Arts and Creative Industries for Obama

Americans For The Arts' Overview on Arts & Culture Transition Team

Institute for Interdisciplinary Art and Creative Intelligence — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:19:21 EST

Americans For The Arts will be broadcasting a webinar this week on Thursday, Nov 20th, to discuss the recent elections and Obama's arts policies. The webinar is free to members and $125 for non-members. If you are not a member you probably can find someone who is a member to share access, or go ahead and join since they have so many great benefits. It's a great opportunity to get an overview on arts policies and the Arts & Culture Transition Team.

Obama Pumpkins: Do this at your home!

Tommy News — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:22:26 EDT

The leaves are turning, the weather's getting cold and the World Series is almost upon us. It's officially fall and supporters are using the new season to find creative ways to show their support.

A new grassroots site, YesWeCarve.com, provides supporters with stencils to download and make their very own "Barack O'Lantern". Carving parties are forming across the country and carvers are sharing their photos online.

And supporters in North Carolina sent us these pictures of their freshly carved Obama pumpkins.

Forest Whitaker Stumps in Lansing for Obama

Andrea from Lansing, MI — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:14:47 EDT

See my post on Huffington Post on the Forest Whitaker visit for Obama

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrea-king-collier/actor-forest-whitaker-stu_b_133303.html

Obama As Arts Advocate: The Details.

Melanie — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:22:58 EDT

Americans for the Arts Action Fund, the bipartisan arts advocacy group, has just released summary of the Arts Positions of the 2008 Presidential Candidates. It is urgent viewing for all of us who believe in the need to support the arts and arts education in the US.

To take action on this issue, please consider the following:

Share this side-by-side comparison of the presidential candidates with your friends, family, and colleagues.
Blog about this issue on any sites that you are affiliated with.
Post the comparison chart on your social network sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and others.
Send a Letter to the Editor of your local newspapers and journals. They’ve made it quick and easy for us by drafting a customizable letter at our E-Advocacy Center that you can personalize. You will then automatically be given the choice to e-mail your letter to all the key media outlets in your area based on your zip code.
Ask questions about policies on the arts and arts education to both your Congressional and presidential candidates in any kind of town hall forums, online chats, or any other public forums.
Vote for the candidates that you feel will best advance the arts and arts education in America.

With only 32 days left to Election Day, now is the time to act and show your support for the arts!

Sacred Art For Change Art Show

Sacred Art — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:28:18 EDT

Chicago's gallery for local emerging artists is having a special show for October in line with Barack Obama's message. All art will be hope or change themed. Proceeds from sales will go to the Obama campaign and a local Chicago Public School in need for art supplies. Free admission. Register to vote at the shop!

OPENING RECEPTION October 2nd 6pm-9pm

Arts News Around the Web

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:52:06 EDT

By Isaac Butler

Lots of interesting stories about the arts (both Obama related and not) in the news. Here are a few of them:

First off, in the SF Gate we get For Obama, A Campaign of Creativity about art shows related to Obama.

Kiff Galagher, a big proponent of Obama's Artists Corps idea, has two web posts about music education. The first (which appears in the HuffPo) details his idea for a Music Service Corps. The second, appearing in the America Forward Blog, details his ideas about how arts education can help move America forward by "develop[ing] our nation's pipeline of social investors".

The Detroit Free Press has an interesting article about the need for Cities to "Think Regionally" instead of as unconnected Wild West settlements:

Government at all levels needs to push smart policies that sustain regional economies and encourage local officials to think, plan and act beyond their borders. The next president -- working with governments, mayors and other regional leaders -- should develop a policy for metro areas that includes incentives to encourage shared services and even government mergers.

Covering only 12% of the land, the nation's 100 largest metro areas produce two-thirds of the jobs and three-quarters of the economic output, reports the Brookings Institution's MetroPolicy study. These metros, ranging in population from 500,000 in Lansing to 19 million in New York City, are home to two-thirds of Americans. They harbor the roads, railways, shipyards and airports that connect the nation's metropolitan economies to each other and to the world.

How would the arts fit into such regional planning?

Arts Education is on the decline in State Schools, and schools all over the country are struggling to keep their arts programs. I think you can guess which candidate would do something about that.

Finally, in the world of changing business models, an article on how arts fairs might be doing away with galleries. Are arts fairs the iTUNES Music Store of the New Millennium? Check it out here.

Positive PR for Obama - in theatre

Stina — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:08:06 EDT

As we get closer in time to the elections, many people get tired of the press coverage and the flag waving, and this is a great way to hold people's attention.

A one-woman play about his mother, and some of the lessons she taught him.

A Call to Artists!

! Arry Murphey-Frank-Foothills Area Manager CA CD4 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:50:57 EDT

Hey all of our local and not so local artists. On September 28th, the Democratic Club of Auburn and the Sierra Foothills for Obama will be holding a fundraiser at Latitudes restaurant in Auburn, CA to help pay for our new campaign headquarters. We will be hosting a WINE AND ART event with all proceeds going to the Democratic Club to help promote the campaign through our headquarters and through buying other items needed to support canvassing, phone banking, swag acquisition etc. WE NEED ANY ARTISTS who would like to donate artwork, crafts or other themeatic items for an ART AUCTION at the event. Please contact me via E-mail arry@neteze.com or by phone 916-508-6888

I know there are a TON of us artists who are in the OBAMA camp, this is a great way to have your artwork seen by the cream of the crop local Democrats...ie: OBAMA SUPPORTERS!

Calling all Chicago Artists for Obama!

Sacred Art — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:29:09 EDT

Hi everyone! I am hosting a fundraiser and need help getting the word out! I am looking for all artists for Obama. The event will be held in October but I need people to sign up by August 15th. The artist will receive funds, this is not a 100% donation. The theme is "Art for Change" and I need all artists interested in helping out to shoot me an email or give me a call. Please pass this along! 773-404-8790 or sacredartstore@gmail.com

Fiber Artists for Obama

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:02:05 EDT

Fiber Artists for Obama are working together to create an Obama inspired quilt. To follow their project, you can visit

http://www.flickr.com/groups/fiberartistsforobama/pool/

Call for Artists

Angela — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:07:34 EDT

I am inspired by Obama---and am creating a mosaic to prove it!
In the spirit of this campaign---I want to work together with other people --from all accross our country to make it!

So far I have MN, CO, TN, AR, TX, WI, AZ, NE, PA, MA, CA, NY and IL covered--but if you live in one of the other 37 states or have a friend who does and want to be involved---email me asap!
ajoycarlson@aol.com

I will sent each participant a panel (to make mosaic on) some glue, grout, and a "how-to" mosaic sheet. You will send it back to me when it is done--and I have a very special plan on where I will be installing this! It will be amazing!

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!"
helen keller

Thanks!
Angie

Barbra Streisand Endorses Barack Obama

Prosy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:15:43 EDT

July 02, 2008
Barbra Streisand Endorses Barack Obama - AP

Barbra Streisand has changed her tune in the presidential campaign. It wasn't long ago that the Oscar-winning actress and singer called Hillary Rodham Clinton the next president of the United States. On Tuesday, with Clinton out of the race and now supporting Obama, Streisand endorsed him, too.

"Barack has awakened in many of us the notion that we can again be hopeful," Streisand said in a statement posted on her Web site.

"For Barack, hope, change, believe -- they are not just words. They are tangible ideas that make up the blueprint to building a better America for all of us," she said.

