By Sam Graham-Felsen - Jan 13th, 2008 at 11:34 am EST
ST. LOUIS, MO – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today endorsed Barack Obama www.barackobama.com for President, saying Obama will unite Americans to make progress on the challenges facing our nation. "I truly believe that a leader like this comes around once in a generation,” said Senator McCaskill. “Our great country should not miss this opportunity. His intellect and his ability to bring people together are what we desperately need at this moment in history."“Senator McCaskill is a trailblazer who has worked tirelessly to bring change to Missouri by opening up government and holding special interests accountable,” said Senator Obama. “Claire McCaskill is a problem solver who reaches across the aisle to find common ground , and I’ve worked with her to ensure that our heroes returning home from war have the care they deserve and the support necessary to rebuild their lives. I’m grateful for Senator McCaskill’s endorsement and believe she will provide a significant boost in our efforts to unite Americans to take on the great challenges we face.”In 2006, Claire McCaskill was the first woman from Missouri elected to the U.S. Senate. McCaskill was a trailblazer in her decades of public service in Missouri, as the first active member of the Missouri Legislature to have a child while holding office, and the first female Jackson County prosecutor. As State Auditor, McCaskill revolutionized the office to make it into a watchdog for Missouri taxpayers.
If you're from Missouri, check out MO.BarackObama.com for information on how you can get involved locally and help Barack win in this crucial February 5th state.
By Deirdre Shesgreen
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Sunday, calling him "an extraordinary man at an extraordinary time in history."
McCaskill said she would do "everything I can" to make sure he wins the Missouri primary and the party’s nomination.
"He is truly gifted by God with an ability to speak to people in way that touches them," she said. "This is a man who has incredibly intellectual heft, a very smart guy with a wise soul who is not afraid to figure out a new and different ways to tackle problems."
Read the full article from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/11/10/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_33.php
Hillary, is a very polarizing lady who misrepresents the facts regarding Dr. King, and his significant contributions to America during the 60's. We need to stand up to this kind of unacceptable conversation, and take the high road as advocated by Barack Obama. Reinforcing it is time for real change in America, and take back Washington for the people and by the people.
Respectfully submitted,
Harold
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/video/2008/jan/09/obama.new.hampshire
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQFeature/CGTN
Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporters!
Our life`s journeys are different from each other. It is extraordinary and wonderful that we the people are all united with our individual efforts to change the course of American history forever. We the people are reclaiming the glory of America close to home and around the world. Today, New Hampshire is voting for change and vote for hope. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s campaign www.barackobama.com had an historic five days in the Granite State, drawing huge crowds and tremendous enthusiasm. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is bringing together Democrats and Independents and Republicans who want to rally behind a common purpose to push back against the special interests; and finally make progress on huge challenges like providing affordable health care for all Americans; securing a clear energy future; and ending this war in Iraq. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s movement for change has inspired the American people. He is rejecting the politics of tearing people down, so that we can finally lift this country up. Voters are looking for what candidates are for – not just who they’re against. That’s why voters across New Hampshire – and across the country – are rallying to Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s movement for change. And if New Hampshire votes for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, that’s the kind of President we can have for America. Every vote counts. If you are not registered, you can do so at your polling place. If you are undeclared, you can vote in the Democratic primary and then change your registration back. If you have any questions, need to know where your polling place is, or need a ride – call the Obama hotline at 603-668-2008 or go to http://nh.barackobama.com . Let’s break turnout records and prove the cynics wrong. Let us give renewed life and hope to the enduring words of our Founding Fathers written in the United States Constitution which begin : We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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. Let us go forward confident that Presidential Candidate Barack Obama will bring a change we can believe in. Indeed, together we are one great nation.
Thank you very much!!!
Raphael Holoman-Franklin
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter
Hello alamObama!!! I hope you are all enjoying our Iowa success!! Now onto NH! A quick look at what you'll find in this email:
We have had many new volunteers join us so I'd like to remind all of you that our MLK March is just around the corner. If you would like to participate, please make sure to reply to this email with your name, phone number, & address. You will receive information about the placards that we will all be wearing, as well as information about where and when to meet on the day of the march.
Event Reminders: Tuesday January 8, 2008 6:45 PM New Hampshire Primary Results Watch Party alamObama Office 301 Broadway suite 106 210-569-1206 Thursday January 10, 2008 6:30 Monthly alamObama Meeting This month we'll be discussing the upcoming MLK March, phone banking goals, and voter registration team progress. These are all ways in which you can easily help Barack secure the Democratic Nomination so please try to join us.
alamObama Office 301 Broadway suite 106 210-569-1206
OFFICE HOURS-
Monday Jan 7 (11am-6pm) Phone Banking to California early voters
Tuesday Jan 8 (11am-9pm) Phone Banking to California early voters/NH Party
Wednesday Jan 9 (2pm-8pm) Phone Banking to California early voters
Thursday Jan 10 (2pm-8pm) Phone Banking for MLK March/Meeting
Saturday Jan 12 (2pm-5pm) Phone Banking for MLK March
Sunday Jan 13 (2pm-5pm) Phone Banking for MLK March
alamObama to Iowa Blog Wrap Up-
Jan. 3, 2008 Many of you know that Judy, June, Steve & I spent the last week knocking on doors in Rockwell City, Iowa on behalf of Barack Obama. And as I'm sure all of you know, the hard work in the below freezing temps paid off. At the Rockwell City Democratic Caucus, Barack Obama had 36 people stand (or "vote") for him while John Edwards had 34 and Hillary Clinton had 26 supporters; Richardson rounded out the mix with 16 supporters. People who had never been politically involved before stepped up in Rockwell City to become delegates. I was so proud to see the community walk in and make their voices heard and their votes count. Once the caucus was finished we hopped in the car and headed to Des Moines to hear Barack's Speech. Phone calls were coming in from all of our friends and family to tell us what was happening on TV. Thanks to everyone who emailed me and called with caucus night updates!! We had a safe but hectic 2 hour drive that included the Iowa State Police and a little bit of misdirection, but we walked into the Hyvee Center just as Barack was wrapping up his address. The energy in the building was amazing. We managed to find a few old friends from previous Obama events, mainly staffers from Barack's Advance team, and a fellow TOVL (Texas Obama Volunteer Leaders) member from Houston, Maria Isabelle. We topped the night off with a few great conversations with volunteers, and political tourists from all over the U.S. I am so excited and proud to have helped in this historic step forward for our country!!! Please remember to stop by www.flickr.com/photos/jenromo for a few pictures of our time in Iowa!! Thanks to everyone who sent encouraging messages to us along the way, they really helped on the cold foggy days!! There is still plenty of work to do, but at least we now know that as we had suspected all along... THE COUNTRY IS READY FOR BARACK! Obama '08!!!!!!!
Barack Obama's victory last night was nothing short of historic. Here are some of the front pages from newspapers around the country.
Obama, Edwards Surge in Iowa Tracking PollThe last Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll before today's caucuses shows Sen. Barack Obama www.barackobama.com and John Edwards gaining ground overnight with Sen. Hillary Clinton faling four points to third place -- "a finish that, if it held, would deal a dramatic setback to the one-time Democratic front-runner."Obama leads with 31%, followed by Edwards at 27% and Clinton 24%.Said pollster John Zogby: "There is a clear Clinton fade. None of it has been dramatic, but it has been steady."
