Organizing for America | Sac State for Obama

Sac State for Obama

Sacramento State Hornets for Obama to clean up Washington

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By California Democratic Council - Feb 26th, 2009 at 1:52 am EST

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The California Democratic Council is offering a free workshop covering a variety of different topics that activists should learn about if they want to become more involved with the party.

Whether you are a candidate or a volunteer, these topics will help prepare you for rising in the ranks of the Democratic Party.

The next workshop is on March 21, 2009 and will be held in Folsom, CA.

For full details, check out the event listing:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gptp5l

Please not that you must register here: http://www.cdc-ca.org/Training/

Don't miss out!

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pray for Barack's grandma

By Maggie from Sacramento - Oct 22nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm EDT

Also listed in: Sac State for Obama

I am not a deeply religious person but I am spiritual. I am praying for Barack's grandma's good health. All I keep thinking about is how sad it would be if she were not able to see him win the presidency as this is going to be so historic. I am SOOOOOOO excited that I can't even contain myself at the thought. I have rarely donated before to a campaign but I have donated on several occasions for Obama, simply because I BELIEVE IN BARACK AND ALL HE STANDS FOR. I wake up each morning excited to see Barack on TV. My teenage daughter watches with me and we get so inspired. I get excited when I get Barack's texts and honestly, I didn't even bother texting before this campaign but now I twitter with Rick Sanchez and Don Lemon from CNN because I want to discuss the issues with others. My neighbor is the same way and in fact, we started walking every morning just so we can discuss Obama and the daily news. So Obama has been good for my health, although I have to admit my house is suffering as I haven't been keeping up with much else than politics :-) I have never been so energized about politics in my whole. I have a yard sign, a car magnet, a bumper sticker, a pin on my purse, and I wear my Barack T-shirt everywhere. Please join me and pray for Barack's grandma in these upcoming days. By the way, my grandma, Helen Holder, was a teacher at Punahoe, Barack's high school in Hawaii, around 1915. I love having that connection with Barack. Take care in your travels to Hawaii tomorrow, Barack. I will be praying for you and your grandma, but also this election. I can't wait for Nov. 5th when we can all congratulate President Obama!!!

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I'm fighting harder than ever

By Maggie from Sacramento - Sep 4th, 2008 at 12:42 pm EDT

Also listed in: Sac State for Obama

We are being duped. Barack, PLEASE fight back as McCain's camp is insulting to all of us. They cannot attack YOU, Barack, and then expect that we won't give back. Palin needs to be tested on issues and her record. These two are self-professed pit bulls. The gloves are off now. I seriously question McCain's way of informing the public about important decisions such as his running mate. He set her up by not being transparent with us. And then they expect for us not to react. Give me a break. McCain is reactive and explosive. We don't need this type of culture war again. We are moving on to change status quo in this country. Let's take our country back. Join me in campaigning for Obama/Biden. Sac State--I'm in with you all. Keep me informed.

Maggie in Sacramento

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Even Politico questions McCain's VP pick

By Dee Dee, CalVFO Co-Chair; Delegate, Assembly District 4 - Aug 30th, 2008 at 7:33 pm EDT

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Please read and circulate widely. This is information that we need to be using as we go about canvassing and tabling. If Politico is questioning McCain's pick, we know something's up.

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Scholars_question_Palin_credentials

He's busy pandering to Hillary supporters, as if they are too ignorant to see what he is trying to pull. They should be made aware of this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/29/palin-hillary-clintons-wh_n_122504.html

"Worst VO Pick in U. S. History": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/the-worst-vice-presidenti_b_122491.html

Ted Stevens promoted her during her gubernatorial run http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/palin_ad_starring_ted_stevens.php

He knew nothing about her before putting her within rech of the presidency: http://www.jedreport.com/2008/08/mccain-didnt-know-palin-before.html

There's plenty more where this came from, but you get the idea. She makes Barack look like Thomas Jefferson in the experience realm!

