LGBTA Young Pros / Students for Obama

President Obama Signed HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

EsquireUK — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:48:50 EDT

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/30/honoring-legacy-ryan-white

President Obama signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. It represents our ongoing commitment to ensuring access to needed HIV/AIDS care and treatment. The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) worked very closely with Congress on this bipartisan legislation, and the consensus document developed by the HIV/AIDS advocacy community was an important part of the process. We were so pleased that Jeanne White-Ginder, Ryan White’s mother, was here at the bill signing.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/30/honoring-legacy-ryan-white

President Obama Signs Inclusive Hate Crimes Legislation

EsquireUK — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:47:23 EDT

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/28/about-whether-we-value-one-another

Today President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, legislation that will extend new federal protections to people who are victims of violent crime because of their sex or sexual orientation. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress first passed in 1968. For the first time, the law that previously protected people from attacks motivated by race, religion or ethnicity will also protect gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people.

The President will host a reception commemorating the enactment of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the East Room of the White House this evening. This afternoon, before signing the bill, he said:

"...After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are.
"I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who's here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day -- make this day possible..."

Here’s an excerpt from an editorial in the Washington Post this morning:

PRESIDENT OBAMA is scheduled to sign Wednesday what is being described as the nation's first significant pro-gay rights legislation. Attached to the defense authorization act, the measure would add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to the list of protected classes under the 1969 federal hate-crimes law…
The law doesn't outlaw bigotry or "thought crimes." It applies only to "violent acts motivated by" the characteristics of the victim -- acts, not thoughts or speech. But crimes that target someone because of race or sexual orientation are more than offenses against that individual. They can terrorize whole communities.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/28/about-whether-we-value-one-another

Minnesota AIDS Walk

Chris — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:13:29 EDT

I started a team with my school (University of Minnesota-Addiction Studies Program) for the 2009 Minnesota AIDS Walk. I would like to encourage anyone who reads this to consider making a donation to support me in walking to help fight HIV/AIDS. My walker website is http://community.mnaidsproject.org/UofMLADC. Any donation would be hugely appreciated!

Disgusted at Obama.

Link48010 — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:10:03 EST

The choice of Warrner to be be at Obama's inauguration has me disgusted to no end. HRC and several other important gay rights campaigns had thrown their support behind Obama during the election. Obama said that despite his religion, he would not support discrimination and would leave the choice of Gay marriage to the states, but then he invites a man that supported Prop 8 in California after Obama himself said it was a bad vote. Could he give supporters a bigger slap in the face? Short of inviting Bill Ayers I don't think so.

New Dog but Same Old Tricks

Sean from Huntington, NY — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:51:58 EST

Well, I would like to thank Obama for taking all the hope he gave me for the country and my rights and then picking Rick Warren for the most historic day in American history. This is just a a sad day when you see Obama who promised a changed Washington pander to conservative democrats because he wants an inclusive day. well let me tell you Mr. Obama, Rick Warren's idea of inclusion is comparing gay marriage to the idea of a incest, men marrying children, and beastility. Yes Obama you are the change agent you have changed the game in sheer ignorance thinking you can piss of the Left and the LGBT and get away with it. Mind you conservative democracts helped you win the general, but do not forget who helped you beat Hillary, WE DID. so in four years you better hope you do not have a challenge otherwise we might not be there this time.

You were the first election i was ever old enough to vote for and you just put the stake in my heart

HOW COULD YOU??

Feeling let down

Stardust, Germany — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 07:44:30 EST

I must say, I am as joyfull by the election of Barack as I am devastated by the backlash against our rights as gays and lesbians. And I have to say it and air my frustration: I feel also let down by this campaign and by Barack. He and Joe Biden in particular have taken a less than satisfactory stance on gay marriage all the way and the high african-american vote in favor of Prop 8 has been their failure to a large extent. Once more, solidarity was a one-way-road for the gay community. We gave all we could and received a slap in the face!

Me, in the Age of Obama

Krismiss — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:03:18 EST

Aided by a few hours sleep, energetic music, and my ever-present cup of coffee, I feel the need to commemorate this moment personally, beyond just tears or shouts of joy. Perhaps it will be a rough-draft manifesto of sorts, a kind of social New Year Resolution, a longer declaration of what this all means to me.

So what does this day mean to me? A lot of things, trivial and sublime. There’s having a young black man in the highest office, and I feel no shame in admitting my intense pride in that, but it’s more than that: it’s having a person of his caliber. In an age of culture wars, especially between populists and Ivory Tower types, we have a person who is intellectual, relatable, and empathetic. As I said before, Barack Obama is an American for all Americans. We’re talking about the man who gave the best assessments and reconciliation of the issues of faith and race in this nation; someone who can acknowledge the truths in different, and even inflammatory, perspectives without creating more division.

And when I say we can be example for the world, I don’t mean by strong-arming, covert ops, or unfair trade agreements. We can do it fairly.

I also believe American Christianity has a chance to be turned back to the light of peace and justice. I have watched as what began as a movement for the uplifting of all became the idolatry of a very narrow view of “Family Values”. I refuse to give back my baptism, because it is mine and under no one else’s oversight, but it has been most torturous to see the Pharisaical spectre raised as never before and have to wonder if even calling myself a Christian by the most liberal of definitions could be morally correct. As an American and a spiritual person, to say that my heart bled is an understatement.

Now, I will take a moment to mention abortion, since this is has been, and will continue to be, a divisive issue. I will state it plainly: I do not like abortion. No one does. I called my own children babies, not fetuses, from the moment the EPT stick had two lines. However, abortion is a desperate choice, and people will only be more desperate if more choices are taken away. I agree wholeheartedly with McCain’s concept of “a culture of life”, but you can’t say that you want to encourage adoption and then oppose same-sex couples adopting. You can’t pledge to support families after defining “family” in a very narrow way. This is what I want: Adoption to be normalized in our culture to the point that it is part of the family-planning discussion of most couples, for adoption to be normalized to the point that the process is quick, clean, inexpensive, and open for all sorts of alternative relationships for the birth parents. Remove the stigma, plain and simple. I want marriage and adoption equality. I want a basic, good, standard of living to be a human right. I want comprehensive sex education, and cheaper and safer birth control. I want unwed, poor, or young parents to be treated with respect and love. I want this culture to take a stand and assist against domestic violence. I can guarantee you, that if these things are fixed, abortion will take care of itself; it’ll become obsolete except for medical necessity. You give people better accessible choices, they will make better decisions. In fact, that to-do list will fix a great deal of social ills: they are all connected.

I am pro-choice because I am pro-life; All lives.

So many Obama supporters aren’t just walking with heads held high because “their candidate won”, but because those last shreds of fear are melting away. Yes, there is the social-psychological aspect of being on a “team” and winning. But look at the campaign, look at the people and their motivations, listen to their stories:

We didn’t wait for someone to come and unchain us; we unlocked the shackles with ourt voice and our vote.

It looks like Proposition 8 passed in California. I would normally be very angry, and indeed I am irritated. It is in my nature to gripe and rail against injustice, I will admit it. I can be quite the curmudgeon. However, in this moment, I have achieved the state of soul that is perhaps the ideal for my type, which is a nose for injustices buttressed by motivation and hope. My real reaction: “Game On”. I’m not itching for a fight anymore; I’m itching to get to work. The work of healing, fixing, and reconciliation. Let’s face it, we can be as angry as we want, and we deserve to be, but we also need to be multi-lingual in Hope. People vote for things like Prop 8 out of fear, just read the stories. Never has it been appropriate, never more affordable, never more necessary, to be Peace-Mongers.

I won’t pretend that this is all going to get fixed in one term, or even two.

Barack Obama is not a Hero because he will save us; he is a Hero because he will inspire and represent us. It is a very meager sampling of people that cannot see themselves reflected to some degree in him, his family, or his campaign. The bonus is that he did it by appealing to our inner-angels, not our inner-demons. He decried policy without demonizing people. For me, Barack Obama represents even better something that I’ve been complimented on before and what I really want to be: he’s a True Liberal. I differentiate this because it means that a person will seek the path of the most responsible freedoms, without dismissing tradition just because it’s tradition. When I know that someone won’t be an ideological genuflector, my trust in their leadership increases exponentially.

This election season brought us to the social edge, and an Obama victory was our deliverance. What do I mean by this? I suppose the best example I can give is an anecdote that Mary gave about local commissioner Kathleen Hudson several years ago. She said things about Jews and the LGBT community that were so vile and inflammatory, it brought people “to the edge” and made them peer into the ideological abyss. People could no longer be neutral, and they saw the slippery slope of what they could become by allowing such bigotry to masquerade as normalcy. Maybe these were things people thought at one time or another, but when they saw it take shape in a public forum, they shuddered at the reflection. That’s what this election was like for me to watch: I saw some of the most bigoted, racist, xenophobic, homophobic (not just heterosexist), and anti-Muslim spectacles in my lifetime. On this precipice, I was angry, but I knew that these undercurrents needed full exposure, so that people could look over that edge before unwittingly falling into that abyss. Those were the birth pains for this part of our history. Barack Obama’s election is the midwife to a new age.

There will still be pains, but we can no longer go back. We not only saw a battle between base-minded fearful populism and the empathetic examination of justice and mercy, we saw the victory of the latter. This may not be THE Mountaintop, but it is one of them.

Look at the vista spread before us: this is America. My parents promised me this day would come. Someone told me that nothing would change except their taxes. If that becomes so, then I swear it will not be because of a lack of effort on my part.

I believe.

We will have justice.

We will have freedom.

We will have mercy.

For all.

Yes We Can.

The Closing Argument.

Jamie Citron — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:36:42 EDT

Yes, government must lead the way on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and our businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But all of us must do our part as parents to turn off the television and read to our children and take responsibility for providing the love and guidance they need. Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately, but at this defining moment, all of us must summon the strength and grace to bridge our differences and unite in common effort – black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; Democrat and Republican, young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight, disabled or not.
- Senator Barack Obama

Jennifer Beals and Ilene Chaiken in Lakewood, Ohio to Campaign for Obama

Jamie Citron — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:55:18 EDT

Lakewood Ohio residents, Dawn & Brad, had a surpise visit Saturday from some guest canvassers.

Read about it below:

On Saturday, October 25, some lucky Lakewood residents were greeted by a special canvassing crew. Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, the L-Word) and L-word creator and executive producer Ilene Chaiken stopped by a local Lakewood neighborhood canvassing session for Sen. Barack Obama's campaign. After a brief meet and greet at the home of Chuck & Betsy Shaughnessy with the Lakewood-based volunteers, Jennifer and Ilene were quickly trained on canvassing protocol for the Obama team's Campaign for Change, and joined by Lakewood's own Karolyn Isenhart, they stepped out onto our streets to knock on some Lakewood doors and talk to voters.