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama surged to a four-point lead over John Edwards in Iowa, with Hillary Clinton fading to third just hours before the first presidential nominating contest, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Thursday.
Obama and Edwards gained ground overnight in the tracking poll, and Clinton fell four points to third place -- a finish that, if it held, would deal a dramatic setback to the one-time Democratic front-runner.
Obama was at 31 percent among likely Democratic caucus-goers, Edwards at 27 percent and Clinton 24 percent. No other Democrat was in double digits.
In the Republican race, Mike Huckabee expanded his lead to six points, 31 to 25 percent, over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the one-time leader in Iowa who has attacked Huckabee for his record as Arkansas governor.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is in third place in the Republican race at 11 percent and Arizona Sen. John McCain slipped two points to 10 percent. Texas Rep. Ron Paul also registered 10 percent.
"There is a clear Clinton fade," pollster John Zogby said. "None of it has been dramatic, but it has been steady."
He said Clinton, a New York senator, was losing ground to Obama, an Illinois senator, among Democrats -- as opposed to independents -- and self-described liberals.
"Under any circumstance, a 31-27-24 spread is still very close," he said of the margins for the top three Democratic contenders. "Edwards is right in the mix and he has made gains too."
About 6 percent of Republicans and 5 percent of Democrats remain undecided, leaving room for late swings.
The rolling poll of 905 likely Democratic caucus-goers and 914 likely Republican caucus-goers was taken Sunday through Wednesday and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points for each party.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was fourth with 7 percent and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden was at 5 percent. Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd was at 1 percent and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich was under 1 percent.
Iowa opens the process of choosing the next U.S. president on Thursday night, kicking off a state-by-state battle to choose Republican and Democratic candidates for the November election to replace President George W. Bush.
Obama, Clinton and Edwards have battled for the lead in Iowa for months. Clinton, who would be the first woman president, holds a slight lead among women and is still strong among older voters. Obama leads among men and younger voters.
Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, remained the top second choice of Democrats. A candidate must have 15 percent support in each precinct to be viable or their supporters can switch to another candidate.
Student volunteers descend on Iowa
By: Ben Adler Dec 31, 2007 06:13 AM EST
Politically engaged college students are forgoing their coveted winter breaks to brave the frigid terrain of Iowa. Young people enthusiastic about their candidate, or in some cases just the democratic process, are descending on Iowa in droves to volunteer and observe. Some, obviously, are directly volunteering for candidates. Others are students at Iowa colleges who grew up out of state and are coming back just to caucus. And a few are there to learn about the process. All campaigns are welcoming volunteers. Some, like the John Edwards campaign, have made volunteering a simple matter of signing up online.
But Barack Obama’s campaign www.barackobama.com was so deluged with out-of-state volunteers that it has decided to limit the number who may come. One Obama supporter who did not make the cut was Rachel Lauter, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Lauter is active in Brooklyn for Barack, a coalition of Obama supporters in the borough. The group had arranged through Obama’s New York office to travel to Iowa to volunteer in the weeks leading up to the caucuses. But on the day Lauter was to buy her plane ticket, members were told that Iowa had more than enough volunteers already. Instead, they were encouraged to focus their energies on the Northeast and, in particular, on New Hampshire. While many Obama-supporting Brooklynites are already planning to go to New Hampshire, Lauter is waiting to see how the caucuses go for Obama before deciding if she will go there herself. One young woman who will make it to Iowa, even though she is lukewarm about the candidate she will work for, is Elizabeth Bennett, 21, a senior at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Bennett will be volunteering for Mike Huckabee. Bennett, who also volunteered for President Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004, says that she has been following the election closely. But, she says, “I haven’t found one candidate to be passionate about. I think a lot of Republicans have felt that way.” However, when she saw that Vanderbilt's Office of Active Citizenship and Service was offering a road trip to Iowa for the caucuses, she thought, “What an amazing opportunity.” The bus will leave on New Year's Day at 12:01 a.m. and, after the long haul from Tennessee, arrive in Des Moines around noon. Each of the 60 students who signed up will then volunteer for a campaign until caucus night, when the group will watch a caucus en masse.
Bennett chose to volunteer for Huckabee, even though she is not entirely sold on him, because he shares her socially conservative views. To prepare for the trip the group held a mock caucus on campus on Dec. 5, which Bennett said was “very true to form,” because the Clinton and Obama supporters argued about health care. Closer to caucus day, the college towns of Iowa will see a return of many college students who grew up out of state and went home for the holidays. Colleges with large out-of-state populations, like Iowa State University and Grinnell College, will make some facilities available for students to stay in on caucus night. Other students, who live off-campus, will come back to their apartments. Alec Schierenbeck, 20, a junior at Grinnell who is president of the College Democrats of Iowa, is predicting a strong student turnout at Grinnell. He says 150 students have signed up to spend caucus night in the gymnasium, and he knows several students who live off-campus who plan to caucus as well. On the other hand, not all indicators are so positive. Young Voter PAC, a Democratic youth voter-mobilization organization, has offered transportation subsidies to Iowa college students from out of state who want to caucus for the Democrats but for whom cost might be an issue. Young Voter PAC has put up ads on Facebook, Google and the Des Moines Register website, in addition to blasting a list of 58,000 18- to 35-year-old registered Democrats in Iowa with text messages and e-mails. Jane Fleming Kleeb, Young Voter PAC’s executive director, said she was disappointed that very few students took them up on their offer at first. But, noting college students’ famous tendency to procrastinate, she said it is encouraging that most of the 84 applications have come in since Friday, suggesting that many more may soon follow.
By Sam Graham-Felsen - Dec 31st, 2007 at 12:51 pm EST
In his rundown of candidates' electability, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter says Obama is "the only one with a decent chance for a landslide."
For evidence of Obama's general election strength, check out these slides from David Plouffe's presentation:
With just 10 days to go before the first electoral test of the candidates, the Iowa caucus on January 3, the poll shows both races tightening. The New Hampshire primary follows five days later.
There was a similar shift in the Republican race, with Mitt Romney's 32% to 17% lead over McCain being reduced to a three-point margin. Romney polled 28% to McCain's 25%. Rudy Giuliani was on 14% with Mike Huckabee on 10%.
McCain won the New Hampshire primary in 2000 before losing the nomination to George Bush. This year his campaign had appeared moribund, with staff laid off and finances dwindling, but his poll numbers have risen in recent weeks as the primaries have neared and casualties in Iraq have fallen. McCain was a supporter of Bush's "surge" plan in Iraq.
There was a further blow for Romney when the New Hampshire newspaper the Concord Monitor published an anti-endorsement under the headline "Romney should not be the next president".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2231928,00.html
Guardian America
By The Associated Press – 18 hours ago
THE RACE: The presidential race for the Republican, Democratic nominations in New Hampshire.