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Sacramentans, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado Support Obama in Election

By Roseville City School Board Member - Jul 13th, 2008 at 2:18 am EDT

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Sacramentans strongly support Obama in election
July 11, 2008

A majority of Sacramentans have stated they will vote for Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States, according to a recently-released Sacramento State survey. While 52 percent would vote for Senator Obama, 35 percent stated they would vote for Senator John McCain and 12 percent did not yet know for whom they would cast their vote.

The survey, conducted by Sacramento State professor Amy Liu and her students through the Institute for Social Research, was taken in late February and early March. Area residents were asked for whom they would vote if Obama and McCain receive the nod from their respective parties.

In addition, residents were asked about the issues they will take into account when they head to the polls this November. The economy (22 percent) and the war in Iraq (20 percent) are the two most important issues. However, Republicans are more concerned about national security and terrorism (12 percent) than health care (5 percent), while Democrats feel health care (15 percent) is a more important issue than security and terrorism (2 percent).

Obama is favored by area residents who find the economy (61 percent vs. 26 percent) and affordable health care (63 percent vs. 25 percent) to be big problems and who believe the war is not worth it (70 percent vs. 18 percent). McCain draws a great deal of support from those who are deeply concerned about national security and terrorism (79 percent vs. 12 percent), border control and immigration (54 percent vs. 31 percent) and who think the war is worthwhile (71 percent vs. 17 percent).

Other findings include:
• While 52 percent of residents support Obama, he is favored to a greater extent by Hispanics (64 percent) and other non-white residents (66 percent), those age 40 or younger (61 percent), those with college degrees(58 percent) and women (56 percent).
• Fully 80 percent of Democrats say they would favor Obama, while 68 percent of Republicans favor McCain.
• Area residents who believe the U.S. should set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq are more likely to vote for Obama (73 percent) than McCain (18 percent). On the other hand, McCain draws a great deal of support from those who believe we should keep our troops in Iraq until we have achieved our goal there (66 percent for McCain vs. 20 percent for Obama).
• More Republicans would vote for Obama (22 percent) than Democrats would vote for McCain (11 percent). Independents and those with other party affiliations would choose Obama (50 percent) over McCain (34 percent).

The survey was a computer-assisted telephone survey of 1,200 randomly selected adults from Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties. It has a margin of error of 3 percent

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Why a Ron Paul Supporter Donated to Obama

By aqalmyst - Apr 25th, 2008 at 12:42 am EDT

Also listed in: Sac State for Obama

I'm an independent, and am mostly libertarian (and integralist). I had to register as a republican to vote for Ron Paul in the california primary. fwiw, most of the really disgusting, corrupt, incompetent people I've known on a close, personal basis are liberals/democrats, so I can't imagine ever becoming a member of the Democrat party, unless it was to avert an incredible national or world emergency, such as the extinction of intelligent life as we know it. (joke)

So, I tend to look for politicians from any party, or no party, that are reformers, that "think outside the box", transcend conventional wisdom, and so forth. Obviously Barak Obama is in that category. It is a tragedy that people like Obama can't run as independents and win, but the system is rigged to keep the corrupt "big two" parties in power. I had previously made a small donation to Obama early on, partly because Ken Wilber mentioned Obama in his (Wilber's) JKF 2003 talks as a possible example of "integral politics" (for information google "formlessmountain audio").

After that initial donation, it seemed like Obama's campaign was more and more about generating information from boring internet templates than about the real, human dimension of political life. Which seemed in conradiction to Obama's personal charisma and authenticity. Oh well. I watched from the sidelines for six months or so. I listened carefully to Shelby Steele when he talked about Obama on Bill Moyers' TV show on PBS. Very interesting. Then the silly hyped up non-controversy about Rev. Wright and other similar nonsense started to be put forward by cynical elements in the media.

Then I got really mad recently when Tom McClintock slimed Obama for the "bitter" comments. I had previously supported McClintock because I thought he was a moral, principled libertarian. I got more mad when the Clinton campaign went "low" after the Pennsylvania primary. Almost no one told the truth about how many republicans voted for Hillary in Pennsylvania because they think she will be easier to beat in the general election.

I finally had enough of the slime and garbage in the media and from sleazy campaigns, and decided to make another modest donation of $50 to the Obama campaign in hopes that the people that think they can get away with sliming Obama will be proven wrong.