This year's presidential election has seen an unprecedented level of interest and involvement throughout the United States, with the Obama campaign growing into the largest citizen-powered political organization that the country has ever seen. Everyone from schoolteachers to nurses to plumbers -- and yes, even a few celebrities -- have participated in the presidential contest on a grassroots level, with the hopes of delivering the country some much-needed change.

We're all together.

Jamie Citron — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:16:48 EDT

"With the challenges and crises we face right now, we cannot afford to divide this country by race or class or region; by who we are or what policies we support. There are no real parts of the country and fake parts of the country. There are no pro-America parts of the country and anti-America parts of the country. We all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old, rich, poor, gay, straight, city-dwellers. Farm dwellers. It doesn't matter! We're all together."
-Senator Barack Obama
Richmond, Virginia
October 22, 2008

Click the image below to watch the full clip:

The Liberal Libertarian point of view. A message to Obama, McCain, and everyone else.

Link48010 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:15:56 EDT

Yep. I'm a liberal libertarian. Let's break it down a little bit to let people know how exactly someone can be both of those at once, but first a little bit of history about myself. I've lived in rural Colorado for many years now, previous to that I lived in the fairly large city of Denver Colorado. I have both large city and small town values instilled in myself. Second, my parents where foster parents for as long as I can remember (I am their real son), I've seen more kids than I can remember flow in and out of my home, all of which expanding my knowledge and open mind to so many different point of views and ways of life. I've seen people from every corner of the country, richer kids from corperate America, struggling people on the verge of bankrupcy, and as hard as it was, the worst side of society, abusive parents or families, physical, sexual, menally, all of the above. I know how bad it can get, and yet I know how good it can get as well. My parents raised me to be open to other way of living, to other points of views, to accept people for who they are, and finally, to respect everyone I come into contact with. It is that which makes us different that makes us great was the philosophy that I was raised around, and I've lived my life by it.

Enough about myself now. Back to my original point, Liberal libertarian follows two normally different views, but I've found the way people. Liberal, the dreaded L word and one that's normally associated with Democrats and the left wing. I've very liberal an social and human issues. Torture, any form of it should be banned. Gay Marriage, I think it should be allowed but my views on that are completely personal (more on that later). Discrimination, why are we still living in the past?

this one I'm going to rant on a little more. Libertarian now, a term previously given to republicans(although I don't think the current generation really can use this term anymore) and the conservative right wing. It's pretty obvious, I support the smallest government possible. A government that doesn't get into anyones lives at all or as little as possible. The Patriot act, what ever happened to the Right to Privacy and the Constitution? The recent Bailout or Rescure, whatever. Obama keeps saying that it's an important first step and that we need to look back on how we got into this situation to begin with, I humbly disagree, but I don't agree with McCain either (as he voted for it then showed a stance against it later saying, "We need to get the government out of the business of bailing out banks"). What we need to do is bring the budget under control and have no use for 700 billion dollars, the government shouldn't have that much in it's yearly budget to begin with. Cutting spending by reforming or eliminating projects is the way. Ron Paul, look him up, ridding us of the IRS, cutting earmarks to almost nothing, a non-interventualism policy saving billions in the military, starting fair trade to encourage economic growth, eliminating the income tax, all fo these are brilliant ideas and can easily be acomplished with a reduction in beurocricy and over bloated and inefficient government policies. There is a reason the IRS is slow in calculating taxes, and obviously we can do better in a way that spends less money. I am tired of paying someone to take my money and then to mismanage it later. This libertarian view is also the reason I can't say "legal" or "illegal" about Gay marriage, now if I had to chose either, yes I support gay marriage 100%. )One of my foster brothers came from lesbian parents and was one of the best kids to ever cross my threshold, bankrupcy and the loss of their house was the reason he was placed in foster care.) Now sit down and think about it, where in the Constitution does it say that the supreme court can say *anything* about marriage or who can marry? It's simple, it doesn't. First of all, nothing government related should have anything to do with gay marriage, it should be a church issue since marriage is from a religious foundation. Second, why is it that being married effects your standing with the government, example the income tax? It shouldn't, and never should have. Being married in a religious ceremony should have nothing to do with the government. I want to go the other direction with the government and say that, "anyone can be married as long as the church is willing to accept it, but in order to effect standing in any way, shape, or form, you must apply for a domestic partnership." What this would basically do is to reduce the title Marriage to just that, a title. If your married but don't have a domestic partnership, your treated like two individual people, if you have a domestic partnership but not married, then you get the same benefits as a current married couple does. This sets everyone on equal terms as people cannot be turned away from a domestic partnership, and the religious sect can not be upset because it doesn't give the government the power to say that gay marriage is legal or not. It keeps the LGBT community happy because they have the same equal rights as everyone else, and gives the religious side nothing to complain about. Now that's one of my most extreme possitions on things. This stance puts me at some opposition to both the religious side as I'm reducing the idea of Marriage, and many LGBT people want to be able to marry people, I understand this, but like abortion, I can see no simple "yes" or "no" that will please anyone, logically this is the best solution I can find myself.

Now the reason I'm supporting Obama is because my social and humanity issues take priority on how the government is run. As long as the government is sensitive to our rights, it can be as big as it wants for the time being if that's what it takes to mend the economic crisis.

Two weeks out!

Jamie Citron — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:42:01 EDT

Believe it or not, Election Day is just two weeks away. We need all hands on deck as we work to turn the page on the last eight years of failed policies and divisive politics promoted by George Bush, usually with the backing of John McCain, that have been so hurtful to the LGBT community. And we can, in fact, bring the change our community desperately needs. We’re close. But we all need to work as hard as we ever have over the next 14 days to make sure we cross the finish line.
I’m asking you to not just spend some time over these last 14 days helping us get out the vote. I’m also asking you to mobilize your network of supporters, contacts, and friends – and ask them to do the same.
PLEASE, IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, TAKE GOTV WEEKEND OFF AND HELP US TURN OUT VOTERS
This campaign has built an unprecedented field program that has successfully contacted millions of voters. But we can’t let up in the final days. Help us meet our ambitious goals over the final days. There are so many states in play this year, which means there’s most likely a battleground state within driving distance of wherever you may be right now. To find out where we need YOUR help the most, and to sign up to help out in that state, please check out our Drive for Change program here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/driveforchange
CALL EVERYONE YOU KNOW, AGAIN, AND ASK THEM TO VOTE OBAMA-BIDEN
Whether or not you can take GOTV weekend off and travel to a battleground state, you can still help out from your home. We’ve got two tools that can help you reach out to people you have relationships with and talk to them about the importance of voting for Barack and Joe. The first, Hometown Pride, helps you brainstorm all the people you know “back home.” Check it out here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/hometownpride
The second, for those of you with iPhones, is a handy application that prioritizes your contacts by key battleground states, and keeps track of your results in one place. Find it here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/iphone
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OR AN OP-ED ABOUT WHY YOU SUPPORT THE TICKET
You are a leader in the LGBT community, and people care about what you have to say. In these last weeks, it’s important that LGBT people hear from you about why you support the Obama-Biden ticket. Help us spread the word about Barack’s record on issues important to our community. We’ve created a Letter to the Editor tool that makes it easy to submit a letter to the editor of your local LGBT paper. It’s at http://my.barackobama.com/page/speakout/prideletter?js=true. Of course, you should also consider submitting an Op-Ed. If, while you’re writing, you’ve got a question about where Barack stands on an issue, you can find all the information you should need under the Resources section at http://pride.barackobama.com.
CALL VOTERS FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME
Finally, you can also phone bank callers in key states right from the comfort of your couch. We’ve got a tool that will link you with voters we need to contact in battleground states, that you can access online. You can also get a group of friends or supporters together to participate in this easy way. Check it out at http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php.
I also want to extend a personal thank you for everything you have been doing to make sure we win in November. The LGBT community has come together and worked hard to make sure LGBT voters understand the vast contrasts between Barack and John McCain on the issues we care about. I know a lot of that hard work has come from you, and from the work you’ve done to inspire the people around you to step up and make a difference. Thank you for that, and thank you for what I know you will do over these last few weeks to help us win on November 4th.
And please forward these tools to everyone you think will find them helpful!
Thanks,
Dave Noble
National LGBT Vote Director
Obama for America

"The prospect of McCain appointments to high court should scare us all"

Jamie Citron — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:45:33 EDT

Paul Smith, the lawyer who successfully argued Lawrence v. Texas in front of the Supreme Court, had the following to say about what hangs in the balance on November 4th when it comes to judges:

IF YOU CARE about the rights of LGBT citizens, the two most important things you can do in the next few weeks are to vote for Barack Obama and to persuade friends and family to join you. Without for a moment diminishing the importance of the ongoing California initiative fight (which is itself huge), the ground zero for the movement pursuing LGBT equality right now is the presidential election. Either we will go backward, losing key rights we now have and leaving the country in the hands of those who offer at best their grudging “tolerance” (the term Sarah Palin used in the debate), or we go forward with real equality within our grasp.

One reason, of course, is that John McCain opposes every single legislative proposal for greater LGBT rights, whether it is the hate crimes bill, or protection from employment discrimination, or repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” This is a guy who says we shouldn’t even be able to adopt children! Barack Obama, by contrast, is supportive every time.

But another, even more important reason for electing Barack Obama is the Supreme Court, which now hangs in the balance. And that is particularly true with regard to LGBT issues. In 2003, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to argue Lawrence v. Texas, the path-breaking Supreme Court case holding all sodomy laws unconstitutional. Lawrence not only eliminated the odious laws that had been used for many years to keep LGBT persons in a second-class status, it also laid the foundation for future progress in LGBT rights. Without it, our community’s future would look much different.

BUT WHERE ARE we now? We won Lawrence 6-3, but one of those who supported us, Justice O’Connor, has been replaced by the strictly conservative Samuel Alito. So the Lawrence majority is very likely reduced to 5-4 already. And one or more of those in the majority are likely to leave the court in the next four years.

If those departing justices are replaced by John McCain appointees, he has made it perfectly clear where they will stand. When asked in August at pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Forum which of the current justices he would not have appointed, McCain named four of the five remaining members of the Lawrence majority — Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer. He favors instead justices like the court’s current very conservative bloc — Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito.

President Obama, by contrast, would be likely to appoint justices like the four whom McCain rejected. When asked at Saddleback which justices he would not have appointed, he mentioned Justices Thomas and Scalia.

It is not just progressives who see this election as the turning point for the Supreme Court for the rest of our lives. Last February, noted conservative legal scholars Stephen Calabresi and John McGinnis endorsed John McCain for president, writing in the Wall Street Journal that his nomination was the “best option” to preserve what they called the “ongoing restoration of constitutional government.”
Translation: If John McCain wins, we can expect new justices who will work with the current conservative bloc to turn back the clock on a whole series of important constitutional precedents protecting individual rights.