___
THE NUMBERS - DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama, 30 percent
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 28 percent
John Edwards, 14 percent
Bill Richardson, 7 percent
THE NUMBERS - REPUBLICANS
Mitt Romney, 28 percent
John McCain, 25 percent
Rudy Giuliani, 14 percent
Mike Huckabee, 10 percent
OF INTEREST: The poll shows the race tightening for both Democrats and Republicans. John McCain has closed a gap with longtime front-runner Mitt Romney. A Globe poll last month had McCain in third place with 17 percent of likely Republican primary voters favoring him compared to Romney's 32 percent. The two are now nearly in a dead heat, with McCain's surge knocking Rudy Giuliani into third place in the poll. On the Democratic side, Barack Obama www.barackobama.com also has made gains on Hillary Rodham Clinton. A month ago, Clinton held the lead with 35 percent of likely Democratic primary voters saying they favored her, compared to 21 percent for Obama. The two are also now in a virtual dead heat. When asked which candidate has the best chance of beating the Republican nominee, 40 percent of voters said Clinton and 29 percent said Obama, a much narrower gap than a month ago. When Republican voters were asked which candidate has the best chance of beating the Democratic nominee, Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, topped the list with 34 percent, followed by Giuliani with 28 percent and McCain with 10 percent.
The survey of 400 Democratic and 404 Republican likely primary voters was conducted for The Boston Globe by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center Dec. 16-20. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter!
This election season marks the first time since 1928 that neither an incumbent president nor vice president has run for their party's nomination. The main issues dominating this winter's presidential debates have been the war in Iraq, abortion, immigration, healthcare, gay marriage and the environment. The debates and conversations with presidential candidates will continue throughout the 2008 campaign leading to the General Election. A series of primary elections, state caucuses, and state conventions will result in each party choosing its presidential candidate. 5th February, 2008 dubbed "Super Tuesday" will be the decisive date, with over 20 states holding their primaries. By the end of this day it is likely that each party will have in essence chosen their candidate. Let us make this a day of great victory for our Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com and our Countdown To Change movement.On 4th November, 2008 all the states will elect the members of the electoral college, who will meet on December 15th and vote on the president and vice president. The votes will be tallied before Congress on 6th January, 2009 and the new president will be inaugurated on 20th January, 2009. Super Tuesday 2008 will be a decisive date! Together we can make history.
Thank you very much!
"We are in a defining moment in our history" ... "Our nation is at war. The planet is in peril. The dream that so many generations fought for feels as if it's slowly slipping away. And that is why the same old Washington textbook campaigns just won't do it. That's why telling the American people what we think they want to hear, instead of telling the American people what they need to hear, just won't so it." "America, our moment is now," ..."I don't want to spend the next year, or the same four years, refighting the same fights we had in the 1990s. I don't want to pit red America against blue America. I want to be the president of the United States of America." Presidential Candidate Barack Obama
January3Iowa caucuses5Wyoming (GOP)8New Hampshire15Michigan19Nevada caucuses, South Carolina (GOP)26South Carolina (Dem.), Florida29FloridaFebruary2Maine caucus (GOP)5Alabama, Alaska caucuses, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado caucuses, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho caucus (Dem.), Illinois, Kansas (Dem.), Massachusetts, Minesota caucuses, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico caucus (Dem.), New York, North Dakota causcuses, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia (GOP)9Kansas (GOP), Louisiana, Nebraska caucus (Dem.), Washington caucuses10Maine caucus (Dem.)12Maryland, Virginia19Hawaii caucus (Dem.), Washington, WisconsinMarch4Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont8 Wyoming caucus (Dem.)11MississippiApril22PennsylvaniaMay6Indiana, North Carolina13Nebraska, West Virginia20Kentucky, Oregon27IdahoTBDHawaii caucus (GOP)June3Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a campaign stop in Portsmouth, N.H., Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007.(AP Photo/Jim Cole)
By PHILIP ELLIOTT – 7 hours ago
ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama www.barackobama.com argued on Thursday that presidential rivals who resort to negative criticism based on personal claims rather than issues will turn off voters.
In recent weeks, Obama has been criticized by his chief rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as being too inexperienced to be elected president. One of her advisers resigned after suggesting Obama would be vulnerable to questions about his use of illegal drugs as a teenager. A Clinton surrogate raised Obama's Muslim heritage in what some viewed as an unflattering way.
"So far, I think, attempts to go negative in a way that's not policy-based have backfired on the people who have gone in that direction," Obama said during a brief interview with The Associated Press after a town hall-style meeting at an American Legion hall.
"If people are arguing about policy, that's part of politics and that's fair," said Obama, an Illinois senator.
Obama said campaign media focused on policy, such as his flier touting his health care plan, are fair game and he will be aggressive about making such comparisons with Clinton. While not pleasant tactics, he said he can't fault his rivals for them.
"I would distinguish between ads that I would say maybe mischaracterize my positions but had to do with policy, versus personal attacks or attempts to go at my character or those things. In which case, I will answer them swiftly and truthfully if they're false and trust in the voters," Obama said.
The back-and-forth between Obama and Clinton has not affected his family, Obama said. His daughters, Malia and Sasha, have appeared with their parents at some campaign events and were included in a holiday campaign commercial Obama released this week.
"Part of the reason that Michelle and I were comfortable doing this is our daughters are young enough. They're not watching the news," Obama said. "They're watching Nickelodeon. You know, they're 9 and 6. They're watching 'Hannah Montana.'"
Earlier this month, Bill Shaheen, a co-chair of Clinton's New Hampshire campaign and husband of the state's former governor, resigned after suggesting that Obama's admitted use of illegal drugs as a teenager could be used against him if he won the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton later denounced the comments, which she said were unauthorized, and personally apologized to Obama.
This week, former Sen. Bob Kerrey endorsed Clinton but praised Obama's Muslim roots in a way that raised eyebrows because that detail has been part of an Internet smear campaign that falsely suggests Obama is a Muslim who wants to bring jihad to the United States. Obama is a Christian. Kerrey later apologized for any unintentional insult he may have committed.
When his daughters have seen any negative coverage, Obama said the girls go straight to him or their mother, Michelle.
"We've got a great relationship with our girls where if something bothers them, they ask us. They ask us questions about that. We don't want to stoke their fears about this stuff, but we want to make sure anything that comes up, they come and they talk to us about it," he said.
He said the family has "been able to create a space for them where they are just living their normal lives like little girls."
The latest state poll showed Obama and Clinton tied, according to the USA Today/Gallup Poll survey released Friday.
New Hampshire holds the nation's first presidential primary on Jan. 8.
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney attacked rival Mike Huckabee for criticizing President George W. Bush's foreign policy on Wednesday, while a new poll showed the race among Democrats in Iowa still neck-and-neck.
As candidates revved up their campaigns before a brief Christmas break, some released advertisements evoking the holiday spirit, including one from Republican Rudy Giuliani that featured Santa Claus.
None of the light-hearted spots provoked the criticism that former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee did with a "Merry Christmas" advertisement that included a book shelf behind him that looked like a cross.
Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher seeking support from Christian evangelicals in Iowa, rejected criticism of the ad.
Iowa on January 3 starts the state-by-state process to pick the Democratic and Republican candidates who will face off in the presidential election on November 4, 2008.
Romney, who has lost a big lead to Huckabee in the midwestern state, sought to raise doubts about his rival's foreign policy credentials, saying his criticism of Bush's foreign policy was more suitable for a Democrat.