Thanks for letting me vent.

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Media, Internet court young Latino swing vote

By Roseville City School Board Member - Apr 16th, 2008 at 6:44 pm EDT

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Media, Internet court young Latino swing vote

Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Take two twentysomething Latinos with a taste for politics, give them a crash course in news reporting, equip them with video cameras and press credentials, "embed" them at the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer and let 'er rip. That's the idea cooked up by the nonprofit Voto Latino and SíTV, the cable and Internet company geared to young English-speaking Latinos.

The collaboration, dubbed "Crash the Parties '08," has already drawn dozens of online applications from wannabe-embedded reporters. The two who are ultimately chosen will produce newscasts, video blogs and interviews with candidates and convention delegates for a growing audience of hip, bicultural Latinos who may not be all that plugged in yet to the political process.

"Young people aren't participating because they don't really know how the process works," said María Teresa Petersen, director of Voto Latino, a media-savvy, nonpartisan voter registration group. "What better way to engage than to have someone who looks like them and talks like them to break the process down?"

The project is part of a new surge of attention being paid to young Latinos, who are shaping up to be this election's "soccer moms," a decisive group of swing voters, as well as a coveted market demographic of "new media" consumers. Of the nation's 18 million eligible Latino voters, half are under 40, and tens of thousands more reach voting age every month, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington DC.

Other media companies are also interested in the burgeoning market:

-- The online social networking company MySpace launched a bilingual site, MySpace Latino, last week, with virtual communities geared toward soccer, music, fashion and other Hispanic "passion points," according to managing director Victor Kong. Politics doesn't yet merit its own community on the site, he said, but the company did team up with MTV earlier this year to produce presidential "town hall meetings" that include a focus on Latino issues.

-- The Spanish-language media company ImpreMedia, which publishes the San Francisco weekly newspaper El Mensajero, the Los Angeles daily La Opinión and others, also is rolling out a Web portal this week to link the news and entertainment content of all its print and Internet products, intended especially for younger Latinos, who use the Internet more readily than their parents.

Those endeavors are part of a larger courtship of the fast-growing young Latino audience. Marketers and political campaigns are increasingly reaching them through interactive media, using social networking, text messaging and - in the case of "Crash the Parties" - asking viewers to nominate and vote, a la American Idol, for the folks who will cover the political conventions.

"In reaching this segment, there has to be an interactive component," said Patricia Gaitán, a board member of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. "The SíTV method is right on target and in a fashion that's going to resonate for them."

One SíTV hopeful is Christopher Timbó Temblador, a sociology major at San Jose State University who has worked as a congressional intern, blogs regularly and volunteers as a college adviser at a local high school.

"I'm very direct and I'm real," said Temblador, 22, making the case for why he should go to the Democratic convention to ask tough questions about education, immigration and health care policy. "Being the son of immigrants, I can talk about being raised in poverty and striving to get my education, but I also understand what's going on at the federal level and how to use all the resources of the media."

Sacramento political strategist Sam Rodríguez believes the growth of the Latino electorate - combined with contested primaries and galvanizing issues - may create "a perfect storm" that engages young Latino voters such as Temblador. And he says sending them off to cover the campaign for SíTV is a brilliant strategy.

"I have familia in California, San Antonio, Puerto Rico and Philadelphia, all between 17 and 35, who are completely jazzed up about this primary," said Rodríguez. "What SíTV has come up with is innovative, it's thinking outside the box."

Contestants have until May 6 to upload a video discussing why they should represent young Latinos at the conventions. Then viewers can vote and those votes will be considered by a panel of judges, including actress Rosario Dawson, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and CNN anchor Rick Sánchez, who will also train and mentor the two young reporters.
Online resources

More information about the contest can be found at www.crashtheparties08.com.

E-mail Tyche Hendricks at thendricks@sfchronicle.com.

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Some politicians are rising, while others take a great big fall...