Would a McCain court really overrule Lawrence? It’s hardly a long shot. The case as written by Justice Kennedy is closely tied analytically to the constitutional right to choose to have an abortion. If the latter goes (as it almost surely would if McCain wins) the Lawrence case would be left hanging by a thread.

BUT THE RELEVANCE of the Supreme Court in this election goes far beyond Lawrence. The court could very well be faced in the next few years with constitutional challenges to state decisions not to recognize other states’ marriages or the military ban or state laws that prohibit employers and landlords from discriminating based on sexual orientation. How those questions are answered will have a profound impact on the lives of LGBT Americans.

And even outside the context of LGBT issues, future court terms will address a whole variety of other critical issues, ranging from the power of the president to engage in detention and surveillance, to the First Amendment, affirmative action and who knows what else. The court plays a unique role in our society. And its appointees have life tenure.

Many of you have probably heard arguments about the Supreme Court in prior presidential election years, only to see things not change too much. But I’m here to tell you this election matters exponentially. People may have seemed to cry wolf in the past. But the days when Republican presidents appointed surprise moderates or progressives are now past. So as a community, we have every reason in the world to support Sen. Obama this year. We have a chance to see a president who has championed our rights his entire career. It’s not a chance we should pass up.

Pass this on. Enough is enough.

Krismiss — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:19:36 EDT

The McCain-Palin campaign and the Republican National Committee launched a massive robocall campaign on Thursday designed to alarm voters about Barack Obama's past association with former radical Bill Ayers. The committee may be violating state law in the process.

http://www.youtube.com/v/ManvViFZ4l4

This goes beyond the limits of spin and smear.

It wasn't enough to bring up Ayers, wasn't enough to bring up Jeremiah Wright, and then imply that Barack Obama "isn't like other Americans" who love the U.S.

It wasn't enough to challenge a voter registration group, and then imply that
Obama himself was committing voter registration fraud

After saying at the last Presidential debate that he "didn't care about some old washed up terrorist", McCain is now endorsing a mass-voicemail campaign about Ayers to make people afraid of Barack Obama.

Terrorism by definition is the attempt to coerce through fear.

No matter who you vote for, it's time to say "enough" to the politics of fear.

"One more reason to be proud of my hometown"

Jamie Citron — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:05:20 EDT

I wanted to share with you the following email I received this morning from Obama Pride Chicago member, Michael R.

I'm a volunteer with Obama for America in Chicago. I'm doing everything I can here to support the campaign-- I even threw a house party and encouraged my friends to donate. But since Illinois is already pretty blue, I wanted to find ways to expand impact I can make.

That's what makes Hometown Pride such a great idea. I grew up in Florida, so I have dozens of old friends in this important state. By contacting five or more friends back home, I'm making a difference where it counts the most. So far, this is who I've reached out to:

My Mother-- I forwarded information about the campaign to her, and she passed it along to eight of her friends. They've started volunteering, making donations, and-- most importantly-- talking to their friends as well.

My Best Friend-- he's gay like me, but he was misinformed about a lot of Obama's positions on GLBT issues.

Summer Coworker-- It was only a summer job during college, but he and I email from time to time. Asking him to get his friends in the loop was a way to reach out to people I never would have met myself.

My "Aunt & Uncle"-- we're not really related, but I made sure my longtime family friends know how important this election is. When people are like family, they listen differently, and I think they really wanted to know what I thought.

My "Long Lost Friend"-- I hadn't spoken to her in a year, and a phone call about this historic campaign was the perfect excuse. She'd planned to vote for Obama, but didn't know about the registration deadlines. She registered online while we were catching up.

Participating in Hometown Pride is easy, and it puts my efforts where the campaign needs them most. Sometimes people just need to hear from someone they know to get excited. Best of all, come November, when my friends help send Barack Obama to the Whitehouse, I'll have one more reason to be proud of my hometown.

LGBT Activists Headed to Columbus, OH

Jamie Citron — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:06:45 EDT

Gay and Lesbian friends of Michelle and Sen. Barack Obama from Chicago and LGBT activists from coast-to-coast are converging on Columbus for a Weekend of Action to Win Ohio, October 18th and 19th, sponsored by Obama Pride.

The event kicks off at 9 a.m. at UFCW Union Hall, 4510 East Main St., Columbus, with a short rally. Participants will then fan out to canvass neighborhoods in Central Ohio critical to all Democratic candidates in the coming election.

Personal friends of the Obamas who will be firing up Columbus’ LGBT volunteers include:

Mary Morten, interim executive director for the Chicago Foundation for Women, which is one of the world’s largest women’s funds.

Dan Sprehe, a Chicago LGBT activist who worked on Obama’s 2004 Senate Campaign.

Kevin Thompson, Sen. Obama’s 2004 “Bodyman.” In the world of politics, that’s a personal assistant who travels with a candidate and takes care of everything from transportation and lodging to keeping the candidate’s favorite snacks and pens on hand.

Marsha Botzer, a National Co-Chair of Obama Pride America. She has served as co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Board of Directors. Botzer is also a founding member of Equal Rights Washington and founded Seattle’s Ingersoll Gender Center, an organization that serves the transgender community.

Jane M. Saks, founding executive director of the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago.

Additionally, a bus of 50-plus LGBT activists from Massachusetts will make the trip to join the effort.

The canvass will run for two days, with four-hour shifts being assigned at the rally. Those who can’t attend the rally, but still want to participate in the canvass in the should contact Sean Pflendler at spfendler@ohiodems.org. And those without cars will be partnered with drivers.

Voices from the Field: Ben Z.

Jamie Citron — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:21:20 EDT

Obama Pride Chicago hit the doors of Davenport, Iowa this past weekend working hard to ensure an Obama Victory on November 4th. Obama Pride member Ben Z. reports:

Obama Pride Chicago joined nearly 100 other local Obama supporters on Saturday on a three hour bus ride to the Obama field office just outside of Davenport, Iowa. As it happened, John McCain was holding a rally downtown at the same time we were set to knock on doors in the city's precincts. His presence in the Quad Cities made us even more fired up to get out into the neighborhoods and get out the vote for Obama…

Read the rest of Ben Z.'s post HERE.

Or, plan your own target state trip by emailing us at pride@barackobama.com

Help Barack Win Wisconsin

Lakefront Democrats for Obama — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:11:49 EDT

GET ON THE BUS with volunteers from the 42nd Ward to help Barack win Wisconsin.

We have been reassigned to Wisconsin. We will get back to everyone with new details ASAP but I'm told that our canvassing location will be in Southeast Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Racine or Kenosha).

I would like to invite you to AGAIN join me in traveling to a battleground state to campaign for Barack Obama on Saturday, October 25 through Sunday, October 26.

Since Gov. Sarah Palin started scaremongering against Barack Obama last weekend, John McCain's rallies have turned into surreal displays of open bigotry. In Minnesota this weekend, McCain finally tried to tamp down some of the hate—before continuing his attempt to associate Obama with Bill Ayers in the same gathering. The following three links are videos of his angry and hate-filled supporters, including a disraught woman who tells McCain she is scared of Obama because he is an "Arab."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiESklGDuH4&feature=user

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E&feature=related

We need you on ground now more than ever in the battleground state of Wisconsin to show these hate filled McCain supporters that no candidate can win the White House by utilizing racism and fear to motivate voters.

We are still renting a bus for the trip this time - and SEATS ARE ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS. The bus will leave at 6:30 am from a location in the 42nd Ward to be determined. Otherwise, volunteers can travel on their own or car caravan with the group to our office destination.

We will canvas in Wisconsin from 11AM to 4PM on Saturday and Sunday and then return to Illinois Sunday evening.
IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON ATTENDING PLEASE FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING SIGN-UP FORM AND EMAIL IT BACK TO michigan.obama.volunteers@gmail.com or fax to 312-278-0001.

You can also call Jacqui de Leon at (773) 661 - 9349 or (949) 292 - 5119 should you have any questions.

DATES:
( ) Saturday, October 25 - Sunday, October 26
( ) I can travel Saturday only

CONTACT INFO:
First Name:
Last Name:
Phone: ( ) - ( ) cell ( ) home ( ) business Preferred Email:

TRANSPORTATION:
Do you need transportation? Y/N
Do you have a car you can drive? Y/N
If yes, would you be able to drive other volunteers in your car? Y/N
If so, how many? ___

LODGING:
Do you need information on local hotels? Y/N
Do you need information on shared housing? Y/N

Obama Pride celebrates National Coming Out Day

Jamie Citron — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:09:13 EDT

A message from LGBT Vote Director, Dave Noble:

Today is National Coming Out Day, an occasion in the LGBT community when we all take special pride in living our lives openly, no matter our sexual orientation or gender identity. I’m encouraged today, as every day on this campaign, by the huge numbers of out activists playing an important role in our campaign. We have organized Obama Pride networks in almost every state, and every day we are talking to fellow members of our communities about the importance of this election for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
We’ve got just 23 days left to make sure we elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and finally turn the page on the policies and politics of the current Administration. While we come out today to family and friends, don’t forget to also “come out” to a battleground state and knock on doors over a weekend before Election Day! Our Chicago LGBT team is out in the field and we want you to join us. Email us at pride@barackobama.com and let us know where and when you can come out – for change!

Change We Need Rally in Indy

Krismiss — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:11:44 EDT

Am I glad I signed up for barackobama.com! I got an e-mail invitation for the rally, RSVP'd for Dante and myself, and waited excitedly for morning to come. I happened to not have class at all, and the 12:00 start time was ideal since the baby doesn't have to be picked up from daycare until 6pm, so plenty of travel time. Dante was excused from school, and he found out he wasn't the only one!

I don't think I've left the house early or on time since I became a mom, and Wednesday was no exception. However, we did arrive in the area of the Fairgrounds at 10:20, and the doors opened at 10, so we weren't doing badly. I had to park on the street a few blocks away, and there were lots of sidewalk booths selling Obama merchandise. Dante got a lot of compliments on his shirt as we walked.

This line stretched around the arena but moved quickly. Everyone there was very excited, and it was easy to chat up people in the line. Lots of kids.

We didn't get very "good" seats, all the way in the back of the bleachers, but I'm still glad we went. The place was absolutely packed. The Star said there were over 12,000 people. Evan Bayh gave a wonderful introductory speech and got more than few standing ovations.

Finally, the police escort with Barack Obama arrived (just on time) and he took the stage. I knew I wasn't going to hear too much more than what's already being said on the stump, but it we were excited anyway, and it was important to me that Dante have this opportunity to see Sen. Obama in person, even at a distance. More important that the speech perhaps was the comaraderie of the crowd. Everyone was happy. During the music that played before and after, people danced in the stadium. I know that I was not the only one sans dry eyes when Barack took the stage and then again during the wrap-up.