Last week, Huckabee said the Bush administration's "arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad" and promised that as president he would reach out to the rest of the world.
"I think Governor Huckabee made a significant error in insulting the president as being subject to an arrogant bunker mentality," Romney said in Davenport, Iowa. "I disagree with that. I think the president is a man who has acted out of a desire to do what is right for America."
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who said in August he would not be a "carbon copy" of Bush if elected, but has supported his troop build-up in Iraq, wants to peel away conservative Republican voters from Huckabee.
Huckabee has come out of nowhere to lead Republican polls in Iowa and challenge Giuliani for the lead nationally. He defended his words in an MSNBC interview but said he was criticizing the administration, not Bush himself.
"I don't apologize for that because I think that when we're engaged in the world, we need to make sure that even if we call people to join us in a multilateral approach to fighting terrorism, if they don't do it on our terms we don't say that they're with the enemy," Huckabee said.
HUCKABEE, ROMNEY GAIN
A Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday said Huckabee has wiped out an 18-point deficit in one month to pull within one point of Giuliani, 23 percent to 22 percent, nationally, with Romney in third place at 16 percent.
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday, showed Romney gaining nine points in a month to tie Giuliani, who dropped 13 points. The two Republicans were each at 20 percent in that poll, with Huckabee in third place at 17 percent.
Among Democrats, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's national advantage over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama shrunk slightly to eight points from 11 points last month, according to the Reuters/Zogby poll.
In the NBC/Journal poll, Clinton held her national lead, with the support of 45 percent of Democratic primary voters, compared with 23 percent for Obama.
Campaigning in New Hampshire, which holds its primary on January 8, Obama zeroed in on struggling lower- and middle-class voters by highlighting his plans to ease their tax burden and make health care and college education more affordable.
"There aren't many issues that you are concerned about that I have not worked on," Obama told a high school student at a town hall meeting in Manchester, trying to convince her to cast her first vote for him.
While Clinton leads nationally, all eyes are on a tight race in Iowa between her, Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. A Washington Post-ABC News poll said 33 percent of Iowans planning to vote on January 3 support Obama, compared to 29 percent for Clinton and 20 percent for Edwards.
Giuliani, who was New York mayor during the September 11 attacks, issued a Web ad wishing for peace with strength, secure borders against illegal immigration and lower taxes.
"And I really hope that all of the presidential candidates can just get along," he says. A red-suited Santa Claus chimes in: "Ho, ho, ho. I was with you right up until that last one."
Obama's ad featured him, wife Michelle and their two children in front of a Christmas tree with a message that highlights "the things that unite us as a people."
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CVDV
A big alamObama "hello" to our new friends, old friends and volunteers of all types... Many thanks for making our Holiday Open House a huge success! Please take a look at the festive photos taken by Bob Scott. No doubt, you'll recognize the Host and Hostess of the evening. http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/283654.8472c7e8539
Now, it is time to put the alamObama pedal to the metal (aka: "the intense urgency of NOW!").
Action Alert:
1. We need volunteers to make phone calls to students at the University of Iowa Wednesday, Dec 19 and Thursday, Dec 20 from 5 pm to 8 pm at the alamObama office (301 Broadway Suite 106...free parking in the lot attached to office. The office door is on 3rd Street across from St. Mark's Episcopal Church parking lot.) We will be making phone calls to invite these students to caucus for Obama. note: Students are likely to be the secret weapon of the Iowa Caucus. (Please bring your cells phones & chargers just in case AT & T still hasn't found our office.)
2. MLK March on Monday, Jan 21- We have a goal of 200 Obama marchers and need help with recruitment. Are you signed up? This is a KEY Visibility event because it is scheduled between the Nevada Caucus on Jan 19 and the South Carolina Primary on Jan 26.
Please contact Jen Romo (jenromo@msn.com) to get a list of local Obama supporters to call about the MLK March. You will be provided with a script to help with these calls and they may be made from home :-)
Future Alert:
1. If you are interested in joining a Voter Registration Team (VRT), we will be building and training new teams the week of Jan 6. Details tba in a future email. note: Voters who want to participate in our Texas Primary on March 4 must be registered by Feb 4.
2. We are working on plans for roadtrips to Feb 5 states (most likely Oklahoma on weekend of Jan 12-13 and Arkansas on weekend of Jan 26-27). If you are available, please contact Judy Hall for details (profjh@hotmail.com).
Fun Alert:
Several of our alamObama volunteers will be traveling to Early States to help. They will be sending photos and diaries of their experiences back to San Antonio. What a treat to share their adventures without having to face the snow, ice and scary HRC volunteers! 18 Days 'til the Iowa Caucus... alamObama is "Fired UP! Ready to GO!"
co-chairs,
Jen Romo 563-5308
Judy Hall 317-0079
Fred Tawil 508-4287
Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page | Recommend (0) [-] Text [+]
Obama, Huckabee gain momentumPlay Video
BOSTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama www.barackobama.com has edged ahead of rival Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire less than a month before the state's nominating primary in the 2008 race for the White House, a new poll showed on Friday.
The Concord Monitor newspaper poll showed the U.S. senator from Illinois leading Clinton 32 percent to 31 percent in New Hampshire, which on January 8 holds the first primary in the run-up to the November 2008 presidential election. The survey had a 4 percentage point error margin.
It mirrors other polls this week showing the New York senator's lead vanishing in New Hampshire, suggesting a fiercely competitive race in a state where the former first lady led by a comfortable margin just weeks ago.
On Wednesday, a WMUR-TV/CNN poll showed the race a statistical dead heat with Clinton leading Obama 31 percent to 30 percent. In September, Clinton enjoyed a commanding lead of more than 20 points over Obama.
New Hampshire's primary helps kick off the state-by-state battle to pick candidates for the November 8, 2008, election. The midwestern state of Iowa holds the first contest of the party nominating process with its January 3 caucuses.
The Monitor said much of Obama's backing comes from undeclared voters while registered Democrats gave the most support to Clinton.
New Hampshire allows independents -- not just registered Republicans and Democrats -- to vote in its primary and they can choose either a Republican or a Democratic ballot.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was in third place in the Monitor poll with 18 percent, followed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson at 8 percent.
Among Republicans, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads his Republican rivals in New Hampshire with 31 percent support, followed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at 18 percent and Arizona Sen. John McCain at 17 percent.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee remains mired in single digits at 9 percent in New Hampshire despite a rapid rise in national polls, the Monitor poll showed.
The Monitor poll was conducted on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and surveyed 600 likely voters.
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
(Reporting by Jason Szep; Editing by Eric Beech)
The final Presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses took place yesterday in Des Moines, and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com remains an absolute winner. He is bold, decisive, and gives all Americans a clear vision of the change he wants to bring to the White House.
Iowans are especially delighted that with the news dominated by increasingly negative attacks from our opponents, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama continues to hold the view of the higher ground and remains steadfastly positive.