By Ryan Lee - Mar 11th, 2008 at 8:51 pm EDT

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Two prominant Clinton backers have taken quite a fall in the last two days: Governor Elliot Spitzer of New York was linked to a prositution ring; and former Congresswoman and Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro made race-based remarks against Obama. Just more proof that Clinton has surrounded herself with more of the same old political trash that Senator Obama has pledged to clean up when he becomes presdient.

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Thank you Mississippi!

By Ryan Lee - Mar 11th, 2008 at 8:46 pm EDT

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It may not be the big 40-point margin I was hoping for, but a win is a win. And Obama will take a larger share of the delegates and pad his lead. With only a few months to go, Obama needs 434 more delegates to win the nomination. There are approximately 950 left, including undeclared superdelegates. Hoping for the best...

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I'm hoping for a big win today...

By Ryan Lee - Mar 11th, 2008 at 11:29 am EDT

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I don't just want a simple victory. I want a huge 40-point margin of victory in Mississippi! Who's with me!?!?

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Why bother with Florida and Michigan? They won't help Clinton win anyhow...

By Ryan Lee - Mar 8th, 2008 at 11:57 pm EST

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Mathematically speaking, Clinton cannot win the nomination before it goes to the Convention, EVEN IF Michigan and Florida are seated. Unless Clinton wins those two states in a do-over election by at least a 20-point margin (which is unlikely), she cannot overcome her deficit in the delegate count. Plus, if Michigan's and Florida's delegations are reinstated, that would bump the magic number for the nomination to 2207 (half of 4413 total delegates including the two rule-breaking states). Why waste the time and money? There's even talk of having the Obama campaign foot half the bill for a $30 million do-over in Florida. It's pointless!

According to CNN, there are 1066 delegates left to be determined in the rest of the primaries, including the delegates from the Texas Caucuses. Senator Obama only needs 497 more delegates to clinch the nomination, or 46.6% of the remaining delegates. That's not even half. He has this thing locked up. Hillary needs to get out so that we can move on and focus on McCain.

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Kitchen Sink Strategy

By MoJo - Mar 5th, 2008 at 1:06 pm EST

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Clinton is living true to her word with her “kitchen sink” strategy. It’s discouraging to see to her shift to using such negative messages. Her negative messages alienate people. Our next president needs to be able to unite a country not divide it. By reaching across the isle and working with Republicans we will take this country to new heights. Clinton’s actions only reaffirm my resolve to campaign for Barack!

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At least our delegate lead is intact...

By Ryan Lee - Mar 5th, 2008 at 6:16 am EST

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As a matter of fact, Clinton cannot surpass Obama, mathematically speaking. Sure, it may have been a disappointing night, losing Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas to Clinton. But she in no way had a huge margin of victory in either of the two big states, especially Texas (3% difference). And, Obama has a pretty good chance of winning the Texas Caucuses.

So, where are we now? It's up to us to make sure that Obama gets enough of the delegates in the remaining contests. Wyoming holds Caucuses on Saturday. Mississippi votes next Tuesday. Obama may be favored to win these next two contests, but let's not take anything for granted from this point on. Help get out the vote in these next two contests. Help make calls or donate what you can. Change is just around the corner...

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Why Kosovo?

By Ryan Lee - Mar 4th, 2008 at 11:55 am EST

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I've been keeping this thought in the back of my mind, and now I'm looking for feedback from people. Why does the recognition of Kosovo's independence by the U.S. look like Bush is taking advantage of a delicate situation?

Don't get me wrong. I can appreciate when a population takes action when it feels oppressed. That's how the US was founded. But, why Kosovo? Why now, and why so quickly, especially when it had the potential to piss off a certain large country in northern Asia? Maybe that's the reason why.

My question is this: Why support Kosovo? Why not support Taiwan? Why not help out Tibet? What about those people?

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It's up to the "Big Four" to finish this primary season TODAY!!

By Ryan Lee - Mar 4th, 2008 at 11:45 am EST

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From the smallest state to the largest state in the US
From New England to the Midwest to the South
In this, Super Tuesday Part 2...
Presidential hopefuls vie for votes and delegates, and
Senator Obama has a chance to put it away today.