And that was the thing: the joy. It was palpable. At least in my section, there was no anger. A couple mentions of McCain or Bush got the collective boo, but nothing got nasty. Everyone was just happy to be there. I think it was important that Dante saw that, even if he didn't understand everything being said or if his attention wandered; here was someone that wasn't just unique in the history of the presidency because of their ethnicity or policies, but because of the kind of crowd he drew, the quality of the people supporting him, and his ability to be pragmatic and inspiring at the same time.

Everyone took note when he said "if" he got to be President, and a few contested this loudly. He laughed, saying he was "superstitious".

I saw every kind of person there, from every class, heritage, and religion. Sikh men walking unbothered with dignity, and women in beautiful hijab in a crowd of size and demographic that could have made them nervous. WASP professors clasping arms with young guys in baggy pants and do' rags. I only know those details because like I said, we were all friends there.

The presence and ideas of Sen. Obama don't toss the meat of contention to the mob. He shows hope and empowerment. I will say, personally, that he lends some dignity to those years when I was on one sort of public assistance or another, either being called white trash directly, or having someone who didn't know better talking to me about "lazy people sponging off the system" (and the look of shock when I showed them my Food Stamp card).

Obama speaks of everyone's struggles. He highlights problems that sociologists have been writing about for decades, but that until now have been ignored by what I consider the politicizing of humanity. People are not policy and sound bites. They are people, and they all have potential. Sometimes they need help and hope. Everyone does at one time or another.

I like a person that can talk about class problems without inciting class warfare. At one point Barack Obama pointed out that McCain was a man who stood against government-sponsored health insurance when he himself receives his insurance from the government! His point that helping people financially and educationally, trying to level the playing field, wasn't about "redistribution"; it's about fairness.

The immense diversity of the crowd jumping, clapping, and cheering for this man, as well as the mood of joy and hope, makes Obama's quality as a human being and as a leader apparent. Well, at least to me, the 12,000 people in attendance, and everyone across America that are ready to, and already are, fighting for change and dignity.

Obama Pride at the Debate

Jamie Citron — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:30:22 EDT

Members of Obama Pride Nashville woke early in the morning to attend a pre-debate rally on the Belmont campus today!

Don't forget to join Obama Pride Nashville and watch the debate tonight.

SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
TIME-DATE: 9 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Oct. 7.
PLACE: Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
SUBJECT: Issues raised by audience members and submitted by Internet participants, in town-hall format.
MODERATOR: NBC's Tom Brokaw.

Write About It.

Jamie Citron — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:52:24 EDT

Have something to say?

Want to share with the LGBT community why you support Obama?

The most powerful voice is yours. Write a letter to the editor today.

Click the icon below (or click 'write a letter to the editor' in the TAKE ACTION section above) and get started. Don't know what your local LGBT paper is? No problem, we have them listed for you. Not sure what to say? We have talking points at the ready to help you get started. You are one click away from making your voice heard in a way that will spread Barack's message to those who need to hear it, our community.

Writing a letter to the editor is an important way to keep our movement growing, as the LGBT press is an effective and targeted way to reach undecided LGBT voters. In addition to promoting Barack’s message of equality, your letters will play a crucial role in inspiring other supporters to get involved.

Biden v. Palin: Who Won the Debate?

Lakefront Democrats for Obama — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:12:50 EDT

Vote in our Online Poll: Who won the Vice Presidential Debate?

Click here to vote:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2dfypegfltaz13u/start

"We're going to be the edge."

Jamie Citron — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:52:50 EDT

“It's going to be really close in Florida, but my hope is that when Barack Obama wins, we're going to know that those were LGBT votes. And last time they used us as a wedge, but this time we're going to be the edge.”

Cynthia Nixon, of Sex & The City fame, stumped for Obama in South Florida on October 1st and drove home the fact that in tight races such as Florida, it could all come down to the LGBT Vote. The South Florida Blade reports:

"I've never done this before,” said Cynthia Nixon, to a standing-room only crowd. “I have never flown to another state to campaign for somebody. I've never made a speech on behalf of a presidential candidate. I've never given the maximum amount I am allowed by law to give to a Presidential candidate. But I have done those three things this month...I believe we are at a moment in our history when we need to say, ‘We're going the wrong way."

Speaking at the Wilton Manors GLBT Get Out The Vote center, Nixon urged a crowd of LGBT Floridians to get involved, sharing with the crowd her own passionate committement to Obama and the reasons she decided to get involved for the first time.

She noted Obama’s support for gay-inclusive anti-discrimination laws in Illinois while he was a state senator; she also praised Obama’s running mate Sen. Joe Biden, who wrote the federal Violence Against Women Act.

Who is the LGBT candidate?

Jamie Citron — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:48:57 EDT

Huffington Post contributor, and Obama volunteer, Tanene Allison spent some time comparing the web presence and policy positions of Obama and McCain on LGBT issues.

Oftentimes in an election season, you hear the familiar cry from disillusioned voters that there really is no substantial difference between the two main candidates. In this election, that isn't the problem we face. A read-through of the platforms of the two parties and the policy proposals of the candidates quickly calls out their starkly different beliefs of where this nation should head. In particular, on the topic of LGBT Rights, the difference between the candidates could not be more stark.

For Tanene's full comparison, CLICK HERE.

McCain Not Sure on "LGBT" Issues

Krismiss — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:08:42 EDT

When a student at Concord High School asked John McCain if he would die or get Alzheimer's disease while in office because he of his age, the 71-year-old Arizona Senator took the question seriously at first, noting "I work 24/7, I'm very active, and people will judge by the rigor and enthusiasm of our campaign" Then, he added in a McCain-like touch. "And thanks for your question, you little jerk," McCain joked, as a crowd of a several hundred in a packed auditorium laughed. He paused, then added "you're drafted."

The candidate may have thought he had taken his most hostile question. But the high school students at Concord didn't seem to be suffering from any lack of enthusiasm or guts as they queried the presidential candidate in their midst. Another student asked McCain what he would do on "LGBT" issues and on "workers' rights?"

McCain, paused, confused by the question. Someone in the crowd shouted out "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender." "I had not heard that phrase before," McCain said of LGBT. (It's a mark of the different planets the candidates from the two parties live on that McCain said this. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have long lists of "LGBT" supporters they've sent to reporters across the country).

McCain then explained that while he opposed discrimination, he also felt marriage was between a man and a woman and noted he supported the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military.The student, a junior named William Sleaster, then persisted, asking the candidate if he supported gay marriage or civil unions. McCain said "I do not." The student, standing at microphone across from the stage where McCain was speaking then declared "I came here to see a good leader. I do not."

The Senator seem surprised, but said he respected the student's views and his right to express them. "That's what America's about," McCain said. At the end of the hour long event, McCain came back to this point, looking at the student's direction and saying "we should be thankful" to live in a country where such frank discussions can happen.

--Perry Bacon Jr.

Michelle Obama: "He has never stopped pursuing that better world."

Jamie Citron — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:11:17 EDT

Michelle Obama states her case in The Advocate:

The World As It Should Be
By: Michelle Obama
In about a month, Americans will head to the polls to cast their votes for the next president of the United States. It will be a momentous day. But this presidential election has already changed our country in profound ways. The candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have smashed old barriers and broadened opportunities for all Americans. And I’m grateful to them -- both as a citizen and as a parent of two young girls.
But our country’s journey toward equality is not finished. It’s been five years since Lawrence v. Texas. It’s been 39 years since Stonewall. And we still have more work to do before we achieve equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans.
Election Day offers an opportunity to take another crucial step toward equality. Millions have joined this movement for change. People are hoping again -- believing again -- that we can come together to create a stronger, fairer nation. And on November 4 we’ll have a chance to put that hope into action.
Translating hope into action is something Barack has done for his entire career.
Barack and I met in Chicago 20 years ago. He thought the best way for me to know him was to get a sense of the work he cared about most. After college he had worked in neighborhoods that were devastated when steel plants shut down and jobs dried up. He’d been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to create new opportunities for their families. He asked me to come with him.
I watched as Barack took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and instantly connected with every person in that room. He gave the most eloquent talk about “the world as it is” and “the world as it should be.”
Too often, he said, we accept the distance between the two, and we settle for the world as it is -- even when it doesn’t reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves and find the strength to strive for the world as it should be.
Barack Obama, the 2008 presidential nominee, is the same man I fell in love with on that day 20 years ago. He has never stopped pursuing that better world.
As an Illinois state senator, Barack championed the law that amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, in housing, and in public places. In the middle of a tight race for U.S. Senate, Barack went on the record supporting a complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. As a U.S. senator, he voted to protect our Constitution from the stain of discrimination by voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment.
He has supported full funding for the Ryan White CARE Act and has pledged to implement a national HIV/AIDS strategy to combat the continuing epidemic in the United States. He has also spoken out against the stigma surrounding HIV testing, a stigma tied all too often to homophobia. And he’s led by example: On our trip to Kenya, we both took a public HIV test.
This is why Barack is running for president—because he believes that if we work together, we can build the world as it should be.
We all know what that world looks like.
It’s a world where we repeal laws like DOMA and “don’t ask, don’t tell” and oppose amendments that would write discrimination into our Constitution—because discrimination has no place in a nation founded on the promise of equality.
It’s a world where the federal government protects us all against hate crimes and we recognize that equality in relationship, family, and adoption rights isn’t an abstract principle but goes directly to whether all Americans can lead lives of dignity and freedom.

Hometown Pride: How to get started!

Jamie Citron — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:33:14 EDT

We are just weeks away from the most critical election of our lifetime and every vote counts. The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain could not be clearer and as LGBT people we know what's at stake. Senator Obama's LGBT Vote team is asking you to take part in a program unlike anything done before. Not only are we asking you to get involved where you live, but we are also asking you to make a difference where you are from. It's crucial to remember all the contacts we have – even if we don't live near them anymore – and talk to them, we can bring in the handful of votes that decide this election. LGBT Americans are from every corner of the country. Join us today and make a difference in a corner of the US that you know best.

Find three to five people back in your hometown who you think you could have a conversation with about Barack and Joe. When you talk with these people, tell them why you personally support Barack and Joe. These are your friends and people who know you, tell them your story.

Get Started Today.

Not sure who to talk to? Think about people you're still close to, like family members – but also think about people you might not have talked to in years. Think about:

Family members, Former Teachers, High School Friends, Your Piano Teacher, Sports or Drama Coach, an old Babysitter, Barber or Sunday School teacher. T-Ball Teammates, College Friends, Mentors and Professors. Your first boss and co-workers at the drive-in, bookstore or corner diner. What about your first boyfriend/girlfriend?

Not sure what to say? If you're talking about LGBT issues, we have some great talking points to help you start the conversation.

