There were 250 people here for the grand opening of the Obama for Goshen office this evening. It was pretty cool -- a couple state rep candidates, a district 3 house candidate (Mike Montagano), and a age/income/culturally diverse crowd representing all that makes Goshen and Elkhart an interesting place to live.
I haven't had time to give to the effort here, work is very crazy right now. But RedPost (my company) has donated internet, printers, bathrooms, and the front of the space we rent out. It's been energizing (and annoying at times :-) having all these people around. Kinda like a 3 ring circus!
This is the reason Barack will win the primary, the general, and go on to transform politics. No politician that's ever run in all of the U.S.'s short history has ever had an all-volunteer office put together in Goshen, Indiana. Ever. Not like this. No one would do this for Hillary. Or McCain. Top-down politics doesn't mesh with true grassroots.
Obama will change this country through his words, his inspiration, and his vision -- but that's the trick of it. He's not actually doing the hard work (although he is working hard). We all are the ones who have to do the work. It just takes someone like him to get us to do it. We're seeing the beginnings of what happens when a democracy actually operates by the people and for the people. It's going to be difficult. It's going to take hard work. But if what happened here in the past week (and I imagine has happened all over every state Obama's competed in) is possible, the sky's the limit.
Yes We Can.
Obama returning to stump in IndianaPresidential hopeful will visit Muncie on Friday
By Mary Beth SchneiderPosted: April 2, 2008SOURCE: IndyStar.com
Sen. Barack Obama is coming back to Indiana on Friday.
Obama, battling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination and the 72 delegates up for grabs in Indiana's May 6 primary election, will hold a campaign event Friday afternoon in Muncie. Details of the event, including the time and location, were still being worked out Tuesday.
ith the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
I'm here at my office today, the Obama campaign is opening a small field office in the front of my building. It's not one of their big regional offices, just a working office.
Anyways, Marcus emailed me to ask about how Obama's been treated here in Indiana. He hasn't visited Indiana much, other than a speech in Plainfield, if I'm not mistaken, which was covered decently.
My problem is, I don't read a lot of the local mainstream media so I'm not sure how they're covering it. My sense is that they're covering Clinton more right now, but she and Bill and Chelsea have been in the state a lot more, so that makes sense.
I think Obama's biggest asset is that we're right next door to his well-established grassroots network in Illinois...which helped him win Iowa. His second biggest asset is that a lot of Hoosier's don't like the Clintons and the scandals they bring with them. Hoosiers tend to be more on the conservative end, even though we've had Dem governors and legislators...our House is D-controlled right now and our governor is R, although he replaced a 15 year D.
According to this Howey-Gauge poll (the only Indiana poll I've seen), Obama's ahead 40-25%...which means there are 35% undecided voters. Thats a lot of undecideds. I really don't see Indiana going to Ciinton, although sometimes people say she's ahead and sometimes people say Obama's ahead. Hoosier's don't respond well to fake-ness, something Hillary tends to exude much more so than Obama.
It's going to be an interesting month. Too bad Hillary's already lost.
David- I have great respect for you as a journalist, but I have to tell you, I'm really annoyed that you folks out there in "pundit land" are all frothing over what you seem to see as Obama's potential political demise with regard to the Reverend Wright matter. To begin with, and Chris Matthews rightly has said as much in defense of Mr. Romney's faith with regard to his presidential bid, religion has no place in politics - it is simply a matter that should be entirely "off the table" and must not be in any way a measure by which we judge the candidate's ability to lead the country. If we assume this to be true, then it would indeed stand to reason that this never-ending media discussion about Mr. Obama's decision not to completely admonish the man that he has chosen and has long respected as his spiritual advisor, would also be off the table. It’s seems inappropriate to me that you folks persist in not only questioning Senator Obama's motives to remain in a church that YOU find offensive, but furthermore, that you continue to make sport of it for your own satisfaction. I urge all of you to ask yourselves, is this a standard by which you also choose to be judged?
Granted, Reverend Wright has without question made some inflammatory remarks that many might find offensive, but I hasten to remind you that those snippets that you keep airing in a continuous loop have been taken out of context and cannot possibly serve to summarize the sum total of this man's life or his work. He has done enormous good in his lifetime and the fact that the punditry elite continue to choose to seize upon a few of his more bitter moments seems to me to underscore that you are in no small way encouraging the genesis of further racial bitterness. To put it simply- in continuing this discussion, you are fanning the flames that played apart in Reverend Wright’s belief that he was justified in making the comments he made in the first place. And until you stop, you are all part of the larger problem.