Obama Lapel Pin Design Competition

Fishtown 4 Obama — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:25:09 EDT

07/01/2008

A call to all Obama supporters.

if you could design Barack Obama's Lapel pin, what would it look like ?

we are starting a grass-roots effort to form the first Obama design competition.
this effort will focus on the lapel pin that Barack will wear as President of the United States.

design competition format:
1. Obama supporters will submit their designs by October 15th, 2008.
2. Obama supporters will vote for the top 10 design proposals.
3. Barack Obama will choose the winning design and wear the lapel pin as president.

enter your design proposal and tell your creative friends to enter their design proposals also.
submit your design proposal to ObamaDesign@gmail.com
Good luck!

DeSigneR
creatives for Obama '08

Rolling Stone's A Conversation with Barack Obama by Jann Wenner

Prosy — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:44:55 EDT

Rolling Stone
A Conversation With Barack Obama
The Candidate Talks About The Youth Vote, What's On His iPod and His Top Three Priorities As President

By JANN S. WENNER

Shortly after Barack Obama claimed victory in the fight for the Democratic nomination, I joined him aboard his chartered 757 campaign plane as a member of the press corps. He was flying from Chicago to Appleton, Wisconsin, for a town-hall meeting, one of a series he was doing in Midwestern and swing states to address constituencies he might have missed during the primaries -- and, of course, to get some warm-up practice for any town-hall debates he has with John McCain.

The first thing I notice about the plane is how low-key it is, all coach seating from back (the press) to front (the candidate). There is no separate compartment for this potential president; he just holds down the second row for himself and his newspapers. There are no more than 10 staffers on the plane, and a dozen or more rows are empty, separating the senator from the Secret Service contingent and two dozen members of the traveling press corps. It's not a big day or a big event: The primaries are done, and none of the media big names are along.

So far in this campaign, despite their evident admiration, Obama has held the press at a respectful distance. The limit for our interview is going to be 50 minutes, which I think says a lot about him and his campaign. Most every other presidential candidate I've met and interviewed has tended to be gregarious, talkative almost to a fault, eager to please and eager to impress. Obama, by contrast, is quiet, collected and effortlessly precise.

His calmness is reflected in the smooth and controlled campaign he is overseeing. In conversation, his thoughtfulness is punctuated by an easy wit, much as his clockwork campaign is a stage for his eloquence and charismatic gifts as a leader.

I am often asked, "What's he like?" If you really want to know, read Dreams From My Father. It's all in there, and it's a wonderful piece of writing in its own right.

When we are done, his parting words are delivered with a dazzling smile: "OK, brother -- take care.

You were endorsed by Bob Dylan a few days ago. What's that mean to you?
I've got to say, having both Dylan and Bruce Springsteen say kind words about you is pretty remarkable. Those guys are icons.

Do you have any favorite Dylan songs?
I've got probably 30 Dylan songs on my iPod. I think I have the entire Blood on the Tracks album on there. Actually, one of my favorites during the political season is "Maggie's Farm." It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric.

When did you begin to think you could or should be president? At what stage in your life did that idea first dawn on you?
I would distinguish between thinking that, in the abstract, I could make some better decisions being president than the current occupant, and believing that, in a very concrete way, being president was something I would pursue. I would say that it wasn't until I won my Senate primary and then went to the Democratic convention in 2004 that I had a sense that the message I was delivering might resonate with a broad cross section of the American people.

So it was that response at the Democratic convention that year?
It wasn't just at the convention. We had gotten a pretty powerful response while I was running in the primary in Illinois. After I won, there was a real sense that people were eager to move beyond some of the old arguments.

Is he perfect? Does he never kowtow to political expediency and tell audiences what he thinks they want to hear? No, guilty on both counts. So he isn't perfect. But he's ten-thousand fold better than what we've got.

Read the entire interview in the new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands June 20, 2008.

Comments
mackb | June 25, 2008 10:21 PM EST
smithncustom: Why I have hope with Obama:
1) He's survived a primary season without dropping into the most execrable political attack mode, even as he's been called every name in the book, including "elitist," a ridiculous charge to make of a man who came from a biracial and financially-unprivileged background during a time when being biracial left you open to attack from nasty elements in both the black and white communities. 2) He's a veteran community organizer with a knack for listening to all points of view without abandoning his own viewpoint or principles. 3) He was an effective state senator in Illinois and a respected teacher at UC Law School. 4) He's liberal (yes) without being dogmatic or narrow-minded.

What's on Barack Obama's iPod?

Natouche — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:25:22 EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bob Dylan. Yo-Yo Ma. Sheryl Crow. Jay-Z. These aren't musical acts in a summer concert series: They're artists featured on Barack Obama's iPod.
Obama

Barack Obama says he has "pretty eclectic" musical tastes.

"I have pretty eclectic tastes," the Democratic presidential contender said in an interview to be published in Friday's issue of Rolling Stone.

Growing up in the '70s, Obama said, he listened to the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Earth, Wind & Fire. Stevie Wonder is his musical hero from the era. The Stones' "Gimme Shelter" tops his favorites from the band.

The Illinois senator's playlist contains these musicians, along with about 30 songs from Dylan and the singer's "Blood on the Tracks" album. Jazz legends Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker are also in the mix.

"Actually, one of my favorites during the political season is 'Maggie's Farm,' " Obama said of one of Dylan's tracks. "It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric."

In the song, Dylan sings about trying be himself, "but everybody wants you to be just like them."

Several musicians on Obama's iPod support his bid for the White House, including Bruce Springsteen. Earlier this month, Dylan told a British newspaper that he believes Obama is redefining politics in the United States and could deliver change to a nation in upheaval.

"I've got to say, having both Dylan and Bruce Springsteen say kind words about you is pretty remarkable," Obama said. "Those guys are icons."

Obama said he hasn't met Springsteen, but the two have talked over the phone.

"Not only do I love Bruce's music, but I just love him as a person," Obama said. "He is a guy who has never lost track of his roots, who knows who he is, who has never put on a front."

And did he address him as the Boss?

"You've got to," the candidate said.

Asked what he thought of rap, Obama said the genre has broken down barriers within the music world, though he's concerned about his daughters -- Malia, 9, and Sasha, 7 -- listening to it.

"I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics," he said, "but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music."

He said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and rappers Jay-Z and Ludacris were "great talents and great businessmen."

"It would be nice if I could have my daughters listen to their music without me worrying that they were getting bad images of themselves," he added.

Obama appears on the cover of the magazine, which endorsed him for president in March.

I've Got a Name ( Obama ) Music Video and new authorized recording...

Prosy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:01:28 EDT

daniel@smileynote.com
> Subject: [CountdownwithKeithOlbermannFansforObama] I've Got A Name (Obama) music video and new authorized recording
>
>
> Hi there fellow Obama supporters and KO fans!
>
> I am excited to send you the links (below) to our latest self-driven
> production, "I've Got a Name (Obama)" music video and song.
>
> Please take a look, listen and help this Portland, OR based, totally
> donated, non-profit production get exposure in hopes the national
> Obama Media folks will use it.
> It would be GREAT if this group could forward to K.O. contacts, the
> show, etc., thanks!
>
> History - It occurred to me this big hit from the 70's, by Jim Croce,
> was a perfect foundation to create a musical message.
> After securing the rights from the publisher (Warner-Chappell), we
> adapted the lyrics, recorded the song at Kung Fu Bakery, mixed the
> song, and edited the video, in the hopes of helping further the
> positive messages the "Obama" campaign delivers.
>
> Take a moment to check it out. I am sure you'll enjoy the three
> minutes spent listening or viewing it.
>
> If at all possible, PLEASE forward this to any and all people you
> normally e-mail.
> For our project to help raise awareness, we need to get it out there
> to a lot of people; your forwarded e-mails will truly help!
>
> I, as I know you do, strongly feel NOW is the time to move forward
> on so many fronts.
> I believe Senator Obama can and will inspire us to be better,
> stronger and wiser.
>
>
> okay, and now the links...
> compressed video - (highly accessible to the masses, but with less
> quality and "sadly" added branding by said websites)
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJLSsZa-tA (after watching, be
> sure to RATE IT, and submit it to be a featured video, favorite, etc.)