Watch this video of Iowans reacting immediately after the debate:
https://donate.barackobama.com/IowansReact
Now is an opportunity for you to help respond to these highly offensive attacks on the good name and character of Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. You can still help raise the cost of negativity for our opponents by making a donation of $25 now:
The increasing attacks over the last few weeks caused a Precinct Captain for one of our opponents to rethink her choice of presidential candidate. Hear what she has to say in her own words:
http://iowa.barackobama.com/IAforHope
December 14, 2007 2:33 PM
ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Sen. Barack Obama www.barackobama.com , D-Ill., reacted Friday to the resignation of one of his chief rival's New Hampshire co-chair for comments he made about Obama's admitted teenage drug use.
Bill Shaheen resigned as Clinton's New Hampshire co-chair after suggesting Republicans would attack Obama for the admission if he became the Democrats' nominee for president.
Clinton personally apologized to Obama on the tarmac of the Ronald Reagan Airport before they flew to Iowa for a debate.
"I take the Clinton campaign's word that they didn't know what this guy was doing and I understand all that, but the one thing I will say is, I told my staff that if I catch you guys doing any kind of stuff like this, you're fired. Period," the Illinois Democrat told syndicated radio morning show host Tom Joyner Friday.
Listen to the interview HERE.
"What we need to do -- and I told this to Senator Clinton yesterday -- that we need to send a strong message to all of our surrogates and all of our staffs, that we don't play that," he said.
Obama said Clinton's former staffer's comment smacked of desperation.
"I take it as a compliment because it shows me that folks are getting a little worried about our campaign," he said.
"The fact that we're up in Iowa and we've now closed the gap in New Hampshire and South Carolina, that means we've got momentum and that means you're a target. What it also means is folks are excited, they're energized. I think people are realizing we've got a chance," Obama said.
It’s the home stretch. We can all see the finish line of January 3, the Iowa caucus (thank goodness because this election cycle is just way too long). Now is not the time for bumbling and bringing out a competitor’s admitted drug use equals a big misstep.
Bill Shaheen, a co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire campaign, resigned after a tasting shoe leather. In an interview this week with the Washington Post Shaheen worried that Obama’s www.barackobama.com candor about using drugs when he was young could haunt him in a race against a Republican for the White House. According to Shaheen, Obama writing about being a druggie back in the day would give the GOP a chance to “open the door. It’ll be, ‘When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?’” Shaheen said. “There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It’s hard to overcome.”
I’m going to give Shaheen props for effort. This was a perfect way to throw a little mud at Obama, all the while making it appear it’s those nasty Republicans with the dirt on their hands. But the perfect plan backfired and Shaheen, like a good soldier, had to fall on his sword.
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again. Team Clinton be mighty nervous.
Obama: "Hillary, I'm Looking Forward To You Advising Me"Obama: "Hillary, I'm Looking Forward To You Advising Me"
Huffington Post | Katharine Zaleski | December 13, 2007 03:40 PM
Democratic candidates gathered in Iowa today for their final debate before the January caucuses. The overall feeling of the debate was cordial considering the recent heightened spats between Barack Obama www.barackobama.com and Hillary Clinton's respective campaigns.
The atmosphere tensed up briefly when Obama was asked what new foreign policies he could offer with a staff of so many ex-Clinton advisers.
Read the exchange from AP:
Hillary Clinton laughed out loud, and said with a smile on her face, "I'm looking forward to hearing that." Obama, also smiling, waited for the laughter to die down before saying, "Hillary, I'm looking forward to you advising me as well."
Watch the video:
Last year, we as a nation asked and expressed our desire as voters to take America in a new direction. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com is leading and taking this challenge seriously every day to bring about that change. Together we can move forward. Together we can restore trust in our American values. Together we can reclaim that precious American dream of hope and opportunity for all. Together we can put Presidential Candidate Barack Obama on a firm path to victory in the 2008 Presidential General Election.
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is committed to turning the page on textbook campaign politics, providing quality and affordable health care for 10 million American children - kids not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid and not lucky enough to have parents with health insurance - and passing a new national energy policy that lowers energy bills and begins to reverse global warming. And we are determined to end the war in Iraq responsibly. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama will use his power and leadership authority as our next president to help Americans live and prosper in a nation of bountiful hope and opportunity!
In a few weeks, the primaries will start across America and voters will again ask for a new direction. Let us offer with our ongoing support and dedication this nation and the world the new vision and hope which Presidential Candidate Barack Obama uniquely possess. We are all playing an important role in this historic Countdown To Change.
Wishing you best wishes this Holiday Season,
This man has already put thousands of lives on the line by sending our men and women over there to fight a senseless war. Have we not lost enough of our husbands, Mothers, sons and daughters for this needless act?
Bush continues to ignore his own intelligence, and has been saber rattling for months against Iran, recklessly pushing towards another war like he did with Iraq. We cannot afford to allow Bush and Cheney to put us into another disastrous situation again.
Our Congress must stand up NOW and make it clear President Bush has NO authority to strike Iran.
How many more of our armed forces must die needlessly before we put a stop to this madman and insanity?
Tuesday December 4, 2007 12:31 AM
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Rodham Clinton have secrecy issues dogging them.
The front-runners in national polls for their parties' nominations both are grappling with disclosure controversies as they seek to succeed President Bush, known as one of the most secretive chief executives in modern history.
For the Republican former New York mayor, the primary issue is Giuliani Partners, the consulting business he formed when he left City Hall. He still works for the firm but won't shed light on its business dealings or release a client list. He's not required to; the company is privately held.
``It isn't mysterious at all,'' Giuliani insists, arguing that the media has identified clients.
He's also battling - and dismissing - suggestions that security expenses for extramarital liaisons with current wife Judith Nathan were hidden in little-known city accounts. And, he is facing criticism for the handling of his mayoral records.
Clinton, the Democratic New York senator and former first lady, is taking heat over locked-away correspondence between President Clinton and her during their White House years. She often cites her experience in her campaign, and rivals argue she should expedite the opening of those records to allow her experience to be evaluated, particularly on health care policy.
She says the National Archives, which has custody of the records, ``is moving as rapidly as the Archives moves.'' Her husband said last week: ``I'm not trying to cover anything up.''
A direct comparison between the Giuliani and Clinton situations is difficult.
``There's a concern on the part of Giuliani about his behavior, a man known relatively little to the public except in flashes of post-9/11 take charge,'' said Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. ``There are real questions about his probity, his choice of associates and potential conflicts of interest given the extraordinary amount of business he's done since leaving office and that touches on government policies.''
``With Clinton, it's a bit of a muddle,'' Mann said. ``It's appropriate that presidential documents be released and made public as soon as possible. It's a reasonable question to be raised,'' he said. But, he added: ``It's not like there's necessarily some crucial information in there that's not being revealed.''
Still, both candidates face lack-of-disclosure questions in a campaign marked by public concern about honesty and ethics.
A recent national survey by The Associated Press and Yahoo News found that both Democrats and Republicans rated those two issues as very important or extremely important qualities in a presidential candidate more often than any other trait measured.
Neither Clinton nor Giuliani was seen as particularly honest or ethical. Just 38 percent viewed Clinton as honest, while just 40 percent called her ethical. Forty-two percent called Giuliani honest, 40 percent ethical.
Secrecy questions about them could give voters pause - particularly after seven years of Bush's behind-the-curtain approach that included covert CIA prisons, warrantless wiretapping and classified memos on interrogation techniques.