Tracey from South Bend, IN
She's outrighting lying (or mis-speaking?):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOsGo_HWP-c
If you're on Facebook, join this event to get people in Indiana to register to vote by April 7:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24691968760
Please help our group grow! Join Indiana Amigos de Obama if you are interested in working with the Latino community in the greater South Bend area. No experience is necessary - just enthusiasm! We are working toward registering voters up until the April 7 deadline. Please join us by printing voter registration forms from the web: http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/pdfs/50504.pdf
Go out into your community and get Obama supporters registered to vote! You can collect the completed voter registration forms and send them in yourself to the voter registration office in your county. The office addresses are on the 2nd page of the form. Please contact the group if you would like voter registration forms in Spanish.
Dear Hopemongers:
Recently Dave Frye, a gentleman from "Americans with DIsabilities for Obama" shared this email with me and has asked me to share this with all of you. I do so happily.
I am the director of a program that assists people with developmental disabilities to live a better quality of life, and as such I and have been actively engaged in helping to get folks with disabilities registered to vote in my district in Indiana because I feel it is critical that people with disabilitites become engaged in the electoral process. For too many years people with disabilities have been ignored and even margialized and I think it is time for all of us, especially Senator Obama, to pledge that their voices will not only be heard, but indeed responded to.
On this website there is a "people" section and conspicuously absent is a category for "disabled". I would like all of you to join me in asking Team Obama to please recobngnize the needs of this group to be heard and for plans to be made by Team Obama to adress the many unique issues that people with disabilities face.
Here is Dave's email- please pass this along:
This letter is to address the issue of adding "Disabled" to the People list on the MyBarackObama website.
To those who don't understand why "Disabled" should be added to the People list,
Why NOT the disabled? Like all of the other groups on the list, we are a large group of Americans who care about issues that are exclusive to us or important to us.
The disabled have issues that no other group can lay claim to. And no one is looking out for us. When our issues happen to coincide with others, we have a voice. When they don't coincide, the country says nothing. I ask you: when was the last time you wrote your congressman on behalf of the institutionalized? When did you call your state Medicaid program on behalf of chronically ill children? What did you do to bring public transport to the disabled? Who among you is even thinking about the disabled in rural America?
The reason I chose Barack Obama is because he is one of the few people in government today who is saying ANYTHING about the disabled and strengthening the ADA. The least the campaign can do is recognize that we are a valid constituency. WE aren't an issue; the ADA is an issue. We are concerned about issues that affect us, and the ADA isn't the only issue that affects us. It certainly isn't the only thing that is going to improve our outlook, our rights, or our inclusion in society.
The disabled are concerned about more than ramps, parking spaces, and bathroom stalls. We are not focused solely on the right to work. We are concerned about our special educational needs; our place in the American economy; our future medical expenses; our rights to self-determination and protection from a court system that sees the mentally and cognitively impaired as threats. We are concerned for our disabled brethren who cannot defend or speak for themselves; our children, who might be taken by those who say we cannot care for them; and ourselves, because we must rely on the kindness of others, the work of underpaid caregivers, and the impersonal institutions that see us as opportunities to bill the government.
And YOU should be concerned too. As more disabled veterans return from Iraq, the ranks of the disabled will grow. As the baby boomers grow older, the ranks of the disabled will grow. YOU will grow old and be afflicted with disabilities. You are one car crash away from being paralyzed; one bullet away from a brain injury; one illness away from being unable to work; one pregnancy away from a disabled child. We are all one step away from being disabled.
We are Democrats with Disabilities. We are the only minority that includes members of every other group. We deserve to be recognized as more than a Congressional Bill. And, we shouldn't have to fight for it.
Put us on the list.
David Frye
Austin, Texas
[pass this letter on to others on the campaign, especially volunteers and organizers]
Susan Davis reports on the presidential race.
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh led a campaign to have his Republican followers in Texas cross party lines and vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state’s open primary last Tuesday. Why? Because Limbaugh thinks Republicans can defeat Clinton in a general election. Plus, watching Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama bloody each other in a nomination fight is pure sport for Limbaugh conservatives.