Support the Campaign Through Art

Poster Designer Steve — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:16:38 EDT

Like many Americans, this year's presidential race has stirred in me an interest in politics like never before. This inspiration I channeled into a poster of Barack with a quote that I thought summed up his approach. I could have just donated time or money but my best offer is my talent as a poster designer. I will also donate 50% of my sales to his campaign which will allow me to share the donation with someone. I am excited to announce this new work!

www.ObamaPoster.us

Feel free to give me some feedback.

Bob Dylan says Barack Obama is 'changin' America

Citizens Reign — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:26:40 EDT

From Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4076339.ece June 5, 2008B

In an exclusive interview with The Times, published in T2 today, Dylan gives a ringing endorsement to Mr Obama, the first ever black presidential candidate, claiming he is "redefining the nature of politics from the ground up".

"Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call. Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall," and: "Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, and don't criticise what you can't understand. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly agin'."

Shepard fairy

Ryan Douglas Larson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:46:04 EDT

Artist Shepard Fairy has made a series of posters of Obama and various words like: hope, progress, change. Although I could not find the images on his site, here is a link to a post on another blog site with an image of the poster.

http://thoughtmarker.blogspot.com/2008/01/progress.html

Interview with Barack Obama by Jake Trapper

Prosy — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:18:48 EDT

Political Punch Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper

Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior National Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.

Interview with Barack Obama

May 20, 2008 3:16 PM

See transcript below of my interview today with Sen. Barack Obama. Tune into WORLD NEWS WITH CHARLES GIBSON tonight to see the full report.

JAKE TAPPER: What is your reaction to the news that Sen. Kennedy has a brain tumor?

BARACK OBAMA: Well, it's heartbreaking. Ted Kennedy is not only a giant of the Senate but he's a good friend. You couldn't have a better supporter than Ted Kennedy. And I had spoken to him just a couple of days ago, right after the seizure and had been staying in touch with Vicki. We were a little more optimistic at that point. Obviously the news came in today and it's a lot worse, but he's a fighter. He's been fighting on behalf of working families all his life, (he's been working for) civil rights for people who don't have a voice in Washington. It's a testament to how beloved he is that you are seeing well wishers from across the aisle from everyone in political life and Massachusetts. I hope he will be O.K. and I will do everything I can to make sure his family has support at this difficult time.

TAPPER: The statement from the hospital made no mention of surgery, which may indicate doctors don't hold out much hope that would be a successful course of action. What's your understanding of the treatment he will pursue?

OBAMA: I'll leave that to the doctors to talk about but obviously it's a serious situation. Vicki and the rest of the family are going to need a lot of support at this time. Ted Kennedy has supported so many people, including me, through the years, we have to be there for him during this difficult time.

TAPPER: Sen. McCain today criticized you for flip-flopping on whether the embargo against Cuba should be lifted and criticized your willingness to sit down with raoul castro as naïve. Your response?

OBAMA: This is a typical approach of John McCain and that is to distort my record and embrace George Bush's record. The fact is, eight years go John McCain suggested maybe we should lift the embargo and since that time nothing's change. We don't see more freedom for the people of Cuba but John McCain is embracing the same no talk, hard line attitude that has led to no progress and no improved conditions of the Cuban people for 50 years.

Let's be very clear about what I've said. We should look at loosening up remitances and travel restrictions for Cuban Americans so they can travel to the island, be with their families, and send money there as a gesture of good faith as Fidel Castro is transitioning. I also think we should open direct talks with Cubans without any preconditions but with a whole lot of preparation. Unless they release political prisoners, start instituting free press, and other steps to democratize the island, we won't lift the embargo. But we are looking to normalize the situation. That's common sense. That's the new approach to foreign policy that is needed because the last eight years won't work for the next president and John McCain keeps embracing policies that don't work and that is part of what this election will be all about.

TAPPER: You're likely to be the Democratic nominee but you will also likely lose Kentucky overwhelmingly tonight, and one of the reasons for the likely loss is what's been evident in previous primaries -- Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia -- your message is not resonating with white working class voters. Do you acknowledge that this is a problem and how do you intend on remedying that for the general election?

OBAMA: I really think that has been overstated. It hasn't been a problem in Virginia or a problem in Iowa or a problem in Minnesota. In fact, in Indiana we did almost as well as Sen. Clinton in many of these areas and that fact is, when you look at recent polls coming out of Pennslyvania, where this was supposed to be an enormous problem, I'm up significantly over John McCain. Sen. Clinton is a formidable candidate. It shouldn't be surprising there are a number of voters who would like to see her as a nominee. That doesn't mean they won't support us in a general election anymore than it meant they get a large proportion of African American voters that African Americans wouldn't vote for Sen. Clinton if she ended up being the nominee.

TAPPER: Do you agree with Sen. Clinton's complaint that she has been the victim of a sexist media in this campaign?

OBAMA: No doubt there are certain burdens for Sen. Clinton running as a formidable but first time frontrunner as a woman in the same way I've got to deal with some issues as an African American. Ultimately, I think the American people are fair minded and for those who would not vote either for myself or Sen. Clinton because of gender or race there are those who are excited about the prospects of the first woman or African American (nominee). There is no doubt there have been occassions where Sen. Clinton has had to overcome particular hurdles and that is part of the groundbreaking nature of her campaign.

TAPPER: In recent days, it has seemed that some of your staffers and supporters have walked back from your statement that you would be willing to meet with the leaders of rogue nations, countries hostile to the U.S., without preconditions. Your foreign policy adviser Susan Rice said you wouldn't necessarily meet with Ahmadinejad, Sen. Daschle said of course there would be conditions -- (Obama interrupts)

OBAMA: You know, Jake, I have to say I completely disagree that people have been walking back from anything. They may be correcting the characterizations or distortions of John McCain or others of what I said. What I said was I would meet with our adversaries including Iran, including Venezula, including Cuba, including North Korea, without preconditions but that does not mean without preparation.

TAPPER: Well, what's the difference?

OBAMA: There's a huge difference. When you talk about Iran, for example, the Bush administration's position has been we won't have talks with Iran until they agree to everything we want to them to agree to. That's not diplomacy. That's asking them to do what they say and then acknowledge we are willing to meet with them. That's not how diplomacy works. That's not how Ronald Reagan operated with Gorbachev or Kennedy with Khruschev or Nixon with Mao.

There are a whole seris of steps that need to be taken before you have a presidential meeting but that doesn't mean you expect the other side to agree to every item on your list. That has been the attitude of the Bush administration and that will change when I'm President of the United States. What we are doing now hasn't worked. Iran is stronger now than when George Bush took office. The Cuban people are no more free than when George Bush took office. The one area we saw progress, North Korea, and that is in direct proportion to the Bush administration's reversing itself and participating in the six-party talks when early on they refused and (North Korea) developed nuclear weapons they didn't have when George Bush took office. We will return to common sense, bipartisan approach to diplomacy that existed before George Bush. In fact, his father practiced the same diplomacy I'm talking about.

- jpt

Obama Bicycle Spoke Cards Available Now!

artbymags — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:52:29 EDT

Hey everyone, this is just a quick announcement to let everyone know that my Obama stencil design is now available as a bicycle spoke card. Measuring about 3" by 4" and laminated, it's a great way for biking enthusiasts to show their support for Obama. Turn you bike into a billboard for Barack!

