Please email these to all your friends; post on student messageboards, facebook groups, etc.-- Hillary's "3 A.M. ad" Girl Doesn't Approve of that MessageCasey Knowles, the young girl from Hillary Clinton's "3 a.m. Ad", rejects the politics of fear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXmYVRIpu2w
"We Are The Ones" a new Video by Will.i.am http://youtube.com/watch?v=ghSJsEVf0pU
"A CHANGE IS GONNA COME"
A very inspiring song and video for a very inspiring man at a crossroad in history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGCIK0KieHk
Hillary v. Barack
Stephen Colbert has set up a contest to help students in PA. Please spread this far and wide everybody!
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/leadershipboard.html?category=25
Please join in our nationwide anti-hunger drive (this movement is now in parts of Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Washington and Pittsburgh).
"The moral question about poverty in America - How can a country like this allow it? - has an easy answer: we can't. The political question that follows - What do we do about it? - has always been more difficult. But now that we're finally seeing the beginnings of an answer, this country has an obligation to keep trying." -- Barack Obama, Washington, DC July 18, 2007
5 minutes ago
SANTA FE, N.M. - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a "once-in-a- lifetime leader" who can unite the nation and restore America's international leadership.
Richardson, who dropped out of the Democratic race in January, is to appear with Obama on Friday at a campaign event in Portland, Ore., The Associated Press has learned.
The governor's endorsement comes as Obama leads among delegates selected at primaries and caucuses but with national public opinion polling showing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pulling ahead of him amid controversy over statements by his former pastor.
Richardson has been relentlessly wooed by Obama and Clinton for his endorsement. As a Democratic superdelegate, the governor plays a part in the tight race for nominating votes and could bring other superdelegates to Obama's side. He also has been mentioned as a potential running mate for either candidate.
No primaries are scheduled until Pennsylvania's on April 22, a gap in time Obama hopes to use for such announcements to assert that he is the front-runner for the nomination.
"I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP. "As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."
Richardson's endorsement also could help Obama pick up support among Hispanics, who are the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority.
Clinton has been the favorite of Hispanics in primaries and caucuses, according to exit polls. She won the New Mexico caucus in early February with a nearly 2-to-1 advantage among Hispanics.
Richardson backed Obama despite his ties to Clinton and her husband, the former president. He served as ambassador to the U.N. and as secretary of the Energy Department during the Clinton administration. Last month, Richardson and former President Clinton watched the Super Bowl together at the governor's residence in Santa Fe.
Richardson praised Hillary Clinton as a "distinguished leader with vast experience." But the governor said Obama "will be a historic and great president, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad."
Richardson was a roving diplomatic troubleshooter when he was a congressman from New Mexico, negotiating the release of U.S. hostages in several countries and meeting with a rogue's gallery of U.S. adversaries, including Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the judgment and courage we need in a commander in chief when our nation's security is on the line. He showed this judgment by opposing the Iraq war from the start, and he has show it during this campaign by standing up for a new era in American leadership internationally," Richardson said.
Obama said he was "deeply honored" to have Richardson's support.
"Whether it's fighting to end the Iraq war or stop the genocide in Darfur or prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists, Gov. Richardson has been a powerful voice on issues of global security, peace and justice, earning five Nobel Peace Prize nominations," Obama said in a statement.
Please email...
VotePA, www.votePA.us , has issued an important alert: If you registered to vote online this year, your registration may not be valid. 1- A security flaw with the online registration form made it possible to change the names on registration forms that voters already filed. The state Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation has disabled the page where the form was located. It is entirely possible that the problem was discovered before any harm occurred. But it's also possible that your registration was changed. We don't know. So check with your County Board of Elections.
2- According to a report in the Allentown Morning Call over 5,600 voters believed that filling out the online form was enough to register. But it's not. To register, voters must also print the completed form and mail it, or take it, to their County Board of Elections. Your County Board of Elections. must have a signed, paper copy of your registration form by the close of business Monday, March 24.How do I know if I'm registered?Within a few weeks after you send in or hand in your registration application, you should get a notice in the mail telling you that you are now officially a registered voter. Hold on to that notice. Often those notices tell you where you go to vote, and that's something you'll want to know later on. If you don't receive this notice, check with your County Board of Elections to see if there is a problem with your registration. If there is a problem with your registration, take corrective action immediately.
ONLINE, you can Register to Vote Now: The state's online system requires two steps, one online and one via old-fashioned snail mail.
But many registrants are skipping the second step.
Sorry the kit is so large: I tried to consolidate everything people would need into one file to make things easier.
If anyone has problems opening it, let me know and I can break it down into smaller bits.