According to exit polls, Clinton won a notably higher number of Republican voters than she has in past open primary contests. Of the 9% of voters who identified themselves as Republicans in the Democratic Primary, Obama still edged Clinton 53%-46%. However, that margin is significantly slimmer than earlier contests. In Wisconsin’s open primary, for instance, Republicans broke 72%-28% for Obama. Similarly, in Virginia’s open primary, Obama was favored 72%-23%.
Clinton unquestionably secured a Texas victory, but some locals are convinced it was a false win bolstered by dirty politics. Laura Jean Kreissl, an accounting professor at West Texas A&M University, served as an election official in Canyon, Texas on Tuesday. She contacted the Wall Street Journal to report the hijinks she observed at the four precincts that voted at her polling location.
Of the 181 voters she personally dealt with, 70 offered that they were “Rush Limbaugh voters” who were there to cast ballots for Clinton. “I’m here to vote for Hillary Clinton, I want to see the Democratic Party implode,” one voter told Kreissl, she recounted in an interview. “I was just stunned,” she said. “As an election official we can’t say anything. We just jot them down and let them vote.”
Kreissl, an Obama supporter, said she kept rough counts, but her fellow poll worker, a Clinton supporter, both estimated that as many as two-thirds of the voters were Limbaugh Republicans turned Clinton voters. About 800 ballots were cast in total there. “I’m an accounting professor, I know numbers pretty well,” she said.
Kreissl worked a 19 hour day to also help organize the caucus event later that night. Similarly, she said she personally checked in 20 Obama supporters and 17 Clinton supporters. Of Clinton’s 17, 10 identified themselves as Rush Limbaugh voters, she said.
She’s convinced the Limbaugh voters turned the tide in favor of Clinton. “I don’t think we were an isolated case by any means,” she said. “I think it was very widespread across the state.”
The grassroots group, Republicans for Obama, agrees. “Hillary Clinton owes her political life to Rush Limbaugh,” they wrote on their web site Wednesday.
Rush Limbaugh is also convinced. “Don’t Doubt the Limbaugh Effect,” he boasts on his web site.
Clinton won Texas 50.9%-47.4%, earning roughly 100,000 more votes than Obama. However, Texas’s two-part system of a same day primary and a caucus is expected to end up netting Obama more delegates when the caucus delegates are allotted.
Posted March 5, 2008 | 05:48 PM (EST) By Robert Creamer
The Clinton Campaign's post March 4th message is to forget about the delegate count and nominate Hillary because she can win the big states Democrats need in November. That argument simply doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Here's why:
1) Most of the "Big States" she has won are not battleground states in the fall. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California are solid blue states where Obama would do as well or better than Clinton in a general election against McCain.
2) Of the states she's won so far, the big exception to this rule is Ohio. Ohio is in fact a critical battleground state where Hillary has demonstrated that she has a leg up among lower income whites and older voters. But the polling also shows that in a general election, Barack offsets this advantage in Ohio among young voters and college-educated independents. In a McCain-Clinton match up the later group could gravitate heavily to McCain in Ohio.
In an Ohio general election, Obama's ability to attract independents and mobilize young and minority voters will trump Clinton's advantages among non-college whites -- a group that will break heavily for either Barack or Hillary against the "free trade" McCain.
Just remember, in Ohio right now, "national security" is a job. The economy and trade -- not "national security" -- will almost certainly continue to be the overriding issues for non-college whites in Ohio this November.
3) Obama puts in play a panoply of states where Clinton would have a much tougher time. Obama could potentially win Virginia (13 electoral votes), Missouri (11 electoral votes) and even Mississippi (whose population is 40% African American -- 6 electoral votes). He would be considerably more competitive than Clinton in other battleground states like Colorado (9 electoral votes), Iowa (7 electoral votes), Wisconsin (10 electoral votes), Minnesota (10 electoral votes) and Michigan (17 electoral votes). The same goes for New Hampshire (4 electoral votes) -- a state where McCain will work hard to woo independents among whom Obama did much better than Clinton in this year's primary.4) Even in states where Clinton could make a case for some advantages relative to Obama, these "advantages" are far from certain. Take Florida where she might assert an advantage among Latinos. Florida also has up to 500,000 newly enfranchised ex-felons -- many of whom are African American. The problem with these new voters is mobilization, not persuasion. Getting them registered and voting will be hard. Obama would obviously turn out many more African American mobilizable voters than Clinton. And when it comes to Latino voters, Obama's clear record on immigration contrasts well with McCain who has thrown Latino immigration reform aspirations under the bus in order to pander to his party's right wing.