Spoke cards can be ordered online for only $1 via obamaspoke.com, or Louisville locals can pick some up for free or donation at Derby City Espresso. Any donations made will go back into printing more spoke cards or possibly stickers with the same design, but a donation is not required. We want to get these out and on as many bikes as possible.

Obama was always a good guy - his college friends speak of it

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:32:58 EDT

Obama's story told from his college friend's point of view ( New york and Los Angeles)

http://www.mlive.com/elections/national/index.ssf?/base/politics-15/1210877965249930.xml&storylist=elections&thispage=4

The way Sohale Siddiqi remembers it, he and his old roommate were walking his pug Charlie on Broadway when a large, scary bum approached them, stomping on the ground near the dog's head.

This was in the 1980s, a time when New York was a fearful place beset by drugs and crime, when the street smart knew that the best way to handle the city's derelicts was to avoid them entirely. But Siddiqi was angry and he confronted the bum, who approached him menacingly.

Until his skinny, Ivy League-educated friend — Barack Obama — intervened.

He "stepped right in between. ... He planted his face firmly in the face of the guy. `Hey, hey, hey.' And the guy backpedaled and we kept walking," Siddiqi recalls.

There was a time before Obama wore tailored suits — when his wardrobe consisted of $5
military-surplus khakis and used leather jackets, and he walked the streets of Manhattan
for lack of bus fare. It was a time well before the political arena beckoned, when his
friends thought he might become a writer or a lawyer, but certainly not the first black
man with a real chance to become president of the United States.

Why John Edwards Endorsed Obama Today ( Source: Huffington Post )

Prosy — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:35:30 EDT

Dawn Teo Why John Edwards Endorsed Obama Today

Posted May 14, 2008 | 06:01 PM (EST)

A lot is being said right now to the effect of, "What took him so long?" Some people are criticizing John Edwards for not endorsing sooner. I happen to think that today is the perfect day for Edwards to endorse, not so much because he was trounced in West Virginia yesterday, but because of the current state of the race and because of past statements made by John Edwards and his top advisers.

John Edwards said that he would not make an endorsement until the race was over -- until the nominee was determined. Then, today, after Obama received a trouncing in West Virginia, he announces his endorsement.

Some have questioned this, asking why he is going back on his word and endorsing before the race is over. I don't think he is going back on his word at all. He is sending a message, and that message is, "The race is over."

John Edwards is saying, let's circle the wagons. Obama is our guy. The people have spoken. The race for Democratic presidential nominee is over.

Yesterday, I wrote a Daily Kos diary about an article that Joe Trippi wrote in Campaigns and Elections Magazine. He expressed regret that he had advised Edwards to follow his heart when asked for advice of whether to withdraw from the presidential race. He said he wished he had told him to stay in the race. But, he added (and this is important):

"The senator questioned why he'd be remaining in the race. Would he be grinding out delegates only to be in a position to cut a deal at the convention for his own gain? That wasn't why he had gotten into the race for president. He had entered it to push causes like ending poverty, championing health care for every American and fighting for working people, and it just wasn't him to turn it into a selfish quest. I really respect that, and it helps explain why I so fervently wanted John Edwards to become president. The man cared deeply about those causes, and he did not want to see them tarnished because of a string of embarrassing losses."

Trippi would not have written such an article without running it by Edwards first. They are reportedly close friends, and insiders say that Trippi is extremely loyal to Edwards. This seems to be a concerted message, "When it is clear you cannot win, staying in the race is for personal gain."

Trippi's admission that he wishes he had advised Edwards to stay in the race could be taken as a nod to Hillary Clinton that it's ok to stay in the race, but I don't think so. I think it was simply meant to soften the blow of these specific words:

"Would he be grinding out delegates only to be in a position to cut a deal at the convention for his own gain?"

Of course, Trippi will be on the media circuit over the next few days, answering questions about Edwards, and I'm sure this will come up. We'll see how it plays out, but I'm betting that he'll be asked about these words. I'm betting that he'll say over and over that Edwards exited the race for the good of the country -- this will be a hint to Clinton.

Of course, this also takes the wind out of Clinton's sails from her win yesterday.

Yes, the timing is perfect.

Dawn Teo posts at Daily Kos. She's a supporter of Barack Obama.

Obama to Receive Endorsement of 3 Former SEC Chairmen ( Wall Street Journal )

Prosy — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:54:09 EDT

Obama to Receive Endorsement
Of 3 Former SEC Chairmen By CHRISTOPHER COOPER and KARA SCANNELL
May 14, 2008; Page A7

Three former chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission will publicly endorse Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the presidency Wednesday, including one who served under President Bush.

William Donaldson, who was SEC chairman for about 2½ years from early 2003, along with Clinton and Reagan appointees Arthur Levitt and David Ruder, will join former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker in endorsing Sen. Obama, his campaign said. Mr. Volcker endorsed Sen. Obama in January.

In a statement released by the campaign, the four men said they believed Sen. Obama would take a "reasoned approach" to "balanced regulatory reform." As with rival presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Obama has advocated revamping financial regulations to head off a repeat of the current credit crisis. Unlike the other two, Sen. Obama has said he would consider raising the capital-gains tax rate from its current 15% -- a move that could have a profound effect on the financial industry.

The endorsements, especially that of Republican appointee Mr. Donaldson, could give a boost to Mr. Obama in the general election this fall. Sen. Obama appears increasingly likely to be confirmed as the Democratic Party's nominee; Sen. McCain is the likely Republican choice.

Mr. Donaldson, a former Wall Street banker, also is a former head of the New York Stock Exchange. In government, Mr. Donaldson's tenure was marked by his push for greater regulation of hedge funds. The SEC eventually passed a hedge-fund-regulation package, in the face of vocal critics. A federal court later overturned the regulation.

In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Donaldson said he was struck by a speech Sen. Obama gave calling for a revamping of regulation for any business that borrows money from the government. Sen. Obama, he said, saw the "need to take a good hard look at how things are organized" and "just exactly what went wrong in terms of the regulatory oversight that we have."

The endorsements come on top of the lead Sen. Obama and the Democrats have shown in securing campaign contributions from employees of Wall Street firms this election cycle. Through March, the latest data available, employees of banking and finance companies have favored Democratic presidential candidates over Republicans by 55% to 45%, according to OpenSecrets.org, a campaign finance Web site operated by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Among candidates over that period, Sen. Obama has raised the most -- about $9 million -- with Sen. Clinton raising $8.5 million. Sen. McCain has raised $5.7 million from those employees, putting him behind Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, two Republican candidates who dropped out of the race earlier this year.

On a smaller scale, Federal Elections Commission data show Sen. Obama has received more than rivals from people who identify themselves as employees of the SEC. He has received $5,200 from them, compared with $3,000 for Sen. Clinton and nothing for Sen. McCain. Interestingly, one of the few places Sen. McCain holds an advantage is within the ranks of Mr. Donaldson's current employer, Perella Weinberg Partners, where employees have donated $13,000 to his campaign, compared with $2,700 for Sen. Clinton and $1,200 for Sen. Obama.

Wall Street has long supplied millions of dollars to presidential candidates, through individual donations and various political-action groups. Mr. Bush, with his business experience and Harvard MBA, proved adept at vacuuming up such donations. But as public discontent with the current administration grows and the economy continues to flirt with recession, Sen. McCain hasn't kept up with the Democrats.

The Arizona senator recently held a joint fund-raiser with the Republican Party that featured a number of financial luminaries, such as billionaires Carl Icahn and Steve Schwarzman. It raised $7 million.