Generally, a president prone to secrecy can have long-term implications for a democracy.
``The effect is sort of an imperialistic presidency that's unchecked,'' said Anne Weismann, chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. With Bush, she said: ``We're pretty far down that road, but I don't think we're there yet.'' However, she added, given the outcry over Bush's actions, ``It's hard to imagine a president that will follow in that same course.''
Giuliani laughed, then grew agitated, when the AP asked recently whether he would ever outline his role with his firm or release a thorough client list. ``Everything I did at Giuliani Partners was totally legal, totally ethical,'' he said. ``There's nothing for me to explain about. We acted honorably, decently.''
The media have unearthed some client names that show his firm represents or has represented airlines, energy companies and communications businesses. One client, Purdue Pharma L.P., makes the controversial painkiller OxyContin.
Separately, Giuliani has called reports that he charged security expenses to obscure city offices as his affair began ``a typical political hit job with only half the story told.'' He also has dismissed criticism over the 2,000 boxes of his mayoral documents temporarily going to a private foundation his supporters ran and financed to be copied and archived.
Clinton, for her part, rejects charges that she's been secretive about her own documents. This month in Iowa, she said: ``My husband has not withheld a single document.''
But, like some of his predecessors, Bill Clinton had the power to limit what records the National Archives could immediately make public. In a 2002 letter, he asked that the archives consider withholding certain categories of information, including personal correspondence between himself and his wife.
``We're not trying to hold up anything,'' he told C-SPAN last week. ``We're getting this stuff out as soon as we can.''
^---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Liz Sidoti covers presidential politics for The Associated Press.
The latest news from Iowa is exciting. The Des Moines Register shows that Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com has pulled ahead of Mrs. Clinton and is now leading in Iowa. He is even leading among women by five points! This is superb!
The polls in Iowa show that Mrs. Clinton is running the most negative campaign of any presidential candidate. Today we need to respond to any attacks which Mrs. Clinton may direct at Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. We need to ensure that he has the resources to go from strength to strength. We need to put him firmly on a victorious path to the 2008 Presidential General Election!
We have an immediate challenge: In the next 48 hours, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama needs 10,000 people to donate.
https://donate.barackobama.com/costofnegativity
This response will show Mrs. Clinton and other opponents that our resolve to reclaim the American dream is real. The Countdown to Change movement is in full force. The momentum is starting to build.
Thank you very much,
Op-Ed Columnist
JUST 24 hours after Hillary Clinton mowed down a skeptical Katie Couric with her certitude that she would win the Democratic nomination — “It will be me!” — her husband showed exactly how she could lose it.
Frank Rich
By telling an Iowa audience on Tuesday night that he had opposed the Iraq war “from the beginning,” Bill Clinton committed a double pratfall. Not only did he refocus attention on his wife’s most hazardous issue, Iraq, just as it was receding as the nation’s Topic A, but he also revived unhappy memories of the truth-dodging nadirs of the Clinton White House.
Whatever his caveats, Mr. Clinton did not explicitly oppose the Iraq war from the beginning. But Al Gore did unequivocally and loudly in a public speech before the beginning, as did an obscure Illinois state senator named Barack Obama www.barackobama.com . What if Mrs. Clinton had led an insurrection against the war authorization in the Senate? Might she have helped impede America’s rush into one of the greatest fiascos in our history?
That history cannot be rewritten in any case, by Bill Clinton or anyone else. But future history is yet to be made. In the year to come, it will be written by the candidates and the voters, not by those journalists who, as the old saw has it, lay down history’s first draft.
Election year isn’t even here yet, and already most of the first drafts penned by the political press have proved instantly disposable, from Fred Thompson’s irresistible Reaganesque star power to the Family Research Council’s ability to abort the rise of Rudy Giuliani. The biggest Beltway myth so far — that the Clinton campaign is “textbook perfect” and “tightly disciplined” — was surely buried for good by the undisciplined former president’s seemingly panic-driven blunder last week.
The Washington wisdom about Mr. Obama has often been just as wrong as that about Mrs. Clinton. We kept being told he was making rookie mistakes and offering voters wispy idealistic sentiments rather than the real beef of policy. But what the Beltway mistook for gaffes often was the policy.
Mr. Obama’s much-derided readiness to talk promptly and directly to the leaders of Iran and Syria, for instance, was a clear alternative, agree with it or not, to Mrs. Clinton’s same-old Foggy Bottom platitudes on the subject. His supposedly reckless pledge to chase down Osama bin Laden and his gang in Pakistan, without Pakistani permission if necessary, was a pointed rebuke of both Mrs. Clinton’s and President Bush’s misplaced fealty to our terrorist-enabling “ally,” Pervez Musharraf. Like Mr. Obama’s prescient Iraq speech of 2002, his open acknowledgment of the Pakistan president’s slipperiness turned out to be ahead of the curve.
Now that the Beltway establishment, jolted by the Iowa polls, is frantically revising its premature blueprints for a Clinton coronation and declaring, as Time’s inevitable cliché would have it, that Mr. Obama has “found his voice,” it’s worth looking at some campaign story lines that have been ignored so far. They tell us more than the hyped scenarios that have fallen apart. Indeed, they flip the standard narrative of Campaign 2008 on its head: Were Mr. Obama to best Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic nomination, he may prove harder for the Republicans to rally against and defeat than the all-powerful, battle-tested Clinton machine.
The unspoken truth is that the Clinton machine is not being battle-tested at all by the Democratic primary process. When Mrs. Clinton accused John Edwards of “throwing mud” and “personally” attacking her in a sharp policy exchange in one debate, the press didn’t challenge the absurd hyperbole of her claim. In reality, neither Mr. Edwards nor any other Democratic competitor will ever hit her with the real, personal mud being stockpiled by the right. But if she’s getting a bye now, she will not from the Republican standard-bearer, whoever he may be. Clinton-bashing is the last shared article of faith (and last area of indisputable G.O.P. competence) that could yet unite the fractured and dispirited conservative electorate.
The Republicans know this and are so psychologically invested in refighting the Clinton wars that they’re giddy. Karl Rove’s first column for Newsweek last week, “How to Beat Hillary (Next) November,” proceeded from the premise that her nomination was a done deal. In the G.O.P. debates through last Thursday, the candidates mentioned the Clintons some 65 times. Barack Obama’s name has not been said once.
But much like the Clinton campaign itself, the Republicans have fallen into a trap by continuing to cling to the Hillary-is-inevitable trope. They have not allowed themselves to think the unthinkable — that they might need a Plan B to go up against a candidate who is not she. It’s far from clear that they would remotely know how to construct a Plan B to counter Mr. Obama. The repeated attempts to fan “rumors” that he is a madrassa-indoctrinated Muslim — whether on Fox News or in The Washington Post, where they resurfaced scurrilously on the front page on Thursday — are too demonstrably false to survive endless reruns even in the Swift-boating era.
Part of the Republicans’ difficulty in countering Mr. Obama, should they have to, is their own cynical racial politics. For the most part, race has been the dog that hasn’t barked in this campaign despite the (largely) white press’s endless fretting about whether the Illinois senator is too white for black voters and too black for white voters. Most Americans aren’t racist, most Republicans included. (Those who are won’t vote for the Democratic presidential candidate even if it’s not Mr. Obama.) But the G.O.P., by its own doing, is nonetheless saddled with a history that most recently includes “macaca” and Katrina, Mr. Bush’s appearance at Bob Jones University in 2000 and the nonexistent black population of its Congressional delegation.