5) Obama has the one quality that allows him to simultaneously motivate mobilizable base voters and appeal to persuadable independents -- the ability to inspire. This quality allows him to broaden the appeal of his candidacy to swing voters. At the same time it allows him to expand the electorate with new young and African American voters who otherwise simply wouldn't vote. Clinton is the anti-inspiration candidate. She will have a much harder time both expanding the electorate and appealing to swing voters. Obama's ability to inspire -- by itself -- makes him a much stronger general election candidate.
6) Finally, let's remember that the base of the Republican Party -- cultural conservatives -- is not so wild about McCain. They are accepting McCain with about as much enthusiasm as children take cough medicine. They know they need him, but they really aren't happy about it. The one thing that could energize the Republican base is their inveterate hatred for Hillary Clinton. Clinton would mobilize right-wing base voters the same way that hatred for Bush motivated Democrats in 2006. Why should we help galvanize the Republican base by nominating Hillary Clinton when we have another great choice?
All of these factors are born out in the consistent survey results that show Obama polls six to ten points better than Clinton against John McCain.
Clinton will have a difficult to impossible time winning the pledged delegate battle. Her only path to the nomination is convincing Super Delegates that she is the most electable. That dog won't hunt.
Robert Creamer is a long time political organizer and strategist and author of the new book Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight. How Progressives Can Win. The book is available at Amazon.com.
I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I have about had it with Hillary. Running a good clean race is one thing, but the kind of tactics we have been watching her engage in over the last three or four weeks is enough to turn me off the democratic party for good. We cannot allow her to be sent up as a nominee. As republican nominee, McCain is now in the position to use all the fodder that Hillary has been giving him and we cannot afford to wait to send Barack up as our Nominee. We need to end this here and now and to do that, we will need Dr. Dean's help. To this point Dr. Dean has been "neutral" but it's time for him to say "enough with the dirty politics- time to get out of the Race and let the delegate leader take control". The media and Clinton Camp spin today is positively nauseating and I'm not sure how much more I can take fo this. Therefore I am "reinvigorating" my pettion to have Howard Dean tell her to drop out if she cannot stop with the dirty politics.
Please consider signing this petition and circulate to at least 10 people each. time is of the essence.
I cannot sid idly by while our party is being Hijacked by a mudslinger.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/my/dashboard/686201019
Thanks
OBAMA 08
BEcause we must!
from the Politico
February 24, 2008Read More: Campaigns
DNC to file FEC complaint over over McCain funding controversy
The Democratic National Committee will file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission challenging Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) attempt to withdraw from the presidential matching-fund system.
McCain wants to exit from the matching-fund system in order to get out from under the primary spedning limit of $54 million, even though in January he used the promise of federal matching funds to get a $1 million bank loan when his campaign ran into financial difficulties prior to the Super Tuesday primary contests. McCain's victory in South Carolina that day thrust him into the role of GOP front-runner and millions of dollars of donations have flowed in since then, alleviating the financial crisis that the Arizona Republican faced last year when his campaign bottomed out.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean said McCain benefitted from his application for matching funds beyond the bank loan, pointing out that participating in the system helped McCain get automatically on the presidential ballot in key states.
FEC Commissioner David Mason has publicly stated that McCain cannot unilaterally withdraw from the system without commission approval, which is impossible for the Arizona Republican to do at this moment because a partisan dispute between the White House and Senate Democrats has left the FEC without a working quorum of commissioners in place.
If McCain cannot get out from under the spending limit, he could be severely hamstrung in responding to Democratic attacks in the period leading up to the GOP convention. McCain's campaign has already raised $49 million, and Dean and other Democrats are convinced that he may have already broken thought the $54 million limit. If the FEC refuses to let McCain exit the voluntary matching-funds system, he could be held personally liable for violating the cap, which would a criminal charge.
"The whole issue here is frankly John McCain's integrity," Dean told reporters Sunday.
McCain's campaign charged that Dean was hypocritical on the issue, and campaign lawyers argue that they reviewed the issue thoroughly before McCain applied for the unusual bank loan.
"The facts are clear: In 2003, Dr. Dean entered but later withdrew from the matching funds system — the same thing Sen. McCain is doing today. It's absurd that Dr. Dean would attack someone for doing exactly what Dr. Dean did just a few years ago," said Brian Rogers, a McCain spokesman, in a statement released on Sunday."It's disappointing that the Democrats would resort to hypocritical attacks to avoid addressing the real issues in this campaign, like who's best prepared to lead as commander in chief in a dangerous world, and who can revive our economy by cutting taxes and wasteful spending."