· John McCain has never once voted to progress LGBT equality. He voted against federal legislation that would protect LGBT people from being fired just for who they are, he believes gay people should not be able to serve in the military, visit their loved ones in the hospital and he isn't even sure we should be able to adopt.

· Barack Obama has a clear and consistent record in support of LGBT people. He promises to include me and other LGBT people in his vision of America and will work to make sure I am secure in my job, safe from hate crimes and equal in the eyes of the law.

· The Supreme Court is one vote away from overturning important decisions about personal privacy, like Lawrence vs. Texas and Roe vs. Wade, that protect all Americans from government intrusion – especially LGBT people.

Don't stop here. Do you know that your former high school English teacher is worried about social security? Is your softball coach or first boss worried about the struggling economy? Did your uncle just lose his job? Find out about Barack's plans to help every American HERE.

Friday Night

Jamie Citron — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:19:16 EDT

Don't forget to tune in to the first Presidential Debate this Friday night! The theme of this week's debate is Foreign Policy.

FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
TIME-DATE: 9 p.m. EDT, Friday, Sept. 26.
PLACE: University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
SUBJECT: Foreign policy.
MODERATOR: PBS' Jim Lehrer, "The NewsHour."

Find a place to watch with other supporters, or host an Obama Pride Watch Party and invite your friends who are still undecided.

Find details on all four debates HERE.

McCain between the lines

Krismiss — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:15:45 EDT

From McCain's Website:
Protecting Marriage

As president, John McCain would nominate judges who understand that the role of the Court is not to subvert the rights of the people by legislating from the bench. Critical to Constitutional balance is ensuring that, where state and local governments do act to preserve the traditional family, the Courts must not overstep their authority and thwart the Constitutional right of the people to decide this question.

The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation.

As with most issues vital to the preservation and health of civil society, the basic responsibility for preserving and strengthening the family should reside at the level of government closest to the people. In their wisdom, the Founding Fathers reserved for the States the authority and responsibility to protect and strengthen the vital institutions of our civil society. They did so to ensure that the voices of America's families could not be ignored by an indifferent national government or suffocated through filibusters and clever legislative maneuvering in Congress.

-----

Seriously, it's just like the Defense of Marriage Act where Bush pretty much flips the finger to a lot of Americans. All you have to do is add this unspoken phrase to the italicized parts: "Unless of course, you're gay or a single parent."

How original! What a Maverick! I mean, if you call "reform" going back to the Dark Ages.

Canvassing

Krismiss — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:17:24 EDT

What a positive experience! Of course, maybe I cheated just a bit by bringing my son along, because no one's really going to shut the door in an 8 year-old's face.

It was heartening to see so many Obama yard signs, even in what would be called a "typically Republican" suburb. One lady had a very prominently displayed No Soliciting sign, but an Obama yard sign as well, so when she warily answered the door I gave her an invitation to an economy roundtable being held tomorrow at Purdue. This cheered her up quite a bit, and when I asked her how she would describe her voting preference on Obama, she stated firmly "There is no other candidate. Period".

After checking back in at the field office, and on our way back to our car, I saw another parent from my son's school, and he crossed the street to speak with me about my car, the Barackmobile (If you've seen it, you know why). He asked how I thought things were going, and how I thought things would go even after the election. He seemed pretty wary, so I thought "McCain guy", but I launched into my Obama tribute anyway, highlighting among other things that he was the guy I wanted speaking with other head's of state, and that no matter what specifics got accomplished during his term, it would be a leg in the door for integrity and dignity, and more would follow.

He asked me if I thought people would accept him getting elected. I was like, "what?", and he explained under his breath, "ya know, because he's black" (I think I should explain at this point that my conversation partner was also a black man.) And I understood his hesitancy.

I said, "I know what you mean, I mean Dante had this little kid come up to him and say that's why he didn't know if he would vote for Obama if he was a grown-up."

And the guy said "See what I mean? Even little kids..."

But then I said, "I'll tell you what though: This is the president that, when I was a little girl, my parents promised me would come around. And from the first time I heard him speak, I knew that this might be the only chance, and I would be remiss if I didn't do what I could to help him get into office. Heck, my Dad was on the Barack website first, and invited *me* of all things. I've talked to a lot of positive people, and even one lady who said Obama was the only candidate, period. And that we were all in trouble if he didn't win. People are seeing it."

He lit up at that, and said "That's really cool. See, now you've inspired me, because I've been walking around, feeling all down. I don't think McCain can beat him, but you know..."

And when we parted ways, this man was visibly happy.

I wish, I just wish, that everyone could see the light in the eyes of people who support Obama. They're not afraid, they're not trying to hold on to something, to money, to prestige, nothing. It's just hope. Just the notion of having Barack around has made so many people visibly joyful. I saw that look in two little kids, probably just old enough to read, and they heard Barack was in town, and they gasped, like it was Christmastime and someone had promised them toys.

Barack does things that only the very rare heroes can do: he inspires, he mobilizes, he energizes, and all without demonizing. His charisma isn't superficial; it's to-the-bone confidence, and knowledge, and level-headedness. He's running for office not to control, but to inspire.

I see that look in people, and I know, we can be a better country. We can be better, and keep getting better. We just need this start. This is our shot to start pulling it all together. I don't want to wait another 4 years. I don't even want to wait until November.

This is for everyone. And the time is now.

An intolerable risk?

Jamie Citron — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:18:58 EDT

Two weeks ago in St. Paul, Minnesota, John McCain and the Republican Party justified continuing the discriminatory ban on LGBT Americans serving openly in the United States military by including a plank in their national platform extolling "the benefits of traditional military culture, and the incompatibility of homosexuality with military service." This was no surprise in light of Sen. McCain's longstanding support for the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. In fact, in a 2007 letter, McCain said that the law "unambiguously maintains that open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline." An intolerable risk? Barack Obama thinks differently. It's time for a change.

Few people know this better than Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first American casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Alva underscored the need to repeal Don't Ask, Don't' Tell and his support for Barack Obama in a YouTube video message HERE.

In a September 17th conference call with reporters, the campaign's LGBT Vote Program underscored Sen. Obama's strong belief that the key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should have no place in our military.

On the call, Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the first female three-star general, said Senator McCain is "out of touch with reality" and "reckless … to put aside the reality of our world and try to stick with a very old, outmoded way of thinking about people. We should be looking at people on the basis of merit and on the basis of performance… Senator Obama, in my view, is the perfect commander-in-Chief for the Twenty-First Century." Kennedy emphasized that our nation's security was particularly undermined when intelligence officers, like translators, are discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA), a West Point Graduate and Army JAG recruiter, told reporters that Barack Obama was prepared to "put the full force of his administration on repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and for that I applaud him and think that's exactly the right approach." Murphy also observed that "John McCain does not believe our military personnel are as professional as the twenty-three other NATO countries that allow their military members to serve openly."

It's clear that John McCain is wrong. After gay Navy linguist Jason Knight was discharged in 2005, he was recalled back to service and sent to Kuwait where he had the support of his commanders and colleagues. You can watch Knight's video message HERE.

Barack Obama's commitment to LGBT equality does not end with his vow to rescind Don't Ask, Don't Tell. As president, he also pledged full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and promised to sign into law LGBT inclusive hate crimes and employment nondiscrimination legislation

OUT in the Field: LGBT Students for Obama Penn State

Jamie Citron — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:31:20 EDT

Daniel Kolbe, working with Penn State Students for Obama, wants to make sure the LGBT community on campus is throwing it's weight behind Barack Obama and that LGBT and human rights issues are at the forefront of the debate. The Daily Collegian reports:

Daniel Kolbe said this election will directly affect how he lives his life.
"It's important to me to have the right to be an equal citizen in our country," said Kolbe, a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT).
Passionate about his beliefs, Kolbe is president of LGBT Students for Obama, created in March. Kolbe (junior-information sciences and technology) would like to bring LGBT issues into the spotlight this election by informing voters.
Both Kolbe and Zachary Zabel, president of Penn State Students for Barack Obama, said Obama has the community's best interests in mind.
"We want to basically try and bring a lot of LGBT and basic human rights issues to the front and have people look honestly at all the issues within the campaign and make informed decisions on who they are going to be voting for... Ultimately, considering the age of the average college students, this election is what's going to impact their future," Kolbe said.

OUT in the Field: Rebecca & Julia

Jamie Citron — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:20:05 EDT

Periodically, we at Obama Pride want to share with you the voices and views of LGBT Americans across the nation. The reasons why LGBT people choose to support Barack Obama for President are as diverse as our community itself. This week we bring you Rebecca & Julia from San Francisco, California. Check back often for other LGBT Voices in support of Obama.

We endorsed Barack Obama for president last fall and we want to tell you why.
First, let us introduce ourselves. We are Julia Adams and Rebecca Prozan. We have been together for 6 ½ years, 5 ½ of which we've had the fortune of legal recognition and protection as domestic partners. We met in law school. Julia has been committed to public interest law and social justice issues all her life and currently manifests that practice as an attorney focusing on plaintiff-side employment discrimination and tenant's rights. Rebecca has been deeply dedicated to public service, both pre and post law school, and currently serves as an Assistant District Attorney in San Francisco.
Prior to law school, Julia worked with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. There, she became very familiar with the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Currently, SLDN estimates that every single day two highly-trained, devoted Americans are fired from the military as a result of DADT. For more than a decade, thousands of lives have been ruined by this policy. While some of us may not choose to serve our country in this way, those who do should be able to do so openly and proudly. Obama has been clear – the only test should be a sense of duty and an ongoing willingness and capacity to serve our country, without consideration of one's sexual orientation.
Rebecca worked as the LGBT Community Liaison for San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. before attending law school. During that time, she helped organize the first public domestic partner ceremonies, which became an annual event during Mayor Brown's administration. The public ceremonies provided many people with their first view of same sex commitment ceremonies. This year, domestic partnership finally evolved into marriage rights for same sex couples in California. The issue of marriage equality is important to Californians, and Obama supports the extension of equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. Obama opposes Proposition 8, a discriminatory ballot initiative on the November 2008 ballot that seeks to amend the California Constitution to prohibit same sex marriage.
We are lucky to live in tolerant San Francisco, which is home to the most vibrant LGBT community in the country. However, we've noticed that San Francisco has become inaccessible for many. Like the rest of the country, our economic outlook is not as bright as it once was. Layoffs are more and more common and no longer a surprise to hear about. Families are leaving the City due to being priced out of our housing market and because the school system is failing. Public safety concerns continue to threaten our quality of life. And we would like to see a world where folks do not have to call the streets their home.
We trust Barack Obama to firmly and appropriately address these nuts and bolts issues once elected. Obama's experience as a community organizer gives us confidence that he understands how the White House will need to concretely step up and take action to turn things around. The fact that he and his wife recently paid off their graduate school loans, from the proceeds of one of Obama's books, demonstrates that the Obama family knows what it is like to work to make ends meet.
In addition, Obama had the good judgment to stand up and oppose the war in Iraq from day one. He knows that every day we fail to address global warming means another day less for humankind in the end.
We cannot wait another four years for action – Obama must win this November.