As the Republican leadership knows, this record is an albatross, driving away not just black voters but crucial white swing voters, too. Ken Mehlman, the former G.O.P. chairman, and Mr. Rove, as recently as in that Newsweek column, have implored their party to reach out to minorities. So have Newt Gingrich and Jack Kemp. But not even conservative leaders of this stature could persuade their party’s top 2008 presidential contenders to show up for a September debate moderated by Tavis Smiley for PBS at the historically black Morgan State University.
It’s not because those no-shows are racists; it’s because they are defensive and out of touch. With the notable exception of Mike Huckabee, most of the party’s candidates have barricaded themselves from African-Americans for so long that they don’t know how to speak to or about them. As sure-footed as these Republicans are in attacking the Clintons and Streisand — or in exchanging fire with Al Sharpton and hip-hop moguls — they are strangers to the mainstream multiracial and multicultural America exemplified by an Obama or an Oprah.
An Obama candidacy would force them to engage. Or try to. A matchup between Mr. Obama and Mr. Giuliani, who was forged in the racial crucible of New York’s police brutality nightmares of the 1990s, or between Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney, who was shaped by a religion that didn’t give blacks equal membership until 1978, would be less a clash of races than of centuries.
But there’s another, even more fascinating hidden story line in the 2008 campaign that speaks to the potential prowess of an Obama candidacy. Despite the thuggish name-calling of a few right-wing die-hards (e.g., Rush Limbaugh mocking “Barack Hussein Odumbo”), the dirty secret of a number of conservatives is that they are disarmed by Mr. Obama even though they know his record is more liberal than Mrs. Clinton’s.
The drumbeat of approval has been remarkably steady. Last year Mark McKinnon, a top adviser to both the 2000 and 2004 Bush campaigns, admiringly called Mr. Obama “a walking, talking hope machine” who “may reshape American politics.” Andrew Ferguson devoted pages in The Weekly Standard to raving about “Dreams From My Father,” Mr. Obama’s memoir, before dismissing its political sequel, “The Audacity of Hope.” Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, keeps trying to write anti-Obama articles but they’re so mild that they never really contradict his judgment of a year ago that the senator from Illinois “is the only presidential candidate from either party about whom there is a palpable excitement.” Even Tom Tancredo, the most virulent immigration demagogue of the G.O.P. presidential field, has spoken warmly of Mr. Obama.
Perhaps most striking is the case of Shelby Steele, the archconservative scholar who shares Mr. Obama’s mixed-race heritage. Though he has just written an entire book, “A Bound Man,” to argue (unpersuasively, in my view) that Mr. Obama “can’t win,” he can’t stop himself from admiring the guy throughout. Peggy Noonan wasn’t being tongue-in-cheek when she wondered in The Wall Street Journal last month whether Mr. Obama “understands the kind of quiet cheering he is beginning to garner from some Republicans.” In her view “they see him as a Democrat who could cure the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton sickness.”
Or at least they do in the abstract. Should Mr. Obama upend the Beltway story line by taking Iowa, the Republicans will have every reason to be as fearful as the Clinton camp is now.
By Karl Rove
Published: December 2 2007 22:00 | Last updated: December 2 2007 22:00
TO: Senator Barack Obama
FROM: Karl Rove
SUBJECT: How to Beat Hillary
Not that you have asked for advice, but here it is anyway: Iowa is your chance to best her. If you do not do it there, odds are you never will anywhere. You are way behind her in most national polls. The only way to change that is to beat her in Iowa so people around America take another look at you. You did a smart thing organising effectively in the early primary states. But you can take advantage of that only if you win Iowa and keep her from building an overwhelming sense of invincibility and inevitability.
The good news is you have again got “the buzz”. Polls are looking better for you in Iowa and the other early states. Your press is improving, with your performance at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner a big help. Hillary Clinton has made unforced errors. But she is still the frontrunner and there are several things you need to do quickly to win.
First, stop acting like a vitamin-deficient Adlai Stevenson. Striking a pose of being high-minded and too pure will not work. Americans want to see you scrapping and fighting for the job, not in a mean or ugly way but in a forceful and straightforward way.
Hillary may come over as calculating and shifty but she looks in control. You, on the other hand, often come over as weak and ineffectual. In some debates, you do not even look at her when disagreeing with her, making it look as if you are afraid of her. She offers you openings time and again but you do not take advantage of them. Sharpen your attacks and make them more precise.
Take the exchange in the Philadelphia debate about Bill and Hillary keeping documents hidden about her role as first lady in his White House. She was evasive. You spoke next. You would have won a big victory if you had turned to her and said: “Senator, with all due respect, you and your husband could release those documents right now if you wanted to. Your failure to do so raises questions among a lot of Americans about what you’re hiding and those questions would hurt our party if you were our nominee.” But your response was weak as dirty dishwater. Do not let other great opportunities pass by.
Second, focus on the fact that many Democrats have real doubts about Hillary. They worry she cannot win, will be a drag on the ticket and that if she got to the White House it would be a disaster. You know better than most what they are worried about; they have told you their fears. It is why you have done so well raising money from Bill’s backers and gaining support from Clinton administration officials. Talk about those doubts. Put them in a bigger context than just the two of you. Remind primary voters that these shortcomings will hurt Democratic chances.
Third, when you create controversies do not pick issues where you are playing the weaker hand. For example, you attacked her for lacking foreign policy experience. It is true she was first lady, not secretary of state, and nobody will ever mistake her for James Baker III. But your qualifications are even thinner; you were a state senator and lived in Indonesia when you were six. Big deal. Americans think she has more foreign policy experience than you – and she does.
Fourth, when you disagree with her be clear about what you believe. You cannot afford more garbled responses like the one you gave in Las Vegas on drivers’ licences for illegal aliens. Answer yes or no. Do not give voters evidence you are as calculating as her.
Fifth, you need to do a better job explaining what kind of change you represent. The change theme is a good one and Democratic voters know you were against the war and represent the idea of something fresh. But they do not know who you really are, what you want to do and where you want to take the country. Taking her down a few notches is step one; telling people who you are is the next. Both are necessary.
Sixth, find a way to gently belittle her whenever she tries to use disagreements among Democrats as an excuse to complain about being picked on. The toughest candidate in the field should not be able to complain when others disagree with her. This is not a coronation. Democrats do not like her sense of entitlement. She is not owed the nomination. It does not belong to her simply because her name is Clinton. So blow the whistle on her when she tries to become a victim. Do it with humour and a smile and it will sting even more.
Hillary comes across as cold, distant and conspiracy-minded, more like Richard Nixon than her sunny, charming husband. During the Clinton presidency she oversaw a disaster (the effort to sell Hillarycare) and argued hard against welfare reform, one of the promises on which he had campaigned. She is a hard-nosed competitor with a tough and seasoned staff.