To the people of Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island:
Help Senator Obama finish this fight with Clinton. We need change. We need someone new, someone different to help bring about reform to Washington. Yes, you can help by voting for Obama today. Get out there and vote! Bring your family. Bring your friends and coworkers. Let's finish this today!

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"Change you can Xerox"?

By Ryan Lee - Feb 21st, 2008 at 11:31 pm EST

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I think Hillary Clinton could have potentially killed her campaign with that one single quote. Her attacks on Barack Obama are a sign that her candidacy is in dire straights and that Obama is on the path toward the Democratic Nomination. She's been on the attack for weeks now, with negative remarks including "words are cheap" and "let's get real." It was one thing for Bill Clinton to trip up on the campaign trail. The only thing that kept her from coming out of tonight's debate a complete failure is her closing remark.

I'm excited to see what's going to happen on March 4th. If Obama can win in at least one of the two big states of Texas and Ohio, he will be the nominee. Many of Obama's latest endorsements, including the seven biggest newspapers in Texas, the Honorable Mayor of Cleveland, the Teamsters Union, the SEIU and the United Food Workers Union, will help him land wins in those states.

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Watch This "Yes We Can - Si Se Puede" Video on Barack

By Roseville City School Board Member - Feb 2nd, 2008 at 1:44 am EST

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Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas was so inspired by Barack Obama's speech in New Hampshire that he and a whole bunch of stars and singers raced off to the recording studio and shot this video.

It was just released today. They're not sure that the Obama campaign even knows it's out there yet. I sat watching it with tears rolling down my face at the power of one voice to move many and at the power of many voices to move a nation. This sort of thing, you're lucky if it happens once in your lifetime. We can be sure it will probably never happen again in ours. Whatever you're doing, please take five minutes and go watch.

http://yeswecansong.com/

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Invitation to a Very Special Fundraising Event for Barack Obama!

By Kurt Neumann--Victory Bound to DC - Nov 3rd, 2007 at 7:39 am EDT

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Dear Obama supporters,

I would like to invite you to a one-of-a-kind special fundraising event for the Barack Obama campaign:

Event Name: World's Longest Conga Line for Barack Obama
Date: Sunday, December 2, 2007
Time: 11:00AM-5:00PM
Location: Saint Louis, MO(exact location To Be Announced)
Cost: asking for a minimum donation of $10 to the Obama campaign plus a small dish of food
(this can be a salad, casserole, or dessert--please bring this on a disposal dish or in a disposable container)
Drinks will be provided

This event will be a part of a 3-day National Fundraising Event called BA-RACK AMERICA/BA-RACK THE MEDIA!!

The purpose will be to enlist the support of my.barackobama.com groups across the country to hold their own fundraising event during the period from 6PM on Thursday, November 30th to 6PM on Sunday, December 2nd.
The goals will be $3 million for the campaign War Chest and (probably just as important) 300,000 new donors to the Obama campaign! This will help show the media that WE ARE STRONG and their bashing of our candidate will not stop us in helping with Barack Obama's inevitable march to the White House!

Our event in St. Louis(besides raising money and gaining new donors) will have the extra twist of being an ACTUAL ATTEMPT to break a record in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS! The record for the Longest Dance Line is 1681 people...we are hoping to get 10,000 people to participate and shatter the record! Plans are already underway
to get the OK from the Guinness representatives to attempt the record try and hope to have this just in time for the event!

We will be video-taping this event and working to get this on YouTube and other outlets and work to getting this video shown by the media to show that messing with us ONLY MAKES US STRONGER AND MORE DETERMINED TO HELP OBAMA WIN!

Now, in order to get the number of participants we need, I am asking that you do the following:

1.) Keep your plans open for December 2nd and plan to attend! The link to sign up for the event and make your pledge is:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/fundraising/4vhcj (please keep checking this link for the exact location of the event which will be posted by November 15th!)

2.) In the next week or so, please encourage AT LEAST 3 of your friends and/or family members to sign up and come to participate! Then encourage each of those people in the week after that to talk to 3 other people about signing up, and so on...

3.) Please, if you can, donate more than the minimum of $10! This helps the Obama campaign so much!