GET OUT THE VOTE IN GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN!

Lakefront Democrats for Obama — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:41:49 EDT

CHICAGO CANVASS - GET OUT THE VOTE IN GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN ON SEPTEMBER 27TH AND 28TH! http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gs7vtv

NEW VIDEO: Michelle at the LGBT Delegates Luncheon

Jamie Citron — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:24:15 EDT

Hitler's "Pro-Life" and Defense of Marriage Act

Krismiss — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:16:16 EDT

From another's web article: ---------------------------------------------- "The woman has the task of being pretty, and of bringing children into the world. That is not such a crude and old-fashioned idea as it sounds. The female bird cleans herself for her husband, and cares for the eggs. And in exchange, the male bird takes care of bringing home dinner. He also stands watch and fights away all enemies." - Joseph Goebbels Adolph Hitler's staunch anti-abortion policies are summarized by one historian: "On May 26, 1933, two pieces of penal legislation . . . prohibit[ed] the availability of abortion facilities and services, . . . resulting in a 65 percent increase in yearly convictions between 1932 and 1938, when their number reached almost 7,000. From 1935 on, doctors and midwives were obliged to notify the regional State Health Office of every miscarriage. Women's names and addresses were then handed over to the police, who investigated the cases suspected of actually being abortions. In 1936 Heinrich Himmler, head of all police forces and the SS, established the Reich's Central Agency for the Struggle Against Homosexuality and Abortion, and in 1943, after three years of preparation by the Ministries of the Interior and of Justice, the law entitled Protection of Marriage, Family, Motherhood called for the death penalty in 'extreme cases There is a difference between being anti-abortion and being pro-life. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We still don't have eyes to see, and the fact that Palin is not only on the ticket, but that they're getting the votes provesw it. This country is on the road to a nightmare. We have all the ingredients: just haven't built the camps yet. We need Barack Obama: not to tell us how to live, but to ensure that we have the freedom to do it.

Lawrence Goldyn, openly gay professor and mentor to Barack Obama, speaks to the Washington Blade

Jamie Citron — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:30:04 EDT

Around 1980, Lawrence Goldyn was an openly gay political science professor, an outspoken supporter of Civil Rights and a conduit for open discussion at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Not an easy thing to be on a campus known for its socially conservative leanings. Goldyn was also a mentor to a politically burgeoning Barack Obama. He recently sat down with the Washington Blade to talk about his experience teaching eighteen year old Obama.

Goldyn on Barack:

“He was remarkable in that he was not intimidated by a publicly gay figure and, in fact, was interested in learning from me, whether formally or informally. That required an extraordinary kind of confidence in an 18 or 19 year old — the kind that comes from somewhere deep inside, that was still finding its way into his adult personality.
“He demonstrated a kind of social courage, which has served him well and helped get him where he is today,” said Goldyn, who described himself as a strong supporter of Obama’s presidential campaign.

Barack on Goldyn:

“He was a wonderful guy,” Obama said of Goldyn in that interview. “He was the first openly gay professor that I had ever come into contact with, or openly gay person of authority that I had come in contact with... just his comfort in his own skin and the friendship we developed helped to educate me on a number of these issues.”

Colorado has its say

Jamie Citron — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:51:20 EDT

The Colorado Stonewall Democrats enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama today:

After the historic National Democratic Convention held in the Mile High City the Colorado Stonewall Democrats proudly endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States as the best candidate in this presidential race looking out for LGBT Americans. From hate crimes legislation to an inclusive ENDA and from HIV prevention to Gays in the Military, Senator Obama is on the right side of the issues. As demonstrated during Senator Obama’s acceptance speech at Mile High he, like millions of fair minded Americans believes that we can rise to our greater natures and find respect and a place at the table for LGBT Americans.

Quinn on Obama

Jamie Citron — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:18:11 EDT

The first openly gay New York City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn, joined 50 LGBT organizational leaders and Obama Pride New York for an Obama Pride Rally and mass endorsement on the steps on City Hall.

"I am confident . . . he will be the most pro-LGBT president we've had", said Quinn.

Barack talks to the Washington Blade

Jamie Citron — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:18:22 EDT

Recently LGBT newspaper The Washington Blade submitted a series of questions to Senator Obama regarding his potential Administration and the LGBT Community. Below are a few excerpts.

On Role Models

Blade: Do you have any role models who are openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender?
Obama: A college professor of mine helped me to see the lives of LGBT people from a different perspective. He was the first openly gay professor that I had ever come in contact with, or openly gay person of authority that I had come in contact with. And he was just a terrific guy. His comfort in his own skin and the friendship we developed helped to educate me on a number of these issues.

On Executive Appointments

Blade: Would you resume the practice started by President Clinton but discontinued by President Bush of creating a high-level White House staff position serving as liaison to the GLBT community?
Obama: I will make sure the voices of LGBT people are heard in the White House and I thought it was wrong that the Bush White House eliminated this position.

On Judges

Blade: Would you decline to nominate a qualified Supreme Court justice or cabinet member who had a history of anti-gay rulings?
Obama: I would have to consider the totality of the candidate’s record and qualifications. However, I think someone who has an established record of failing to support equal opportunities for all Americans would not fare well in an Obama-Biden administration.

On HIV/AIDS

Blade: President Bush has been praised for his AIDS relief efforts in Africa, but many domestic AIDS service providers say the U.S. focus on the epidemic abroad ignores growing infection rates here at home. How would your AIDS policies differ from President Bush’s and would you put a greater focus on the domestic problem?
Obama: President Bush has done a good job with international AIDS programs, but I think we need to do more, especially domestically. If elected, during my first year in office, I will develop and implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. That strategy will reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. Congress should pass the JUSTICE Act to combat infection within our prison population. And, as President, I will continue to confront the stigma — too often tied to homophobia — that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.

On DOMA

Blade: You have called for the full repeal of DOMA. If elected president, will you introduce legislation calling for its repeal during your first year in office?
Obama: I have long been on record opposing DOMA, and an Obama-Biden administration will work hard to ensure that we can pass a repeal of that law as soon as possible.

On the passing of Del Martin

Blade: Del Martin died on Aug. 27 — she and Phyllis Lyon, her partner of 55 years, got married in the first legal gay union in California in June — affording Phyllis many of the basic protections and rights granted to married couples, such as hospital visitations and estate planning issues. Do you envision a time when all GLBT citizens will have similar basic rights? During your administration?
Obama: Michelle and I were extremely saddened to learn about Del’s passing. Del committed her life to fighting discrimination and promoting equality.
As I have said before, I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all — a promise that certainly extends to the LGBT community. I do envision a time when we all enjoy that promise, but we have to work hard to get there. LGBT Americans deserve real change, and they deserve it now. Certainly as a nation we can all agree that discrimination has no place in our America. Same-sex couples face legal discrimination every day — that we can, and must, end — by repealing DOMA, providing federal rights and responsibilities to same-sex families, and supporting LGBT parents, to start. And we need to remember that it’s not just couples that need protection — we need to pass long overdue legislation that ends employment discrimination, enhances hate crimes protections, and repeals “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

Obama Looks to Lessons From Chicago in His National Education Plan

EsquireUK — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:31:37 EDT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7581501.stm

By SAM DILLON Published: September 9, 2008

CHICAGO — Senator Barack Obama learned how hard it can be to solve America’s public education problems when he headed a philanthropic drive here a decade ago that spent $150 million on Chicago’s troubled schools and barely made a dent.

If Elected ...Education

This series examines how the presidential candidates would handle the issues they would confront as president.

Drawing on that experience, Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, is campaigning on an ambitious plan that promises $18 billion a year in new federal spending on early childhood classes, teacher recruitment, performance pay and dozens of other initiatives.

In Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday, Mr. Obama used his education proposals to draw a contrast with Senator John McCain, his Republican opponent, and to insist to voters that he, more than his rival, would change the way Washington works.

Were he to become president, Mr. Obama would retain the emphasis on the high standards and accountability of President Bush’s education law, No Child Left Behind. But he would rewrite the federal law to offer more help to high-need schools, especially by training thousands of new teachers to serve in them, his campaign said. He would also expand early childhood education, which he believes gets more bang for the buck than remedial classes for older students.

Mr. Obama added a new flourish to his stump speech, promising for the first time on Tuesday to double federal spending on public charter schools while holding those with poor records accountable.

But more than most campaign blueprints, Mr. Obama’s education plan reflects his own work with Chicago’s public schools, campaign staff members and people who have worked with him said in interviews. His plan signals that he is looking to apply those lessons nationwide.

“Barack has been very engaged, very inquisitive about the dynamics of how do you improve public schools,” said Scott Smith, a former publisher of The Chicago Tribune who has collaborated with Mr. Obama on education projects here for a decade.

One of the biggest lessons Mr. Obama drew from his experiences in Chicago, associates said, is that student achievement is highly dependent on teacher quality.

In the two decades since Mr. Obama arrived in Chicago, its public schools have undergone a sweeping turnaround, from an education wasteland to a district that, while still facing major challenges, is among the most improved in the nation. The city has closed many failing schools and reopened them with new staffs, making it an important laboratory for one of the country’s most vexing problems.

The city closed the failing Dodge Elementary School, for example, in 2002 and reopened it as an academy where candidates for advanced degrees in education work in classrooms under master teachers while studying at a local university. Mr. Obama visited the school in 2005, liked what he saw and now proposes to create 200 such teacher residency programs nationwide. The goal, he says, would be to turn out 30,000 teachers a year to work in the toughest schools.

Mr. Obama’s views have drawn heavily from a cast of experts who helped mold the Chicago experience. Strategies for overhauling failing schools have come from Arne Duncan, who as chief executive of the Chicago public schools led the turnaround efforts. The senator derived his views on early childhood education in part from the work of a Nobel Prize-winning economist based in Chicago.

The scope of Mr. Obama’s plan has impressed many educators, but not everyone.

Michael J. Petrilli, a former Education Department official under Mr. Bush, said Mr. Obama’s plan was more comprehensive than Mr. McCain’s.

“That’s because Obama is proposing what somebody called a Christmas tree of new programs,” Mr. Petrilli said. “McCain is suggesting a couple of new things, but doesn’t think Washington should spend more on education than we already are.”

Mr. Obama’s interest in education extends back to his work as a community organizer here in the mid-1980s. In his memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” he describes a school system plagued by textbook shortages and teacher strikes. He carried those experiences with him to Harvard Law School, where he took courses on school issues taught by Christopher Edley Jr.

“Barack became committed to the notion that progress in school reform can’t come through volunteerism and professional aspiration alone,” said Mr. Edley, now dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley. “It has to be undergirded with a legal and regulatory structure that rewards success and goes after failure.”