But her record is weak, her personality off-putting and her support thin. If she wins the nomination it will be because her rivals – namely you – were weak when you confronted her and could not look her in the eye when you did. She is beatable but you have to raise your game. Iowa is your great chance for a breakthrough. Win it convincingly and you can build on it in the contests that follow. Lose it and victory becomes much more difficult.
The writer is former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush and advised on his 2000 and 2004 presidential election campaigns
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a rally at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders)
By MIKE GLOVER – 2 hours ago
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama www.barackobama.com was endorsed Sunday by the mayor of Iowa's largest city and predicted more criticism ahead from presidential rivals as his political fortunes keep brightening.
Meeting with reporters, Obama trotted out Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, who last month won a second term. He has focused on global warming and other environmental issues. "Senator Obama has made a promise and is willing an open-minded enough to listen to the mayor of the capital city of Iowa," Cownie said. "Together we can make change in Iowa."
Obama used the event to try to make the case that his approach to global warming and other issues is more innovative than his challengers'.
"I've been talking about how we need a new kind of leadership, and there are few areas where this kind of leader is more urgently needed than climate change," the Illinois senator said. "Year after year, we have seen sound policies and sensible plans crushed under an army of lobbyists. Because of this failure of leadership, the problem now is far worse."
Later, during a rally and fundraiser in Boston, he said his campaign is making a turnaround after some recent doubts.
"I just got back from Iowa, where it appears we're doing pretty good," Obama told a crowd that braved New England's first serious snowstorm. "It's amazing how you go from being D.O.A. to being a genius in about three weeks. But right now, we're going pretty good in Iowa, and we're going pretty good in New Hampshire, because the American people are ready for change and this campaign is about change that you can believe."
On the environment, Obama has released a plan to combat global warming that calls for an 80 percent reduction in U.S. carbon emissions by 2050.
While endorsements traditionally do not play a heavy role in Iowa politics, Cownie has proved a popular mayor. "As many of you know, Mayor Cownie has shown extraordinary leadership on environmental issues," Obama said. "Hopefully, you will give me some tips on how you get 80 percent support. I've got a more modest target in the caucuses."
Obama's central campaign argument against chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton is that she is too tied to Washington. Clinton has a substantial lead in national polls, but the race for Iowa's leadoff caucuses in January is a virtual dead heat.
As the polls have tightened, the criticism Obama is facing has intensified.
"Those two things are connected, aren't they?" he said. "The folks from the other campaigns are starting to read the polls and getting stressed and starting to issue all kinds of outlandish accusations. What folks need to focus on is all these accusations that are coming seem to correspond to a shift in political fortunes. I suggest that those folks focus on getting their people to caucus for them."
At a rally at Iowa State University in Ames attended by about 400 people, Obama said Democrats should act boldly and take risks. "This party has always been at its best when it's led not with polls, but with principles, a party that America needs us to be right now."
Associated Press Writer Glen Johnson contributed to this report from Boston.
Click here for details from the Des Moines Register.
More from the DMR:
Barack Obama has pulled ahead in the race for Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses, while the party's national frontrunner Hillary Clinton has slipped to second in the leadoff nominating state, according to The Des Moines Register's new Iowa Poll... Obama spent weeks in October and November attacking Clinton's support for a measure that allowed President Bush to declare the Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, a move Obama said was a step toward war. Clinton said the measure enhanced U.S. negotiating strength with Iran."An Iran war terrifies me," said Browne, a 30-year-old University of Iowa student.Browne said she feels Obama is a more inspirational candidate than Clinton, despite the intensifying crossfire between them."I just think that Obama is more of a positive candidate overall," she said...
Barack Obama has pulled ahead in the race for Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses, while the party's national frontrunner Hillary Clinton has slipped to second in the leadoff nominating state, according to The Des Moines Register's new Iowa Poll...
Obama spent weeks in October and November attacking Clinton's support for a measure that allowed President Bush to declare the Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, a move Obama said was a step toward war. Clinton said the measure enhanced U.S. negotiating strength with Iran."An Iran war terrifies me," said Browne, a 30-year-old University of Iowa student.Browne said she feels Obama is a more inspirational candidate than Clinton, despite the intensifying crossfire between them."I just think that Obama is more of a positive candidate overall," she said...
On women voters...
In the new poll, Obama leads with support from 31 percent of women likely attend the caucuses, compared to 26 percent for Clinton. In October, Clinton was the preferred candidate of 34 percent of women caucusgoers, compared to 21 percent for Obama.
On younger voters...
Obama also dominates among younger caucusgoers, with support from 48 percent from those younger than 35. Clinton was the choice of 19 percent in that group and Edwards of 17 percent.
The momentum is just starting to build www.barackobama.com .
By Chris Cillizza
DES MOINES, Iowa -- As The Fix trekked back and forth on ice-slicked roads to a series of Democratic presidential forums today one thing became very clear: Barack Obama is hitting his stride.
At both the Heartland Forum Saturday afternoon and the Brown and Black debate later in the day, Obama displayed a deft political touch that was largely absent from his campaign in its early days.
(His Iowa campaign also got a very nice boost late Saturday when the new Des Moines Register poll put him at 28 percent as compared to 25 percent for Clinton and 23 percent for former Sen. John Edwards. The new poll also showed that Obama was doing better than Clinton among women likely to attend the Iowa caucuses next month, 31 percent to 26 percent. Women represent roughly six in 10 Democratic caucus goers, according to the new poll. )
At the Heartland Forum, a mother told Obama of her daughter's rare eye ailment and how the SCHIP legislation had allowed her to get the care she needed before asking about his plans to provide health insurance for all Americans -- a major (and growing) point of contention between himself and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).
Before the candidate answered, the girl -- age 10 or so -- crossed the stage to "meet" Obama. He bent down and chatted for ten seconds or so with the girl before sending her back to her mom and answering the question. It was a compelling moment in what was generally a lackluster gathering.
It was a moment that even a few months ago Obama would not likely have capitalized on. Obama -- still new to the political game -- had shown an awkwardness earlier in the campaign when confronted with moments just like the one today; at an MTV/MySpace forum in Iowa in late October a young woman spoke very personally of the deportation of her father. Nearly in tears, she asked Obama what he would do to prevent situations like hers being repeated. Obama's answer was entirely sound but carried no real emotion and felt like a missed opportunity in retrospect.
Obama carried his strong showing into Saturday night as he -- as well as all the other Democratic candidates except former Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska) -- participated in a debate (of sorts) focused on issues of import to African American and Latino voters.
Asked what he made of the fact that Clinton was leading him among black voters in national polling, Obama showed his improved ability to stay on message. He argued that African American voters were like any other voters in that until they get to know you and your track record they're going to be asking questions" before pivoting to the message at the heart of his campaign: "I believe I can bring the country together [and] overcome the special interests," he said.
Time and again, he touched on his unique ability to bring people together and break out of the political status quo -- closing his remarks at the debate by citing Martin Luther King Jr's declaration of "the fierce urgency of now."
It's worth noting that in both gatherings Obama was playing to friendly crowds. At the Heartland Forum there was a huge (and hugely vocal) group of activists from Illinois that hung on Obama's every word; at the Brown and Black debate, he benefited not only from an audience seemingly predisposed to his message but also a group of questions that played to his strengths.
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