4.) If you notice, I have posted this event on the sites of My.BarackObama.com groups as far away as 200 miles from St. Louis...if you are a member of one of these groups, please consider lining up transportation so you can have several people come! This will be a REALLY FUN event and a great experience for ALL(especially college students!)
Just think, when you look at the Guinness Book of World Records and look up the world record for Longest Dance Line and it shows 10,000 participants, you will know that you were a part of this history making event!

Now, if you are unable to attend, please consider organizing your own fundraising event near to you during the National 3-Day Event! If you are willing to do this, please let me know and send me the info on the nature of the event and I will send to you a donation link to send all the money that you raise!

I do hope that if you are unable to attend the event in St. Louis, that you will take part in a fundraiser near to you and let's show this country how we feel about SENATOR BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!

Take care and LET'S CONGA FOR BA-RACK!

Kurt Neumann

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Obama Courts Latinos in East Los Angeles

By Roseville City School Board Member - Oct 21st, 2007 at 11:20 pm EDT

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The Democratic presidential candidate discusses inner-city education, immigration and diversity at Garfield High School.

By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 21, 2007

Barack Obama dived into California's most contentious policy debates Saturday at an East Los Angeles appearance where he defended immigration reform and affirmative action and criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of a measure to extend college scholarships to students in the country illegally.

"That was wrong," the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate told several hundred gathered at Garfield High School. "Instead of driving thousands of children who were on the right path into the shadows, we need to give those who play by the rules the opportunity to succeed."

Later, during a question-and-answer session, he returned to the topic, declaring that if a student had been brought to this country illegally but had been going to school "like every other American child, it is cruel and stupid for us to suddenly say to them: 'We're not going to give you college scholarships. We're not going to let you finance your college education.' "

Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 1, the California Dream Act, on Oct. 13, saying that the Cal Grant financial aid program and community college fee waivers should be for legal residents, not illegal immigrant students.

Schwarzenegger's office did not respond to Obama's remarks.

On the broader topic of immigration, Obama reiterated his support for a comprehensive plan that would have tightened border security but given a pathway to citizenship for the millions already in the country illegally.

"When people say, 'Oh, send 'em all back' -- we're not sending them all back," he said. "People aren't telling the truth. We would have to use all our law enforcement resources. We couldn't go after gang bangers, we couldn't go after auto theft. We'd have to use every single law enforcement officer to go around and round up folks who are working at restaurants."

He said that he would work to diversify the nation's schools despite court rulings that have curbed affirmative action. California fought its own battle over affirmative action in 1996, with voters siding with an initiative that banned preferential treatment based on race or ethnicity in public programs.

"Diversity is not the enemy of excellence, it is the engine of excellence," he said. "I am a strong believer in diversity, and affirmative action is one tool to help achieve that."

Obama came to California behind in the polls and in statewide fundraising, both key measures of support leading up to the Feb. 5 primary. For months, he has been laboring against the strong lead of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose courtship of the state began during her husband's 1992 presidential campaign. As if to sharpen the point, the Clinton campaign let loose Friday with a memo from her pollster -- "How Hillary Will Win the West" -- that noted her strong leads among Latinos and women, who form the bulk of the state's Democratic voters.

Obama alluded to his status in the race as he urged the audience to join his campaign.

"There are a lot of people now who are saying, 'Oh, you know what? Hillary Clinton, she's so far ahead. Obama, he's nice but that's not going to happen.' Let me tell you something. First of all, when you're 46, you're black and your name is Barack Obama, you're always the underdog," he said, laughing. "So nobody expected that this would be easy."

Saturday's public event -- wedged between three private fundraisers -- was intended to give the candidate time to discuss dropout rates and the problems facing inner-city schools. Garfield High was portrayed in the movie "Stand and Deliver," which chronicled the passionate efforts of calculus teacher Jaime Escalante to inspire his students. Obama wedged a reference to the movie into his remarks, though it came out as "stand up and deliver."

Yet it was not so much education as the Iraq war and immigration that drew the most energetic responses from the invitation-only crowd of high school students, their parents and members of community organizations.