Wall Street may remain leery of Sen. McCain; the Republican candidate has offered few concrete proposals for improving the nation's financial outlook and preventing future crises in the credit markets. Although he has begun speaking more frequently about the economy, Sen. McCain has repeatedly said his expertise is foreign policy, not markets. Words he uttered to reporters in December, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," are likely to haunt him this fall.

Write to Christopher Cooper at christopher.cooper@wsj.com and Kara Scannell at kara.scannell@wsj.com

My Poem for Change

James - Newport, Oregon — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:11:41 EDT

Yes We Can.

This time, this moment is our time, We the People,
we must stand together for one common goal it is one example,
of oneness of a country that is a country for the People.

This one man, Barack Obama he stands for hope with truth,
he is a man of convictions for honor he is not a blabbermouth,
this man stands tall for his obligations to change a monolith.

This man deals with pressures and attacks against him or his belief,
he follows a strict policy to accept what is correct it is a relief,
to have this man who can change this country from corruption & grief,
to a more civilized way of promoting the American Dream & our Chief.

When people call his name a idea is born it is not a thorn,
Clinton is a spoiled child who is bitter and scorn,
She is cruel & hateful she uses terror tactics to achieve a win,
sin will be her undoing she has been adorned to be placed into a loony bin.

With our voices as one the hope stays alive,
we shall we must place this man at the top for us to thrive,
with his hope for change our conviction to his cause will be decisive,
based upon the facts available to everyone.

Yes We Can, Yes We Will !!!

Help Obama's Arts Policy Committee reach out to voters!

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:30:56 EDT

Obama's National Arts Policy Committee will be distributing the campaign's official arts policy platform to the Indiana and North Carolina arts community in order to cultivate a base of arts voters before the fast approaching primary. Obama is committed to the arts, and it's important we, as writers, artists, performers, and musicians, do our part to help win these importnat states!

Do you know any arts professionals in these states? Write me at obamaarts@gmail.com to get a pdf of the platform and a letter from our committee chairs, Margo Lions and George Stevens, Jr., to send out to your personal contacts. Or send me email and professional affiliations of people you know working in the Pennsylvania art community and we will send those documents out to your contacts. Any emails submitted will be kept private will only be used to send the official letter and policy document.

Do you have time to help us do some online research? I am looking for volunteers to help me do some online research for this big project. We need to find all the arts organizations in these states and get emails for the staff of those organizations. We will be working on this right away, but since it's just online research, you can do this from home and at any time of day. If you have some time to help out, please reply back via email to obamaarts@gmail.com.

Thanks so much,

Shawnee Barton
Obama for America Arts Policy Committee Member

The Art of Politics- Obama as Muse

sofia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:17:59 EDT

great article in the NYT about barack obama as an inspiration for artists:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/magazine/13wwln-consumed-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Photos from Arts Policy Event in Philadelphia

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:02:29 EDT

The Arts Policy Committee recenlty held an event in Philadephia to discuss Obama's arts policy platform and encourage artsits and art supporters there to vote for Obama in tomorrow's primary. Here are a few pictures frome the event.

If you have pictures or stories from arts events for Obama, I encourage you to post a blog for our group. And feel free to send us an email at obamaarts@gmail.com to get a copy of his arts policy platform to have available at your events.

Obama Grassroots Gospel-Singers Inaugural Glee Club

Sharon McSweeney — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:23:13 EDT

YES WE CAN sing for President Barack Obama, during the week of his inauguration, in D.C., and will have 4 people from each of the 50 states in our beautiful UNION.

YES HE CAN, and YES WE WILL SING with a lot of joy and celebration.

Join us if you want to be a part of this incredible time! Thanks, Sharon M.

(We're organizing this from Charlottesville, Virginia.)

Visit this link to hear Daniel Pink Speak about Arts Education

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:36:07 EDT

http://www.artsusa.org/information_services/video_audio/default.asp#pink

Listen to Daniel Pink deliver the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy April 11, 2008—Author Daniel Pink delivered the 21st Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy on March 31 at the John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

In this provocative lecture, Pink makes what he calls a “hard-headed case for arts education.” He explains how three powerful forces in the economy are making logical, linear, rule-based, “left-brain” abilities necessary in the workforce, but no longer sufficient. And he shows how these three forces—what he calls abundance, Asia, and automation—are making artistic, empathic, big picture, “right brain” abilities the most important abilities in just about every profession in industry.

Obama Street Art page on flikr!

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:07:56 EDT

Check out all this incredible Obama Street art and get inspired to create some Obama art of your own.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/obamastreetart/pool/

Happy Creating!

What Bruce Springsteen said about Barack Obama

Fine Art Artist For Obama — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:29:52 EDT

Dear Friends and Fans:

LIke most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams From My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President.

Bruce Springsteen

http://brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html

Pink Floyd is on the side of team Obama

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:58:02 EDT

Roger Waters: 'Ghastly Hillary Clinton Will Invade Iran'

http://www.gigwise.com/news/42287/roger-waters-ghastly-hillary-clinton-will-invade-iran

Roger Waters: 'Ghastly Hillary Clinton Will Invade Iran'

If she is elected Americas next president...

by Jason Gregory
Friday, April 11, 2008

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters has attacked democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton – calling the senator from New York “ghastly”.

Waters, who admits to being a fan of Clinton’s rival for the democratic nomination, Barack Obama, said that Clinton would invade Iran if she was elected America’s next president.

“I was so disappointed the other night when the ghastly Hillary got Texas and kept the whole thing going," he told the Independent.

"Please God, let's not have this woman! Hillary will want to make her mark and show that she can be just as good as a male president, and she will fucking invade Iran.

“Trust me. She voted to declare the Iranian Republican Guard a terrorist organisation!"

Despite being ineligible to vote, Waters, who lives in New York, said he would “buy a whole page in The New York Times” in order to “fly Obama's flag”.

“But I would be terribly afraid they'd go, 'This is that pinko shitbag who's attacking our President in time of war',” he added.

Clinton and Obama next face off against each other in the Philadelphia primary on April 22nd.

The eventual winner of the democratic nomination will go head-to-head with Republican John McCain in the battle to become the country’s president in Novembe

Watch this video: Barack speaks on Arts education

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:48:34 EDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN2Zy_68RcY

Painting the city "Barack"!

Abigail — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:36:12 EDT

I created a group that was recently approved!

please check it out and join!

Let's show our cities the change OBAMA has already inspired by revitilizing an area with an OBAMA mural!!

you can network and connect with people in your area through this group!

BTW- I want to start one in Philly, please contact me so we can get this going!

"Painting the city "Barack!"

http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/PaintingtheCITYBarack

A Pulitzer Prize winning author has compared US presidential hopeful Barack Obama to anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King J.

Fine Art Artist For Obama — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:48:44 EDT

Purple prose for 'stunning' Obama

A Pulitzer Prize winning author has compared US presidential hopeful Barack Obama to anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King Jr.

American author and feminist Alice Walker, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1983 novel The Colour Purple, writes that Senator Obama represents a rare opportunity to change America and the world.

"He is, in fact, a remarkable human being, not perfect but humanly stunning, like King was and like Mandela is," she wrote. "He is the change America has been trying desperately and for centuries to hide, ignore, kill. The change it must have if we are to convince the rest of the world that we care about people other than our (white) selves."

Walker, 64, who is longstanding activist for women's rights, criticised those who favoured Senator Obama's Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton, simply because she is a woman and competent.

"It is a deep sadness to me that many of my feminist white women friends cannot see (Senator Obama), cannot hear the fresh choices toward movement he offers."