Dean, however, countered, that he and former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) both opted out of the funding system only with FEC approval, and in the meantime, he spent millions gaining ballot access in key states, something McCain didn't have to do.
"McCain has already benefitted materially in several ways" from his decision to apply for matching funds, said Dean, arguing that McCain can't just opt out when it suits him.
By Barack Obama
In 2007, shortly after I became a candidate for president, I asked the Federal Election Commission to clear any regulatory obstacles to a publicly funded general election in 2008 with real spending limits. The commission did that. But this cannot happen without the agreement of the parties' eventual nominees. As I have said, I will aggressively pursue such an agreement if I am my party's nominee.
I do not expect that a workable, effective agreement will be reached overnight. The campaign-finance laws are complex, and filled with loopholes that can render meaningless any agreement that is not solidly constructed.
As USA TODAY has critically observed, outside groups have come to spend tens of millions of dollars "independently," while the candidates they favor with these ads "wink and nod" at this activity. There is an even greater risk of this runaway, sham independent spending now that the Supreme Court has wrongly opened the door to more of it in a recent decision.
I propose a meaningful agreement in good faith that results in real spending limits. The candidates will have to commit to discouraging cheating by their supporters; to refusing fundraising help to outside groups; and to limiting their own parties to legal forms of involvement. And the agreement may have to address the amounts that Senator McCain, the presumptive nominee of his party, will spend for the general election while the Democratic primary contest continues.
In l996, an agreement on spending limits was reached by Sen. John Kerry and Gov. William Weld in their Massachusetts Senate contest. They agreed to limits on overall and personal spending and on a mechanism to account for outside spending. The agreement did not accomplish all these candidates hoped, but they believe that it made a substantial difference in controlling outside groups as well as their own spending.
We can have such an agreement this year, and it could hold up. I am committed to seeking such an agreement if that commitment is matched by Senator McCain. When the time comes, we will talk and our commitment will be tested.
I will pass that test, and I hope that the Republican nominee passes his.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is seeking his party's presidential nomination.
Methinks much ado about nothing is being made of Obama's percieved "waffling" on the issue of whether or not he will stick to his "pledge" to use only federal funds in the general election.
To begin with, Obama never made a "pledge" to anyone- he was filling out a questionnaire. Secondly, even if the filling out of this questionaire could be perceived as having made a public pledge, when one looks into the details of his answer, one can clearly see that there is nothing firm about his supposed "pledge" as his "yes" hinges completely upon whether or not the other party in the general election would agree to such a thing. At this point in time it is unclear as to whether or not McCain intends to stick with his plans to move forward with an "only public financing" arrangement.
Even still-, and I can't speak for the rest of you, but whats important to me is not this obsession with Barack's supopsed waffling or even breaking some absurd "perceived" pledge on whose money is used to win the general, what's important is that win WIN the general so that, among other things, real campaign finance reform can be established some day in a way that is meaningful and lasting. Let's be clear here, Barack's not planning on taking lobbyists money here- he's talking about letting thousands of donors like you and I to continue to help finance his campaign if thats what it takes to win this thing. It's more than just money- When people give to a campaign they are vested, and vested people turn up at the polls on election day.
I guess what really sticks in my craw about this whole issue is the fact that Hillary is aligining herself wth McCain on this deal. She's a fine one to point out who is breaking the rules when she accepts so much money from the special interests and lobbyists. It's maddening to me to think she would try and make a big deal out of this when she herself would not be willing to make such a pledge. I may sound like my grandfather here, but I have to ask myself "What is it her business"?
To be clear on the facts. here is what occured: On November 27, 2007, the Midwest Democracy Network, an alliance of 20 civic and public interest groups based in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, released the results of a questionnaire that they sent to all of the presidential candidates.The following question was on the questionnaire: If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in presidential public financing system?Obama answered the question as follows:OBAMA: Yes. I have been a long-time advocate for public financing of campaigns combined with free television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests. I introduced public financing legislation in the Illinois State Senate, and am the only 2008 candidate to have sponsored Senator Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) bill to reform the presidential public financing system. In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election. My proposal followed announcements by some presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.
Comments welcome!