Mr. Obama immersed himself in education issues after his return to Chicago, where he began lecturing at the University of Chicago Law School and joined the boards of two education foundations.

Chicago received $49 million from a $500 million endowment by Walter H. Annenberg, the billionaire publisher, for school reform efforts nationwide, and the city added $98 million in matching funds for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a philanthropic campaign that financed enrichment projects at a third of the city’s 600 schools.

Mr. Obama was nominated to the Challenge board and was elected chairman in 1995, said Ken Rolling, executive director of the group, which operated through 2001. Mr. Obama continued to teach law during his five-year unpaid tenure as board chairman, and he was twice elected to the Illinois Senate.

Several board members, including two university presidents, far outranked Mr. Obama in education experience.

“Let me say the room had no shortage of egos, including my own,” said Stanley O. Ikenberry, a board member who at the time was president of the University of Illinois. “It was unusual: here you had a person trained in the law chairing a board on school reform.” Still, he said, Mr. Obama won his colleagues’ respect.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/us/politics/10educate.html

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/nomaverick_ad/

Compare Obama and McCain on LGBT Issues

Jamie Citron — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:01:13 EDT

Obama Pride has released a comprehensive list of issue contrasts between Senator Obama and Senator McCain covering an array of topics. You can view it by CLICKING HERE or by visiting the resources section on pride.barackobama.com

Below is a sample of some of the issues covered, click above for the whole piece and spread the word! Please send to at least five of your friends and encourage them to do the same.

An Open Letter to the Grassroots Movement

RJ Redden — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:40:41 EDT

I have lived in Omaha, Nebraska for twelve years, and I have never been involved in a political campaign before, outside of some college experiences. This morning, however, I made my first financial contribution and now I'm writing my first blog. Why? It was an article in the World-Herald that inspired me to this action. I was having breakfast with a friend, also a Barack supporter. We started talking about this campaign and the challenges that Sarah Palin presents. The rallying of the evangelicals and social conservatives have played a significant role in the last two Presidential elections, as we know.

We all remember Karl Rove. We all remember the divisive, dirty tricks that were played to re-elect the "Boy Who Would Be King" (also known as President Bush). The only reason Palin scares us so much is that she rallies the same people who made the last eight years possible. The type of supporters she ralllies are fiercely loyal to their beliefs, and they are willing to walk on broken glass to get the McCain-Palin ticket elected.

At this point, my friend brought me the front page of the Omaha World-Herald. I'm paraphrasing here, but the article said that since Nebraska is not a winner take all state for electoral votes, that we actually may have an opportunity, in this district, to cast an electoral vote for Obama. This news was a shock to me, as I have assumed for years that my vote doesn't count in this state.

It was at that moment that I decided that I had to get involved. The stakes are simply too high to let McCain-Palin win. I am just as fiercely dedicated to my beliefs as Palin's followers are, and this time, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. Over the next sixty days, I am willing to donate my time and talents to the Obama campaign. I don't care if people laugh at me, or tell me to go away. I care that no matter what happens in the general election, my voice will be heard. I'm a proud American, and a thirty-four year old gay woman, and for the first time I feel like I count.

If you're reading this, you already know how I feel. The elections in 2000 and 2004 were won by a slim majority and a technicality. This election, let's show America what the words "grassroots movement" really means. If there's a little broken glass along the way, I'm quite willing to walk on it.

Obama Pride launches official Facebook page!

Jamie Citron — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:55:10 EDT

Obama Pride is now officially on Facebook. Join and find other supporters in your area, keep up with the blog, take a peek at new photos and videos from speeches and events around the country, register to vote, post and find Obama Pride activities near you.

JOIN TODAY!

WashBlade: "Biden called a proven advocate for gay rights"

Jamie Citron — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:14:50 EDT

Last week, Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. took the time to speak with some LGBT Delawareans about Vice Presidential Nominee Joe Biden:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s decision to pick Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as his vice presidential running mate drew immediate praise from gay activists in Delaware, who called Biden a strong and reliable friend of the gay community... He has voted for gay-supportive legislation and against anti-gay measures nearly every time such legislation came before the Senate during his 35-year tenure as a senator, according to Delaware activists.
"He’s a great choice for vice president,” said Steve Elkins, executive director of Camp Rehoboth, a gay social and community service organization in Rehoboth Beach, a Delaware resort town with a large gay community.
“Biden has always been very supportive of everything we’ve done,” Elkins said.
"We have reason to think he's very positive on all LGBT issues," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

CLICK HERE for the whole article.

Our Brothers & Sisters

Jamie Citron — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:06:34 EDT

Happy Labor Day!

CLICK HERE (or click the picture below) to watch a new Obama Pride video! It was originally premiered at the LGBT Caucus meeting at the Convention last week.

"When I am President of the Unites States, gays and lesbians will have somebody who will fight for equal rights for them, because they are our brothers and they are our sisters."
-Senator Barack Obama

Equality.

Jamie Citron — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:26:05 EDT

Last night, Barack Obama gave a landmark speech at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. Eighty thousand people were in attendance and another thirty eight million watched on TV. The following is an excerpt I wanted to share with you:

“The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past… I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.”
- Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), August 27, 2008

Barack on the passing of activist and pioneer Del Martin

Jamie Citron — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:30:25 EDT

It was with heavy hearts that we learned that civil rights activist and pioneer Del Martin passed away. Senator Barack Obama made the following statement on her passing:

“Michelle and I were deeply saddened to hear that Del Martin had passed. Del committed her life to fighting discrimination and promoting equality. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her spouse Phyllis Lyon, and all those who were touched by her life.”

Michelle pays a visit to the LGBT Delegates Luncheon

Jamie Citron — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:18:35 EDT

Representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and the Human Rights Campaign held a lunch to honor the 360+ LGBT Delegates attending this year's convention and were joined by our very own Michelle Obama! Michelle spoke on the promise of equality, Barack's commitment to justice and the spirit of public service that they both share.

“We all know that our country’s journey toward equality is not finished yet. We know it right here in this room. It’s been five years since Lawrence v. Texas, and 39 years since Stonewall, but still we’ve got work to do before we achieve equality.”

Pam Spaulding over at Pam's House Blend does a great job of capturing the mood of the room and even has a video clip of Michelle's entrance. CLICK HERE to head on over and check it out. Michelle closed by saying:

“Discrimination has no place in a nation founded on the promise of equality.”

UPDATE: Lauren Manning, another Obama blogger, wrote up a piece on the LGBT delegate lunch as well and has some fantastic video. Check it out HERE.

Obama Pride at Convention: Day One

Jamie Citron — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:22:17 EDT

Day One. We are officially one full day into the convention. I am writing to you right now from the Pepsi Center, while Michelle Obama gives tonight’s keynote address. I wish I could convey the feeling here to you. The excitement is palpable; I see the same hope in the eyes of the delegates that I saw in the eyes of the caucus goers back on a cold January night in Iowa. Democrats from every state, all so excited to be here, and I have lost count of all the rainbow Obama, Biden and Clinton buttons I see all over the convention center!

Earlier today was the first DNC LGBT Caucus meeting led by Caucus Chair Rick Stafford.

Incredible speakers including Tim Gill, Shannon Minter, Melissa Sklarz and Marjory Hill reminded us of the central place LGBT Americans hold in the party, and of the role we play in changing America for the better. Tammy Baldwin concluded the meeting by letting us know that there are 40% more LGBT delegates than in 2004 and more total than have ever participated before.

As I am typing this Michelle is speaking about the common thread that runs through all Americans. It reminds me of when she said,

“We are only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in pursuit of that more perfect union.”

We are all in this together.

America is in Denver tonight. The convention room is filled with an amazing quilt of people, all strengthened by a common cause and empowered by unshakeable hope. Every time I saw another Obama Pride or LGBT for Clinton button I was excited by the part our community is playing in this convention conversation, in this historic election, and in the future of our country... and it is still only day one!

Governor Sebelius has just adjourned the convention until tomorrow at 3:00 PM so I will leave you for tonight but please check back tomorrow! The LGBT Delegates are gathering for lunch with Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank and a host of exciting speakers. I look forward to telling you all about it.

UPDATE: Rocker and gay rights activist Cyndi Lauper spent day one on the floor of the convention with Obama Pride staffer Alex! Cyndi spent the evening visiting with LGBT Delegates, talking to press about LGBT equality and even had a visit with the Biden family. Check back later today for photos!

Obama Pride prepares for Convention

Jamie Citron — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:22:58 EDT

Evening everyone! It has been three exciting days here in Denver and the festivities have not even technically begun. Shortly after arriving in Denver we were greeted by this poster in the DNC Convention Headquarters:

Obama Pride Denver is ready to go!

We settled in quickly and got to work but took some time to take a sneak peek at the convention podium.

We rounded out Sunday evening by speaking at the closing ceremonies of the College Democrats of America Convention and we were truly moved by the passion and excitement of the young LGBT and allied future leaders of our party.

It is time to pack it up and call it a night but check back tomorrow for photos of the first DNC LGBT Caucus meeting and the opening night speeches!

Obama Pride welcomes Joe Biden to the team!

Jamie Citron — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:09:40 EDT

Obama Pride is glad to welcome friend of the community, Senator Joe Biden, to the 2008 Democratic ticket. You can welcome Joe too, and share your story with him, HERE.

American Prayer

Midwest Common Sense — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:21:33 EDT

This new music video from Dave Stewart (formerly of the Eurythmics) will blow you away!

"American Prayer"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVi4rUzf-0Q

(paste this link to your browser)

Where will you be when Barack accepts the nomination?

Lakefront Democrats for Obama — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:54:35 EDT

Watch Barack Obama Accept the Democratic Nomination in Downtown Chicago

Please join 42nd Ward Democratic Committeeman John Corrigan and 32nd Ward Democratic Committeeman John Fritchey
to Watch Barack Obama Accept the Democratic Nomination on August 28th

Stretch Run Sporting Club and Grill 544 N. LaSalle Street (LaSalle & Ohio)
Chicago, Illinois
Doors will open for the event at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets $40 (includes appetizers and 3 drink tickets)

RSVP at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4wk4j or to 42ndward@gmail.com,call 312-573-0042, or purchase your tickets in advance at www.actblue.com/page/chicagopac

Touched down in Denver

Jamie Citron — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:03:20 EDT

Obama Pride heads to the Convention!

Greetings from Denver, Colorado. The LGBT Vote team just landed and we are tired, but we are excited about joining thousands of other Democrats all working hard towards electing candidates who care about our issues!

Obama Pride will be participating on the convention floor, in caucus meetings and in events all over Denver. Check back often for daily updates from every corner of the 2008 Democratic National Convention!