She said Senator Obama would help to build alliances between people despite barriers of race, ethnicity, colour, nationality, sexual preference or gender.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bpeopleb-authors-purple-prose-for-stunning-obama/2008/04/01/1206850904451.html

NY Sun article about the artiat and writers event held in New York

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:21:13 EDT

http://www.nysun.com/article/71714

I encourage everyone to host arts evvents for Obama in their area. If you'd like to share his arts policy papers with your group, email me at obamaarts@gmail.com to get a copy.

Arts Policy in the LA Times!

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:02:18 EDT

Here is the link:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-polartists4mar04,1,2194161.story

Please check out this video

Ms. Dymond — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:35:40 EDT

Gave me inspiration to set off my day.

American Men video ........for OBAMA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPjXqkZXbQ4

Sincerely yours,

Jill E. Dymond

Call to Artists: Seeking Submissions

Christina — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:12:37 EDT

Currently seeking 2-D artwork for an Art for Change Show/Auction

Work should be inspired by or related to the message and vision of the Obama campaign

Media: Oils, acrylics, watercolor, pastels, charcoal, drawings, graphics, collage, photography

All proceeds to benefit Obama for President campaign

Event will get great coverage for you and your work

Tentative show/auction date April 17 2008 in NYC

Art for Change will provide a free online venue to showcase work submitted

Email Chrisjorge2001@aol.com for more info

Help Obama's National Arts Policy Committee Reach Pennsylvania Arts Supporters

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:11:25 EDT

Obama's National Arts Policy Committee will be distributing the campaign's official arts policy platform to the Pennsylvania art community in order to cultivate a base of arts voters before the primary. Obama is committed to the arts, and it's important we, as writers, artists, performers, and musicians, do our part to help win Pennsylvania!

Do you know any arts professionals in Pennsylvania? Write me at obamaarts@gmail.com to get a pdf of the platform and a letter from our committee chairs, Margo Lions and George Stevens, Jr., to send out to your personal contacts. Or send me email and professional affiliations of people you know working in the Pennsylvania art community and we will send those documents out to your contacts. Any emails submitted will be kept private will only be used to send the official letter and policy document.

Do you have time to help us do some online research? I am looking for a few volunteers to help me do some online research for this big project. We need to find all the arts organizations in Pennsylvania and get emails for the staff of those organizations. We will be working on this right away, but since it's just online research, you can do this from home and at any time of day. If you have some time to help out, please reply back via email to obamaarts@gmail.com.

Thanks so much,

Shawnee Barton
Obama for America Arts Policy Committee Member

Obama and the Arts

dlp — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:17:23 EDT

Here's a link to an interesting article from the L.A. Times about how Arts Organizations are getting involved in this years campaign.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-polartists4mar04,1,2194161.story?track=rss&ctrack=2&cset=true

There's unfortunately a broken link in the text of this article to the Americans for the Arts website. The correct address for those interested is:

http://www.americansforthearts.org/

dlp

OBAMA: A CHAMPION FOR ARTS AND CULTURE

MapleMama — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:03:48 EDT

Today I posted Senator Obama's Position Statement on the Arts on my personal blog: http://maplemama.com.

I posted it there because his statement completely echoes my thoughts and previous bloggings on the Arts, and supports the very issues I advocated for on Capitol Hill last year at the Americans for the Arts Arts Advocacy Days in Washington DC.

As someone who makes their living--AND spends their free time and discretionary income--in the Arts, any candidate's position on Arts matters MATTERS to me greatly. I am thrilled that Obama's stance on Arts issues gives me one more reason to support him enthusiastically as the next President of the United States.

-Allison

New Obama Song " I AM"

DJ Wimberly — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:13:34 EST

Wanted to share with everyone a new song for Barrack Obama by a Artist who is on my record label I own check it out. Spread the word.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmqJX-AiVac

Check it out. It's on point.

Make sure you share it with all your friends.

NEW will.i.am video - "We are the ones"

Thatcher — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:24:36 EST

Now on YouTube - new will.i.am video "We are the ones" - I am proud to have been the 219th person to see the new video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSJsEVf0pU

check it out and share it with everyone!

Boston Globe Editorial Applauds Obama's Arts Platform

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:37:48 EST

Campaign for the arts February 24, 2008

ON THE presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama is a fount of inspiring rhetoric. So it's interesting that the Illinois senator's stirring policy paper on arts and culture briefly hands the microphone to someone else, quoting poet Dana Gioia, the National Endowment for the Arts chairman.

From Wisconsin Gala Dinner

♦ Gigi — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:43:24 EST

”I don’t want our teachers teaching to “The Test” – I want our children learning art, and music, and poetry, and science, and history, and civics. I want them to have a full, well-rounded education. And I want our teachers to get in touch with the desire to teach them.”

-- Obama 2/16/08

"The Starriest Spangled Banner"

Tim A. — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:17:19 EST

When I started this whole experiment to compile a playlist for Obama, I had several songs in mind that must be included. Today's link is not one of them. Which shows, quite frankly, that this experiment has veered from what I orginally intended. Probably for the better.

Today, though, as the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend comes to a close, what could be a more fitting choice to inspire than Marvin Gaye's iconoclastic rendition of our "National Anthem"?

"The Star Spangled Banner" by Marvin Gaye at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game.

Obama and The Arts- an Art World Forum Supports Obama

Tookl — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:15:11 EST

from The Huffington Post, by Marcia G. Yerman

The gathering was billed as "The New York Art World Votes." My e-vite outlined a forum on why New York artists, curators, critics and dealers believed that Barack Obama was the best choice for the Democratic nomination. Read more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-g-yerman/obama-reaches-out-to-wome_b_86167.html

Calliing all ARTISTS!

ATW — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:47:28 EST

I NEED YOUR HELP!

My name is Tim and I am planning an event in PA called Voices for Change. It is a concert, art show, and fundrasier for Barack in the PA primary. Here is the link to the event page...

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4r722

I am looking for interested parties to particepate and design a poster for the event, or propose another product/s that can be sold at the event. What I am looking for in a poster is something incorperating the Obama logo, the names of the performers (Jumpin' Off the Cleft Note, The Sisters Three, and Cheers Elephant), and the statement Paradigm Productions presents...

Please email me with interest, suggestions or concerns ... rideatw@hotmail.com

Arts Education Excerpt from Obama's Speech

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:30:04 EST

At a recent arts industry event for Obama in Santa Monica, one attendee stood up and voiced her desire for either presidential candidate to publicly discuss the arts. Senator Obama may not have been at the meeting, but he heard her and all the other Americans who are looking for a candidate to stand up for the arts.

About nine minutes in to the victory speech he gave from Virginia on February 9th, Senator Obama told his supporters that he doesn't want teachers to "teach to the test," instead, "I want our students to learn art, and music, and science, and poetry, and all the things that make an education worth while."

YES WE CAN elect a president who believes in arts education!

Here is a link to the speech on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9XeEzokCvQ

Lawrence Lessig on Obama

Dmitry — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:23:26 EST

Here is a thorough and creative video about the argument for an Obama vote and presidency!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EdDzvmY1XPo

The Obama Arts Pdf is worth the read!

Kathleen — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:35:57 EST

The Artist Corps is a great idea. I've seen similar concepts work beautifully here in Cambridge, Ma and out in Chicago. Well done policy!!! Kathleen

Obama's Arts Policy is now available in PDF!!

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:30:07 EST

If you would like a pdf of Obama's Official Arts Platform, please email obamaarts@gmail.com

Barack Obama's Platform in Support of the Arts

Reinvest in Arts Education: To remain competitive in the global economy, America needs to reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has made this country great. To do so, we must nourish our children's creative skills. In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage the ability to think creatively that comes from a meaningful arts education. Unfortunately, many school districts are cutting instructional time for art and music education. Barack Obama believes that the arts should be a central part of effective teaching and learning. The Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts recently said, "The purpose of arts education is not to produce more artists, though that is a byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society." To support greater arts education, Obama will:

1. Expand Public/Private Partnerships Between Schools and Art Organizations: Barack Obama will increase resources for the U.S. department of Education's Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination Grants, which develop public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations. Obama will also engage the foundation and corporate community to increase support for public/private partnerships.

