoid the mistake of believing that self-improvement or spiritual growth alone is sufficient. Changing the world and changing ourselves are complementary and each is necessary. Political action contributes to personal growth and personal growth contributes to political progress.
Understanding and talking about our social system can prompt progressives to correct personal and organizational weaknesses that reinforce the system and undermine the effectiveness of our work.
Understanding and talking about our social system helps maintain many-sided awareness. Life is not a matter of all or nothing, or black-and-white. We can, for example, acknowledge and accept our weaknesses without allowing them to control us. We can allow private businesses to make a profit without neglecting their responsibilities to society, their workers, and the environment. We can be aware of future threats while being immersed in the present. We can understand the past without dwelling in it. We can use our rational mind while staying in touch with our feelings. And we can promote governments that exercise authority wisely without being authoritarian. A systemic analysis nurtures these attitudes.
Understanding and talking about our social system helps us avoid trying to predict the future and control others. Living systems are not machines. They are unpredictable, complex organisms, like a garden. Human beings are particularly unpredictable and uncontrollable. By nurturing self-determination and spontaneity, we foster creativity. By being open and flexible, we can resolve contradictions and find balance on a higher path. Life’s not always a matter of either/or. It's often both/and. It’s not always win/lose, it’s often win/win. We can take care of ourselves – and care for others. We can face fears – and shore up faith in the future. We can provide for ourselves financially – and participate in caring communities. We can love our selves – and love all humanity, life itself, and the source of life. In loving partnership with the rest of the world and Mother Nature, grounded in nonviolence as a political strategy and a way of life, we can create a new world. A systemic analysis fosters this kind of compassion.
Understanding and talking about our social system can encourage a synthesis between liberal and radical reform because steady change can lead to qualitative transformation. Slowly adding heat eventually turns water into steam. Biological evolution transforms one species into another. Likewise, human social evolution can move humanity to new forms of political and cultural organization. Liberal reforms can eventually lead to fundamental transformation.
By talking about and advancing comprehensive transformation, we, the people of the United States, can forge a new national identity by drawing on the best from all of our traditions. The United States is torn. On the one hand, we hold high ideals and have achieved remarkable progress. On the other hand, we don’t fully honor those ideals. By being honest about our weaknesses, we can better grow as a nation. We can create a more compassionate, just, sustainable, and democratic society that treats other nations fairly as members of a global community that no one country tries to dominate. We can join hands with other nations in partnership, rooted in the Earth Community, and build a positive upward spiral that will change the world.
For these reasons, progressives need to speak openly and as clearly as possible about transforming the global social system. By better understanding what we are doing and talking about it more honestly, we can be more effective.
Systemic Transformation
Societies also need a central purpose. If we are to transform our global social system, we need a new purpose for our global community – one that is more fulfilling than the primary purpose of the current system, which is to protect the wealth and power of the elite.
Fortunately, on this question, there is no necessity to begin with a blank slate. The problem is not the lack of ideals. The problem is that we have not lived up to our ideals. As Edward Said wrote:
Great antiauthoritarian uprisings made their earliest advances, not by denying the humanitarian and universalist claims of the general dominant culture, but by attacking the adherents of that culture for failing to uphold their own declared standards, for failing to extend them to all, as opposed to a small fraction of humanity.
In this light, the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America is instructive. It begins:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
We could update that statement by declaring, “Our purpose is to to promote the common good of our entire human family, help make the nations of our world more just and democratic, and protect our environment."
A progressive movement united behind clearly establishing that purpose as our society's mission would then need to adopt secondary goals to serve as means for achieving that end. Those secondary goals could be presented in a concise, written worldview that would be affirmed by all members of this movement when they join, with the understanding that they could later help reshape that statement as needed.This statement would need to be: * Substantial, comprehensive, and clear enough to help hold a wide range of people together over time. * Grand enough to inspire people who want major change. * Practical enough to attract those who want to make a difference. * Short enough to be read easily. * Clear, honest, and coherent so members and potential members could trust where the movement is headed.A written worldview like this would help recruit new members and inspire them to recruit their friends, relatives, and co-workers to join. Next week (I post here every Thursday shortly after 12 Noon Pacific Time), I will offer a rough draft of what such a statement could look like.
Until there is comprehensive transformation that creates a new global social system that helps us overcome our egocentric impulses and protect the Earth Community, we will continue to be afflicted with one crisis after another.
To accomplish this goal, we need to advance reform in every arena, all at the same time. Personal growth, social change, establishing harmony with the environment, cultural change, and restructuring our institutions – government, media, education, religion, families, parks, libraries, transportation, criminal justice, etc. – are all important. There won’t be a major breakthrough in one arena until there is a major breakthrough in every arena. Simultaneous change throughout society will be mutually reinforcing. We need a whole new way of life rooted in a common culture that respects diversity and local attachments, customs and practices – a culture of sub-cultures. We need to recognize that we are one human family.
Once we have established a new purpose for our society and transformed our institutions, our culture, and ourselves to serve that purpose, we will have transformed our global social system. In this way, we can fulfill humanity’s promise, reinforce our finest qualities, inspire each other to be better persons, and insist that our institutions live up to their highest ideals. By applying the same approach in every arena, we can create a global society that is truly democratic, just, loving, and peaceful – and protects the environment. Steady, coordinated, simultaneous, comprehensive progressive change can place us on an upward spiral leading to the transformation of our entire society, ourselves included.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080321/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_finances;_ylt=Ap83rKPIGPcWdQwSVpCP94Zh24cA
Obama outdoes Clinton in finance game
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer 36 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton upped the tempo of her fundraising and her spending last month, only to be eclipsed by rival Barack Obama. At month's end, with debts of nearly $9 million, her money was nearly spent and he was sitting atop $30 million in available cash.
Obama's campaign spent at a rate of nearly $1.5 million a day in February, a crucial month that began with the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday and ended with both candidates marching to a showdown March 4 in Texas and Ohio. Clinton, riding her best fundraising period yet, spent about $1 million a day on average.
But reports filed with the Federal Election commission late Thursday showed that Obama set a single-month fundraising record, with more than $55 million in contributions.