My name is Rebecca Hare and I’m member of the Obama Disability Policy Committee. I am also the director of Pennsylvanians with Disabilities for Obama, a multi-tiered strategy designed to engage and empower people with disabilities in PA to elect Barack Obama as our next president (MyBo Group: Pennsyvlanians with Disabiliteis for Obama). 18 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act, we can say that we know that the way we want to go is NOT backwards, but forwards, and Obama is one of the first steps in making sure the American Dream is not only achievable for all people, but accessible for people with disabilities.
We are looking to make connections with as many people with disabilities and in the disability community, in the state of Pennsylvania as possible. This means veterans, students, parents, family members, disability grassroots organizations, etc. If you are interested, please join our MyBo group and send me an email at rebecca.hare@gmail.com. We’re looking for bloggers, people to host events, people to show up at events, and people get out the vote on election day!
Sincerely,
Rebecca Hare
Pennsylvanians with Disabilities for Obama
rebecca.hare@gmail.com
This morning, Barack spoke at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia about race, politics, and unifying our country.
Check out Sam's post containing video and a transcript of the speech here.
"Obama has to turnout a higher percentage of Democratic voters in the Southeast than voted in the Southwest. This was accomplished in in 2002 by Rendell in part by increasing Democratic registration—including luring some Republicans across party lines, but mostly by exciting the voters in the Philadelphia TV market that overwhelmingly favored his candidacy.
For insurance Obama needs to join the Philadelphia suburbs to the two pivotal swing areas, the Lehigh Valley and Southcentral, where the Democrats are moderate to liberal and where he currently polls well against Senator Clinton. Beyond this managing turnout will be crucial for him."
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/03/obamas_keys_to_the_keystone_st.html
Nearly as many people have participated in the Democratic primary this year than in 2000 and 2004 combined. And there are still ten contests left to go.As we enter the final stretch of elections, our campaign has a unique opportunity to shape the outcome -- and the outcome of elections up and down the ballot this November.So today we're launching a national initiative to register an unprecedented number of voters in each of the upcoming states.In Pennsylvania, you must be registered as a Democrat by March 24th in order to vote in the Democratic primary.If you aren't a registered Democrat, register now.If you are registered, learn more about what you can do to bring as many voters as possible into political process.Young voters have shaped this presidential primary like no other. In Iowa, South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mississippi, the youth vote has tripled since 2004. And in all other states it has reached record levels. And these young voters are breaking 2-to-1 Democratic.Statistics show that if we can get young people to vote Democratic now, they are far more likely to vote regularly -- and vote for Democrats -- throughout their lives.So by getting involved and helping to register voters, you're not just increasing the number of voters in this election. You're increasing the number of people who will be engaged Democratic voters for the rest of their lives.
Sign up to help bring More Voices into the Democratic primary today!
Hillary's race against time
Are Clinton's inept attack ads and faux-feminism enough? Can Obama learn to attack?
By Camille Paglia
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/03/12/red_phone/
Obama supporters come in all shapes and sizes! On Saturday afternoon, artist and Obama volunteer Pam walked her Irish wolfhound, Rodeo, around downtown Quakertown, Pennsylvania, making sure that everyone knew to register to vote by March 24.According to fellow volunteer Kathleen, "he was quite the conversation starter. And there's one young girl in particular who I don't think will long forget petting a dog who was bigger than she was. It's not something you see everyday!"
There's only one week left until the voter registration deadline of March 24 in Pennsylvania! No matter how you do it, make sure that people in your community know to register to vote! If you don't live in Pennsylvania, help call Pennsylvanians to remind them!
Tell us your creative ideas in the comments!
Update: Watch Barack Speaking Live at a Town Hall Meeting in Monaca, Pennsylvania here.
Here's a great story from the Boston Globe about how Republicans are turning out to vote for Clinton, calculating she'll have a worse chance against McCain. Actually, it's not so much calculating on their part as it is reading the polls.
Limbaugh and other right wing radio hosts have been urging Republicans to vote for Clinton in open primaries. Bill Clinton was on one of those stations on election day in Texas. The margin may have been big enough to cost us the primary vote in Texas and many other delegates.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/17/many_voting_for_clinton_to_boost_gop/?page=2
For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.
A sudden change of heart? Hardly.
Since Senator John McCain effectively sewed up the GOP nomination last month, Republicans have begun participating in Democratic primaries specifically to vote for Clinton, a tactic that some voters and local Republican activists think will help their party in November. With every delegate important in the tight Democratic race, this trend could help shape the outcome if it continues in the remaining Democratic primaries open to all voters.
Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall, or they simply want to register objections to Obama.
"It's as simple as, I don't think McCain can beat Obama if Obama is the Democratic choice," said Kyle Britt, 49, a Republican-leaning independent from Huntsville, Texas, who voted for Clinton in the March 4 primary. "I do believe Hillary can mobilize enough [anti-Clinton] people to keep her out of office."
Britt, who works in financial services, said he is certain he will vote for McCain in November.