2. Create an Artist Corps: Barack Obama supports the creation of an "Artists Corps" of young artists trained to work in low-income schools and their communities. Studies in Chicago have demonstrated that test scores improved faster for students enrolled in low-income schools that link arts across the curriculum than scores for students in schools lacking such programs.

3. Publicly Champion the Importance of Arts Education: As president, Barack Obama will use the bully pulpit and the example he will set in the White House to promote the importance of arts and arts education in America. Not only is arts education indispensable for success in a rapidly changing, high skill, information economy, but studies show that arts education raises test scores in other subject areas as well.

Support Increased Funding for the NEA: Over the last 15 years, government funding for the National Endowment for the Arts has been slashed from $175 million annually in 1992 to $125 million today. Barack Obama supports increased funding for the NEA, the support which enriches schools and neighborhoods all across the nation and helps to promote the economic development of countless communities.

Promote Cultural Diplomacy: American artists, performers and thinkers--representing our values and ideals--can inspire people both at home and all over the world. Through efforts like that of The United States Information Agency, America's cultural leaders were deployed around the world during the Cold War as artistic ambassadors and helped win the war of ideas by demonstrating to the world the promise of America.

Attract Foreign Talent: The flipside to promoting American arts and culture abroad is welcoming members of the foreign arts community to America. Opening America's doors to students and professional artists provides the kind of two-way cultural understanding that can break down the barriers that feed hatred and fear. As America tightened visa restrictions after 9/11, the world's most talented students and artists, who used to come here, went elsewhere. Barack Obama will streamline the visa process to return America to its rightful place as the world's top destination for artists and art students.

Provide Health Care to Artists: Finding affordable healthcare coverage has often been one of the most vexing obstacles for artists and those in the creative community. Since many artists work independently or have non-traditional employment relationships, employer-based coverage is unavailable and individual policies are financially out of reach. Barack Obama's plan will provide all Americans with quality, affordable healthcare. His plan includes the creation of a new public program that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees. His plan also creates a National Insurance Exchange to reform the private insurance market and allow Americans to enroll in participating private plans, which would have to provide comprehensive benefits, issue every applicant a policy, and charge fair and stable premiums. For those who still cannot afford coverage, the government will provide a subsidy. His healthcare plan will lower costs for the typical American Family by up to $2,500 per year.

Ensure Tax Fairness for Artists: Barack Obama supports the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of the materials, when they make charitable contributions.

George Stevens, Jr.'s article about Obama on The Huffington Post

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:48:33 EST

George Stevens, Jr. is the Co-Chair of the Obama for America National Arts Policy Committee. Below is an article he recently wrote for The Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-stevens/barack-obama-the-man-i-k_b_84866.html

Barack Obama: The Man I Know

Posted February 4, 2008 | 01:57 PM (EST)

In the fall of 2003 Vernon Jordan asked me to stop by a fundraiser at his house in Washington for a friend of his who was seeking the Democratic nomination for the United States senate in Illinois. Vernon said, "Please come by, we need people. You don't have to give any money.

When I arrived only a few people were there and I found myself in a ten minute conversation with a young State Senator from Illinois. I was writing a play about Thurgood Marshall and he seemed a good subject for conversation with a man who excelled at the Harvard Law School and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. I went home that night and told my wife that I had met an exceptional man. It had something to do with the way he listened, the look in his eyes, the easy smile. He was there to meet people and raise money, but nothing would distract him from whomever he was talking to at a particular moment. Vernon Jordan is nobody's fool -- I left a check for Obama for Senate, as did his other guests.

Since that day in 2003 I have found the qualities that attracted me to Barack Obama magnified. He was, of course, inspiring at the Democratic Convention in Boston. On November 21, 2005, the day that would have been Robert Kennedy's eightieth birthday, he was the speaker at the RFK Human Rights Awards. The ceremony was held in the U.S. Senate Caucus Room, the setting where both John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy announced their candidacies for president. There was a quality in Barack Obama that day, as he spoke about human rights, that evoked the unfulfilled legacy of Robert Kennedy. He inspired a belief that this country's problems could be addressed. A glance at his biography made me realize that in 2008 this youthful looking senator would be three years older than John and Robert were when they ran for president. I wrote him the next day urging him to run in 2008, and I watched him contemplate that possibility during 2006.

He was relaxed and centered as he evaluated his prospects; he sought the advice of people he respected; he assessed the obstacles and the work that would have to be accomplished; and he made his decision. Then he put together a staff and a campaign team, and began to enlist followers, much like the community organizer he once was in Chicago. The new kid on the block raised more money than the incumbent Clinton organization that was able to call on political resources developed over a decade.

At the outset, he described a strategy that has not been altered. He told his supporters that the plan was to make a showing in Iowa and then people around the country would begin to hear his message and move in his direction. I saw him last fall when he remained thirty points behind in the national polls and the press was nearly unanimous in saying that the "rock star," as they had dubbed him, was a flash in the pan. Some of his supporters were discouraged and the pundits were insisting that he must attack Senator Clinton directly. He spoke to his supporters who met in Des Moines on the Columbus Day weekend. He told us that he was confident that he was going to win the nomination and the presidency. He was compelling, self assured and believable. He promised that he would be "making distinctions" between himself and Senator Clinton, but that to attack her personally would undercut the underlying theme of his campaign which was to put the politics of polarization and division behind us.

His supporters were reassured that night. Barack went on to win Iowa and the American public began to take notice.

Over the past four years, I have observed in him a consistency that earns confidence. He is thoughtful, courteous and humorous, yet he leaves no doubt that, while being a good listener, he will shape his own thinking and fight for what he believes in. He makes me believe that we can be the country we want to be, that we can solve the intractable problems that have divided us, that we can enlist the youth of America to help build our future, that we can be respected again in the eyes of the world -- and, yes, that we can have a president who will call us to the high ground, and ask us to ask ourselves, once again, not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country.

Michael Chabon's Washington Post Article

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:35:41 EST

The Washington Post, Monday February 4, 2008

By Michael Chabon

Obama vs. the Phobocracy

There are many reasons not to support Barack Obama's candidacy for president, but every one of them is bad for the same reason.

Because I have come out publicly for the senator from Illinois, I am often called upon to listen as people offer up -- with wistfulness and regret, or with a pundit's show of certainty, or with a well-earned but useless skepticism -- their bad reasons for not giving Obama their support. For a long time now, I have listened to these people with forbearance and with a sense of duty -- not to some principle of open debate or of the inherent merit in the free exchange of even meritless ideas, but rather out of obligation to the candidate whose cause I champion.

Because Obama appears to be a patient, forbearing man with a gift for listening, I figured I owed it to him to play the thing his way. So I have nodded and looked into their eyes and hummed sympathetically as people gave their reasons and made their excuses and generally offered up, as if they were golden ingots of profound wisdom, the handful of two-penny nails with which they plan to board up the windows of their hopes for themselves, their families, their country and the world.

But now, with everything seeming to come down, at last, to the first Tuesday in February, and in the wake of an all-out, months-long push by the cynicism industry to cook up an entire line of bad reasons ready to heat and serve, I admit that I'm getting tired of listening to rationales from people who know that Obama is a remarkable, even an extraordinary politician, the kind who comes along, in this era of snakes and empty smiles, no more than once a generation.