Perhaps the loudest cheer came when one woman asked whether it would be possible to hold President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "accountable for the war."

"You can applaud the fact that they are leaving; they are not on the ballot," Obama said, before adding that an impeachment "would be counterproductive" because the 2008 election is not far away.

He used the question to take a swipe at Clinton's recent vote for a resolution that labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a government-sponsored military organization, a terrorist group. Obama, who was absent but has said that he would have voted against it, has contended that it would make it easier for Bush to attack Iran.

"We've got to have leaders who are willing to say: 'Don't start another war with Iran when we're not finished [in Iraq and Afghanistan],' " he said.

In remarks that preceded the more relaxed question-and-answer session, Obama said as president he would institute an urban bank modeled after the World Bank to fund inner-city development, would press for affordable housing, and would back programs to help middle-school students improve their standing.

Noting that Latinos and African Americans have higher dropout rates, he said that the problem would expand to affect everyone as the workforce became dominated by those groups.

"How do we expect to continue to compete in the world?" he asked. "We teach our children that in America if you dream big and you work hard, you will fly. . . . We need to keep that promise to every single child in America."

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

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JFK Adviser Backs Obama

By Roseville City School Board Member - Sep 23rd, 2007 at 3:44 am EDT

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JFK Adviser Backs Obama
President's speechwriter talks war in Iraq
By Jennifer Feals
jfeals@seacoastonline.com
September 21, 2007

EXETER -- As President John F. Kennedy had in the 1960s, presidential candidate Barack Obama has judgment, Ted Sorensen, counsel and speechwriter to Kennedy during his presidency, said.

The characteristic is what makes the Illinois senator the best candidate for president, Sorensen said during a visit with about 50 residents and community members at RiverWoods on Thursday.

"Looking back at all these years and my 11 years with John F. Kennedy and his lies and success, I realized that the single most important quality in a president is not their position on any particular issue, it's not their promises for this and that, which are too easily made and forgotten," Sorensen said. "What matters most is the quality of the person and the quality of their judgment."

Sorensen began working for Kennedy in the U.S. Senate and followed him to the White House as special counsel and adviser and primary speechwriter. Sorensen is best-known for his role in writing Kennedy's famous 1960 inaugural address.

"Kennedy, overnight, became a national figure because of television and he and I traveled the nation together," Sorensen said.

While at RiverWoods, Sorensen said he didn't want to cover what Obama would do for seniors, because as one himself he knows they spend much more time concerned about their country and its young citizens than they do about themselves and their pocketbooks.

"The votes you cast may be the most important you may ever make in your entire lives," he said. "It's not just impacting you, but the country, its children, your grandchildren, my grandchildren."

Sorensen told his audience that he thinks this is the most important election the country has faced since the Civil War, particularly because the United States has lost the respect from other countries and even its allies.

"It's shocking. It's serious," he said. "We live in such a dangerous world that to have that lack of respect out there is dangerous for us as a country."

That danger is why Sorensen said he supports Obama, the one candidate he said can make a change. "He represents change," he said. "In fact, he is change. We need the change that he represents."

Sorensen's visit was organized by RiverWoods resident Burt Harvey, who said he would usually like to see the candidate make a visit, but jumped at the chance to welcome Sorensen.

"All of us who remember exactly where we were when Kennedy was shot will remember exactly who Ted was," Harvey said.

Members of the audience asked Sorensen what he thought about Obama's experience and how he would deal with the "mess" in Iraq.

"We need a president who will crack down and make change," Sorensen said. "The fact is that there is such a mess for the next president that you can't be sure anyone of them will be able to fulfill the hopes and expectations of the country."

Regarding Obama's experience, Sorensen said, "Experience is like the light at the stern of a ship, it shows you where it's been, but not where it's going."

The response hit home for Elizabeth Terry who said members of the Bush administration had experience when they headed into the Iraq war.

"I've known Ted from a distance for a number of years and always admired him. What he says is right," she said.

Resident Barbara Gildersleeve said she was impressed by Sorensen's ability to answer residents' questions and that the visit just increased her support for Obama.

"I think if anybody was wavering, they might have un-wavered," she said.

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