This was sent to me by D. Matthews from the Indiana Obama Supporters:
Think On These Things
Research, Commentary, and News on the 2008 Presidential Election with a Pro-Obama Slant Home About Candidate Comparisons Obama 101 Obama en Espanol Why Obama, Not Clinton?
Why Obama, Not Clinton?
Here are some of the reasons Barack Obama, not Hillary Clinton, is the change America needs.
Democracy
In Iowa, the Hillary Clinton campaign actively worked to suppress the votes of Iowa students.
In New Hampshire, the Hillary Clinton campaign harassed get-out-the- vote workers at the polls to hinder their efforts.
In Nevada, the Hillary Clinton campaigns supporters filed a lawsuit that aimed to suppress the vote of culinary union members.
In Nevada, the Hillary Clinton campaign shut the doors on caucus- goers 30 minutes earlier than the official rules stated. Caucus-goers were not allowed to participate.
It is a sad day when America becomes dominated by two political families"the Bush family and the Clintons. America should be a democracy, not a dynasty.
Economic Concerns
In 1998, Hillary Clinton praised NAFTA, the bill President Bill Clinton signed into law. Now she opposes it. Barack Obama opposed it.
NAFTA has been devastating to rural America.
Hillary Clinton has gone to other countries and proclaimed that outsourcing will continue. However, in front of American audiences she tempers this and talks about the problems with outsourcing American jobs. Why isnt she saying the same things in both places?
Hillary Clinton misled an Iowa voter about her position on social security. The voter is still unsure where she stands.
Hillary Clinton argued that Americans who make over $97,000 per year are the middle-class.
The Washington Post gave Barack Obama an A- for his economic stimulus plan and gave Hillary Clinton a C+.
Electability
The polls consistently show that Barack Obama does better against John McCain than does Hillary Clinton.
The Environment
The League of Conservation Voters gave Barack Obama a higher score on his environmental voting record than all the other Democratic nominees.
Ethics and Lobbyists Reform
Barack Obama has a superior record to Hillary Clinton on confronting lobbyists and special interests.
Barack Obama does not take federal PAC or federal lobbyist funding for his Presidential campaign, while Hillary Clinton does. In fact, Hillary Clinton said, Lobbyists represent real Americans.
Barack Obama has released his personal income tax returns to the public for scrutiny, while Hillary Clinton has not.
Hillary Clinton uses more earmarks and pork spending than any other Democratic nominee or Republican nominee.
Barack Obama agreed to take public financing for the general election if the Republican nominee will do the same. Hillary Clinton has not agreed to this.
Barack Obama passed the toughest ethics reform legislation in the U.S. Senate since Watergate, while Hillary has not passed a bill yet of this magnitude.
The majority of Barack Obamas campaign funding comes from small donors, while the majority of Clintons comes from large donors.
Barack Obama was the leader in revealing to the public all of his federal earmark requests, while Hillary Clinton was not.
Experience
Barack Obama has both sufficient experience and a record of good judgment.
Barack Obama will have held elected office for 12 years before becoming President. Hillary Clinton will only have held office for 8 years.
While Clinton claims experience from her husbands presidency, she will not release her White House papers to let us know specifically what that experience is.
She cited her experience as the reason she voted to go to Iraq, so that nullified her experience argument.
Even Bill Clinton said when people criticized him for being inexperienced in the 1990s that, The same old experience is not relevant.
Barack Obama will be older than Bill Clinton, Teddy Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy were before they took the presidency. He cant help that he takes care of himself and ages well.
As John Kerry argues, Barack Obama has more legislative experience than either Hillary Clinton or John Edwards.
Barack Obama has passed more progressive legislation in his lifetime than Hillary Clinton. As an Illinois Senator he passed over 200 of the bills he wrote. These bills include:
A bill that expanded healthcare to over 100,000 people in Illinois.
A bill that set up community health centers to serve underserved populations.
A bill that provided the earned income tax credit to thousands of Illinois families.
A bill that reformed the death penalty that had sent innocent people to death row A bill that banned gifts and meals from lobbyists.
And much more.
While Hillary Clinton has spent more time in the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama has gotten more substantive legislation that affects the American people passed while hes been there. Many of Clintons bills were about naming post offices and buildings. However, Obamas legislation includes:
A bill with Senator Richard Lugar which bans the development of nuclear weapons.
A bill that created a public database where average Americans can see how the government is spending their money.