Oh, sure, most of these people tell me they would like to see Obama become president. No question, he comes off as at once brilliant and sensible, vibrant and measured, engaged and engaging, talented, forthright, quick-witted, passionate, thoughtful and, as with all remarkable people whom experience has taught both the extent and the bitter limits of their gifts, reasonably humble. In a better world, people tell me, in theory, sure, having a president like Barack Obama sounds great. But not, you know, for real. Not in the base, corrupt, morally spent, toxic and reeling rats' nest that we like to call home. Things are so bad we just can't afford to waste our votes, people tell me, on some fantasy super-president with magical powers. We need someone electable, someone, as I have been told repeatedly in the past year, who can win.

Of course this misses the point; it misses all kinds of points. In a better world, if there were such a thing (and so far there never has been), we would not need a president like Obama as badly as we do. If there were less at stake, if our democracy had not been permitted, indeed encouraged, to sink to its present degraded and embattled condition not only by the present administration but by a fair number of those people now seeking to head up the next one, perhaps then we could afford to waste our votes on the candidate who knows best how to jigger, to manipulate and to conform to the vapid specifications of the debased electoral process it has been our unhappy fate to construct for ourselves.

Because ultimately, that is the point of Obama's candidacy -- of the hope, enthusiasm and sense of purpose it inspires, yes, but more crucially, of the very doubts and reservations expressed by those who pronounce, whether in tones of regret, certainty or skepticism, that America is not ready for Obama, or that Obama is not ready for the job, or that nobody of any worth or decency -- supposing there even to be such a person left on the American political scene -- can be expected to survive for a moment with his idealism and principle intact.

The point of Obama's candidacy is that the damaged state of American democracy is not the fault of George W. Bush and his minions, the corporate-controlled media, the insurance industry, the oil industry, lobbyists, terrorists, illegal immigrants or Satan. The point is that this mess is our fault. We let in the serpents and liars, we exchanged shining ideals for a handful of nails and some two-by-fours, and we did it by resorting to the simplest, deepest-seated and readiest method we possess as human beings for trying to make sense of the world: through our fear. America has become a phobocracy.

Since I started talking and writing about Obama I have come to see that this ruling fear, and nothing else, lies at the back of every objection or reservation people raise or harbor regarding the man and his candidacy.

Fear whispers to us that white voters have a nasty tendency to tell pollsters, friends and neighbors that they support an African American candidate, then go into the voting booth and let the fear known as racism pull the lever.

Fear tells us that ugliness, rage and brutality are the central facts of human existence, that decency and tolerance are luxuries on whose altar our enemies will be only too happy to sacrifice us.

It is through our fear of falling prey to the calamity and misadventure from which the media promise faithlessly to protect us -- a fear manufactured and sold by the media themselves -- that we accept without question the media-borne canard (tainted, in my view, by a racism as insidious as any that hides behind the curtains of voting booths) that Barack Obama, a seasoned and successful 46-year-old husband and father of two, a man sweeping into the prime of his life with all his sails and flags unfurled, is too young and inexperienced for a job that demands vitality and flexibility and that, furthermore, has made nonsense of glittering resumes, laughingstocks of practiced old hands and, in a reverse of Popeye's old trick, ravenous alligators out of years of accumulated baggage.

Fear and those who fatten on it spread vile lies about Obama's religion, his past drug use, his views on Israel and the Jews. Fear makes us see the world purely in terms of enemies and perils, and leads us to seek out the promise of leadership, however spurious it proves to be, among those who speak the language of that doomed and demeaning, that inhuman view of the world.

But the most pitiable fear of all is the fear of disappointment, of having our hearts broken and our hopes dashed by this radiant, humane politician who seems not just with his words but with every step he takes, simply by the fact of his running at all, to promise so much for our country, for our future and for the eventual state of our national soul. I say "pitiable" because this fear of disappointment, which I hear underlying so many of the doubts that people express to me, is ultimately a fear of finding out the truth about ourselves and the extent of the mess that we have gotten ourselves into. If we do fight for Obama, work for him, believe in him, vote for him, and the man goes down to defeat by the big-money machines and the merchants of fear, then what hope will we have left to hold on to?

Thus in the name of preserving hope do we disdain it. That is how a phobocracy maintains its grip on power.

To support Obama, we must permit ourselves to feel hope, to acknowledge the possibility that we can aspire as a nation to be more than merely secure or predominant. We must allow ourselves to believe in Obama, not blindly or unquestioningly as we might believe in some demagogue or figurehead but as we believe in the comfort we take in our families, in the pleasure of good company, in the blessings of peace and liberty, in any thing that requires us to put our trust in the best part of ourselves and others. That kind of belief is a revolutionary act. It holds the power, in time, to overturn and repair all the damage that our fear has driven us to inflict on ourselves and the world.

And when we all wake up on Nov. 5, 2008, to find that we have made Barack Obama the president of the United States, the world is already going to feel, to all of us, a little different, a little truer to its, and our, better nature. It is part of the world's nature and of our own to break, ruin and destroy; but it is also our nature and the world's to find ways to mend what has been broken. We can do that. Come on. Don't be afraid.

Watch this Inspirational Artist Created Video for Obama!!

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:17:24 EST

http://www.dipdive.com/

The Grateful Dead to reunite for Obama.

ATW — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:59:25 EST

Pass this along to your friends and family...

DEADHEADS FOR OBAMA
featuring
BOB WEIR, MICKEY HART, PHIL LESH , & FRIENDS

The Warfield Theatre
Monday, February 4th, 2008
Doors 6:00 PM/ Show 7:30PM

Grateful Dead Members to Reunite for Barack Obama

Members of the Grateful Dead will host a get out the vote concert in support of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday, February 4th at The Warfield Theatre in San Francisco.

Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir, joined by Jackie Greene, John Molo, and Steve Molitz, will play a show together in support of Barack Obama.

The video website Iclips will be producing a live simulcast streamed via the Internet on www.iclips.net at approximately 7:30 PM PST.

This will mark the first time that the members of the legendary band have performed together since 2004. They have agreed to reunite for this one-time-only event in order to lend support to Senator Obama leading into the crucial "Super-Tuesday" series of primaries held on Tuesday, February 5th.

Barack Obama: Opportunity For America

Vassie Welbeck-Browne — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:22:10 EST

Mr. Obama's campaign offers our nation an opportunity to redirect its resources and energies toward the achievement and fulfillment of the best of its ideals. We are finally being offered a chance to do some major healing of our 400 year old racial wound; a chance to command the world stage with leadership that not only inspires, but also provides a model for global preservation and co-existence; a chance to turn away from the path leading to facism. I don't believe there is a greater blessing than to be offered such opportunities--we must take advantage of them.

Barack Obama: A Champion For Arts and Culture

*Arts Policy Committee* from Chicago, IL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:20:55 EST

Barack Obama's Platform in Support of the Arts

Expand Public/Private Partnerships Between Schools and Art Organizations: Barack Obama will increase resources for the U.S. department of Education's Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination Grants, which develop public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations. Obama will also engage the foundation and corporate community to increase support for public/private partnerships.

Create an Artist Corps: Barack Obama supports the creation of an "Artists Corps" of young artists trained to work in low-income schools and their communities. Studies in Chicago have demonstrated that test scores improved faster for students enrolled in low-income schools that link arts across the curriculum than scores for students in schools lacking such programs.

Publicly Champion the Importance of Arts Education: As president, Barack Obama will use the bully pulpit and the example he will set in the White House to promote the importance of arts and arts education in America. Not only is arts education indispensable for success in a rapidly changing, high skill, information economy, but studies show that arts education raises test scores in other subject areas as well.