About 1,100 miles north, in Granville, Ohio, Ben Rader, a 66-year-old retired entrepreneur, said he voted for Clinton in Ohio's primary to further confuse the Democratic race. "I'm pretty much tired of the Clintons, and to see her squirm for three or four months with Obama beating her up, it's great, it's wonderful," he said. "It broke my heart, but I had to."
Local Republican activists say stories like these abound in Texas, Ohio, and Mississippi, the three states where the recent surge in Republicans voting for Clinton was evident.
Until Texas and Ohio voted on March 4, Obama was receiving far more support than Clinton from GOP voters, many of whom have said in interviews that they were willing to buck their party because they like the Illinois senator. In eight Democratic contests in January and February where detailed exit polling data were available on Republicans, Obama received, on average, about 57 percent of voters who identified themselves as Republicans. Clinton received, on average, a quarter of the Republican votes cast in those races.
But as February gave way to March, the dynamics shifted in both parties' contests: McCain ran away with the Republican race, and Obama, after posting 10 straight victories following Super Tuesday, was poised to run away with the Democratic race. That is when Republicans swung into action.
Conservative radio giant Rush Limbaugh said on Fox News on Feb. 29 that he was urging conservatives to cross over and vote for Clinton, their bête noire nonpareil, "if they can stomach it."
"I want our party to win. I want the Democrats to lose," Limbaugh said. "They're in the midst of tearing themselves apart right now. It is fascinating to watch. And it's all going to stop if Hillary loses."
He added, "I know it's a difficult thing to do to vote for a Clinton, but it will sustain this soap opera, and it's something I think we need."
Limbaugh's exhortations seemed to work. In Ohio and Texas on March 4, Republicans comprised 9 percent of the Democratic primary electorate, more than twice the average GOP share of the turnout in the earlier contests where exit polling was conducted. Clinton ran about even with Obama among Republicans in both states, a far more favorable showing among GOP voters than in the early races.
Walter Wilkerson, who has chaired the Republican Party in Montgomery County, Texas, since 1964, said many local conservatives chose to vote for Clinton for strategic reasons.
"These people felt that Clinton would be maybe the easier opponent in the fall," he said. "That remains to be seen."
Wilkerson added, "We have not experienced any crossover of this magnitude since I can remember."
In the Mississippi primary last Tuesday, Republicans made up 12 percent of voters who took a Democratic ballot - their biggest proportion in any state yet - and they went for Clinton over Obama by a 3-to-1 margin.
John Taylor, the GOP chairman in Madison County, said he toured various precincts and witnessed Republican voters taking Democratic ballots to vote for Clinton.
"Some people there that I recognized voting said, 'Hey, I'm going to vote in this primary this year, right now. But don't worry, in November I'll be back,' " Taylor said. "They were going to do some damage if they could."
Another popular conservative radio host, Laura Ingraham, who had also encouraged voters to cast ballots for Clinton, crowed about her apparent success the day after Ohio and Texas voted.
"Without a doubt, Rush, and to a lesser extent me, had some effect on the Republican turnout," Ingraham told Fox News. "When you look at those exit polls, it is really quite striking."
Some political blogs have suggested that the influx of Clinton-voting Republicans prevented Obama from winning delegates he otherwise would have, by inflating Clinton's totals both statewide and in certain congressional districts. A writer for the liberal blog Daily Kos estimated that Obama could have netted an additional five delegates from Mississippi.
It is also possible, though perhaps unlikely, that enough strategically minded Republicans voted for Clinton in Texas to give her a crucial primary victory there: Clinton received roughly 119,000 GOP votes in Texas, according to exit polls, and she beat Obama by about 101,000 votes.
Not everyone casting ballots for Clinton did so primarily to sink her, however. Brent Henslee, 33, a Republican who works at a radio station in Waco, Texas, wanted to keep Clinton in the race to expose more about Obama, whom he sees as more "fluff than substance."
"I'm not buying into all the Obama-mania, is the main reason I did it," he said. "A lot of these people don't know a thing about this guy and they're crazy about him. And I thought that maybe keeping Hillary alive will just shed some more light on the guy."
Of the nine remaining major contests, four - Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Oregon, and South Dakota - have "closed" primaries, which means only Democrats can participate.
If Republicans and conservative independents continue their tactical voting, it may be more likely in Indiana, Montana, and Puerto Rico, which allow anyone to vote, and possibly in North Carolina and West Virginia, which open their primaries to Democrats and independent voters.
"If you are a Republican you could pull a Democrat ballot and vote for the Democrat presidential candidate you think will stand the least chance of beating McCain in the fall general election," the assistant editor of the Greene County Daily World, in southwestern Indiana, wrote in a blog post earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Clinton, despite trailing Obama in delegates, is projecting confidence about her chances as the nomination race careens toward the April 22 Pennsylvania primary. The morning after her big wins in Ohio and Texas, she was asked on Fox News whether she had a message for Limbaugh.
"Be careful what you wish for, Rush," she said with a grin.
Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.