A bill that provided important assistance to address the situation in the Congo.
A bill that Nancy Pelosi calls one of the toughest ethics reform bills in this history of the Congress.
Foreign Policy
Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War, while Barack Obama opposed the war from the start.
Hillary Clinton did not read the National Intelligence Estimate report before voting to send troops to Iraq.
Barack Obama agrees that America should talk to countries that are our foes, while Hillary Clinton takes issue with his position.
Barack Obama understands the basic facts about Pakistans electoral system better than Hillary Clinton.
While Barack Obama has proposed a detailed foreign policy plan, Hillary Clinton has not provided Obamas level of detail.
Hillary Clintons current foreign policy advisers were largely supportive of the war in Iraq. Obamas current foreign policy advisers are more forward thinking and generally did not support the war. We need people advising our president who have good judgment on foreign policy, not people who carry the old conventional wisdom.
Health Care
Hillary Clinton should be applauded for her work trying to get health care passed during the 1990s. However, Obama should be applauded as well for his eight-years of writing health care legislation and getting it signed into law at the state level. Obama has a lesser known, but impressive record of getting results on health care.
Homeland Security
CIA Officials agree more with Barack Obamas approach to finding Osama Bin Laden than with Hillary Clintons.
Hillary Clintons assessment of our Americas homeland security status contradicts the assessment offered by national intelligence agencies.
Human Rights
Hillary Clinton was the last Democrat to support the torture pledge.
Hillary flip-flopped on the issue of whether America should use nuclear weapons.
Judicial System
Hillary Clinton attacked Barack Obama for his position on mandatory minimum sentencing behind-the-scenes, while she touted her support for it in front of minority audiences.
Hillary Clinton was the only Democratic nominee to oppose retroactivity for mandatory minimum sentencing. All the other Democrats supported it. Even George Bush and the Supreme Court supported it.
While Hillary Clinton is opposed to retroactivity for crimes of poor people, she does not hold this standard for crimes of the rich.
Lying
News reporters have shown that Bill Clinton lied to voters about being opposed to the Iraq War from the start. The reporters have video of the Clintons expressing support for Bushs actions back in 2002.
While Hillary Clinton gives traditional Washington non-answers to questions, Barack Obama has been praised by commentators for telling the truth.
All the Democrats made a pledge not to campaign in Florida or Michigan because the two states broke Democratic rules by moving their primaries ahead of other states. While Obama and Edwards abided by the rules and took their names off the Michigan ballot, Clinton kept her name on the ballot. Right before the Florida primary, Clinton started working to get the Florida delegates counted even though she agreed not to do so at the beginning of the primary season. If she cannot keep her promises during the campaign season, how will she keep her promises as President?
Poverty
Hillary Clinton has the weakest formal platform of the top three Democratic nominees on addressing urban poverty.
Barack Obama has gotten more anti-poverty legislation signed into law in his lifetime than Hillary Clinton has. He passed numerous bills during his work in Illinois.
Technological Innovation
TechPresident rated Barack Obamas technology platform as superior to Hillary Clintons.
Womens Rights
In New Hampshire, the Hillary Clinton campaign misled female state senators to sign a letter attacking Senator Barack Obamas womens rights record. After the New Hampshire primary, the senators apologized for misleading people about his record and took issue with the Clinton campaigns practices. This incident left great division among womens rights activists in New Hampshire.
When womens rights came under attack in South Dakota, womens rights activists asked all the senators in Congress to write a letter and help fundraise on their behalf. Barack Obama was the only Senator who wrote a letter and fundraised on their behalf. Hillary Clinton did not.
Hillary Clinton also tried to mislead voters about Barack Obamas commitment to helping victims of sexual abuse, an issue on which he has been a strong advocate.
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Voter registration
To register to vote or update your current registration you will need to complete and return the Voter Registration Form (VRG-7) on or before April 7, 2008 for the May Primary Election.Voter Registration FAQ Voter Registration Form (VRG-7) 2008 Indiana Voter Information Guide 2008 First Time Voters’ GuideFor details visit the Indiana Election Division page or call 1-866-IN-1-VOTE.
Indiana voting information for College Students
2. Indiana resident while attending college in IndianaUnless you intend to make the county where your school is located your permanent home; you need to register to vote from your permanent residence and vote in person at that precinct’s polling location on Election Day or absentee-by-mail.Details here: http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/hava/college-resident.html