Barack Obama's fight to expand hate crimes protections

Jamie Citron — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:54:43 EDT

This month, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs released a report highlighting a spike in hate crimes against LGBT people in June and July of this year. This disturbing report reminds us that LGBT people continue to be targets of bias-motivated violence while the law continues to fail them. The law does not provide federal officials with the law enforcement tools that they need to prosecute these crimes for what they are -- bias-motivated hate crimes -- and it does not provide local law enforcement with the resources that they need to prosecute hate crimes at the state and local level.

Barack Obama has made strengthening and expanding the federal hate crimes law a priority.

As a United States Senator, he co-sponsored the bill that would expand hate crimes protections to include crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill also would provide local law enforcement agencies with federal aid in fighting and prosecuting hate crimes.
Barack cast the critical 60th vote that prevented the bill from being defeated by a Republican-sponsored filibuster. [2007 Senate Vote #350]
He has pledged to continue his support for enacting these protections into law if elected President, promising earlier this year to “place the full weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes… on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.” [New York Blade, 6/10/08]
Barack has pledged to reinvigorate enforcement of all hate crime laws at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section. [www.barackobama.com]

While Barack Obama has been fighting to expand hate crimes protections, John McCain has been standing in the way. He has consistently stood in the way of the bill becoming law.

McCain voted against the hate crimes bill in 2000. [2000 Senate Vote #136]
McCain voted against the hate crimes bill in 2002. [2002 Senate Vote #147]
McCain voted against the hate crimes bill in 2004. [2004 Senate Vote #114]
In 2007, McCain was the only member of the Senate to not cast a vote at all on the bill. [2007 Senate Vote #350]

President Bush has threatened to veto hate crimes legislation, and John McCain is promising to yet again follow in his footsteps on an issue important to the LGBT community.

Last year, Damien Skipper lost his brother Ryan in a brutal hate crime. Ryan, just 25 years old, was beaten, stabbed and killed just because he was gay. Ryan’s family has since become forceful advocates for expanding the federal hate crimes law, and they support Senator Obama in large part because he is committed to passage of a federal hate crimes law. Damien recorded the following clip and wanted to share it with others:

Expanding and strengthening hate crimes protections is just one of the many issues important to the community where Barack Obama stands with LGBT people and John McCain has turned his back. Share Damien’s story, and your own support for Senator Obama, by forwarding this message to five friends who might still be undecided about who to vote for in November.

BUILD OBAMA PRIDE TODAY:

Jamie Citron — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:06:52 EDT

ORGANIZE AN OBAMA PRIDE WATCH PARTY FOR BARACK’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH THURSDAY AUGUST 28!

On Thursday, August 28, Barack Obama will address 75,000 campaign supporters at Invesco Field in Denver, concluding the 2008 Democratic Convention and accepting the Democratic nomination for President. LGBT Supporters and Obama Pride are organizing watch parties in their homes and at popular LGBT venues across America and you can be part of the action, organize an Obama Pride Watch Party!

Anyone can organize a house party using tools on My.BarackObama.com and their own friends and contacts in the LGBT and Allied community.

CLICK HERE for some suggestions on how to organize your watch party, and, advertise it to folks outside your circle of friends.

Obama Pride Atlanta: On the move

Jamie Citron — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:40:16 EDT

Obama Pride Atlanta has been busy reaching out to LGBT Georgians all across the state and recently caught the eye of local LGBT paper, The Southern Voice:

The historic Democratic candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama — combined with a strong Libertarian contender from Georgia, Bob Barr, and the less dynamic campaign styling of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain — could tilt the state from red to blue. And to get there, Obama is counting on a bit of pink by openly courting gay Georgia voters like no other presidential candidate has before.

"You don't want to take anyone for granted. You want to let everyone know that their vote counts, that you care about their issues and that you're listening,” said Caroline Adelman, communications director for Obama’s Georgia campaign, in an interview this week at the campaign’s recently opened office on Spring Street.

Local volunteers are partnering with Georgian and national staff to spread the word about Barack's relationship with the LGBT community.

Former Georgia Equality political director Kyle Bailey serves on Obama’ national LGBT steering committee and is organizing an informal group of two-dozen volunteers in Atlanta. His group is working to register and motivate voters in places like Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, Ansley Mall, Blake’s on the Park and other gay establishments.
“I think Obama’s taken a very strong positions on behalf of the GLBT community,” Bailey said. “From the start, he was one of the candidates to support a complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, not just the definition of marriage, but the part that keeps states from recognizing marriages from other states.”

SOVO also points out the tremendous voting power held by Georgia's sizable LGBT community.

Georgia is home to approximately 280,000 gay, lesbian or bisexual adults, according to a 2006 analysis of U.S. Census figures by UCLA’s Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law & Public Policy, and many activists think the true number is much higher.

While gay voter turnout is difficult to measure, any population of that size can play a role in a close election.

“If it’s close enough, than it can make a difference,” Bullock said. “An energized gay community could help [Obama] gain support in the white community, and going back as far as 2002, Democrats have not done well there.”

George and other gay Obama supporters were more optimistic.

“If 100 percent of the gay people in Georgia turn out to vote, Obama will win,” George said.

Would you like to join Obama Pride Atlanta? JOIN HERE.

McCain vs. Obama

Nadia — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:19:44 EDT

How crazy we are as people...

Everyone is talking about how wrong McCain is for attacking Barack but yet his number have gone up in surveys and polls...What the hell kind of democrazy is this??

maybe I need to wake up and realize that people are just not all going to embrace Barack but gosh does that suck as a thought...PEOPLE, do you realize McCain most likely hates you?

I can't understand why people are like I don't know about Barack, what other option do you have, unless you ARE trying to get your ass blown off in Iraq!!!!!!! literally....

If you don't like Barack, pick the lesser of 2 evils if you do then get others to like him too. We only have 60 more days to register voters...

Maybe this a rant or maybe this is to the poor, Black, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (all LGBTA), Muslim, non-Evangelist Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, lower middle class. If that's you then McCain DOESNOT like you and to the people around you remind them, some things just don't change.

Subhanallah Slms Chanel N.

Northalsted St. Wrap-up

Jamie Citron — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:27:57 EDT

Congratulations Obama Pride Chicago on registering and re-registering over 1,000 voters from all over the Midwest at Northalsted Market Days!

Would you like to get involved with an Obama Pride event near you? Click here for events in your city.

Meet NY States' LGBT Delegates

Jamie Citron — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:34:09 EDT

A record number of openly LGBT constituents will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver this month, with participation up 27 percent from 2004.

New York State alone will have 30 LGBT participants at the convention as delegates, alternates and committee members, with participation up from 22 in 2004, according to state Democratic parties. The National Stonewall Democrats said that 358 LGBT Democrats from 48 states will participate in the convention, held Aug. 25–28.

To learn more about New York's LGBT Delegates, CLICK HERE.

Obama Pride DSM

Jamie Citron — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:15:10 EDT

Obama Pride launched a new chapter in Des Moines, Iowa on August 5th! One more city where LGBT Americans are making the difference and campaigning for change!

Young Professional Gays for Obama

RGensler — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:24:49 EDT

Do you want to raise the political voices of young professionals in the gay and lesbian community? I have recently formed a committee connecting young LGBT professionals in support of Obama. The committee will meet to fundraise and brainstorm activities to promote Obama’s campaign. The ideas and talents of the community are essential to planning LGBT events this fall and getting Barack Obama elected in November. We need to get our community excited about Barack Obama and I need your help. This upcoming election is important for the LGBT community. Our demographic needs to be heard and we need to have an impact on this election. If you would like to join the efforts of the committee, please contact me. I hope you are as excited as I am for Obama, the change our country needs.

Barack Responds to the New CDC Numbers on HIV/AIDS in the US

Jamie Citron — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:29:40 EDT

Senator Obama released the following statement on the Center for Disease Control's report about new cases of HIV/AIDS in the United States.

"We have now learned that 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States in 2006, not 40,000 that had been previously cited. These new figures should bring new focus to our efforts to address AIDS and HIV here at home.
"As president, I am committed to developing a National AIDS Strategy to decrease new HIV infections and improve health outcomes for Americans living with HIV/AIDS. Across the nation, we also need to prevent the spread of HIV and get people into treatment by expanding access to testing and comprehensive education programs. This report also demonstrates the need for more timely data about HIV transmission so that we can effectively evaluate prevention efforts.
"Combating HIV/AIDS also demands closing the gaps in opportunity that exist in our society so that we can strengthen our public health. We must also overcome the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS – a stigma that is too often tied to homophobia. We need to encourage folks to get tested and accelerate HIV/AIDS research toward an effective cure because we have a moral obligation to join together to meet this challenge, and to do so with the urgency this epidemic demands."

To read Senator Obama's plan for fighting HIV/AIDS world wide and at home, click HERE

Estimated 27% Increase in LGBT Convention Participation

Jamie Citron — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:00:57 EDT

National Stonewall Democrats, the national voice of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied Democrats, announced today that a total of 360 LGBT delegates will participate in the Convention in December at the end of the month. The number represents a 27% increase from last year and breaks any previous record.

"The Democratic Party is being positively shaped by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates who believe in Democratic principles of fair play, hard work, security at home and equal opportunity for all," said Jon Hoadley, Executive Director. "The Democratic National Convention is an avenue for our community to participate in civic life and advance the values that the majority of Americans share. Many of our brightest elected officials, chapter leaders and party officers began their participation in Democratic politics as delegates to past conventions and by increasing the number of LGBT participants, we are growing the ranks of future Democratic leaders."
Stonewall Democrats announced their unofficial count based on numbers reported by state Democratic parties to the Secretary's office of the Democratic National Committee. 324 LGBT participants were reported by state parties to the Secretary's office. Additionally, Stonewall Democrats was able to identify for the Secretary's office 34 more openly-LGBT participants than were first reported. As with previous years, as the convention nears, it is expected that more LGBT delegates will self-identify as openly-LGBT.

Click HERE to read the full release.

Obama's letter to the Family Equality Council

Jamie Citron — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:59:45 EDT

In light of Senator McCain's recent mixed comments on LGBT adoption Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of the Family Equality Council, wrote a letter to Senator Obama asking for an answer to the following question.

As a lesbian mother and the executive director of Family Equality Council, the national organization working to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families by building community, changing hearts and minds and advancing social justice for all families, I know how hard parents work to raise happy, healthy children. Regardless of their sexual orientations and gender identities, regardless of how many parents or caregivers are present in a family, all parents begin each day with their children at the forefront of their thoughts. On behalf of diverse families, I ask for your plan to recognize, respect, protect and celebrate all of the loving families you seek to represent... These families want to know how your administration will address their needs. What policies and positions will you take to make sure that all loving families are recognized, respected, protected and celebrated? How will you lead all families to a brighter future?

We wanted to share Senator Obama's response with you. He started by sharing his own experience being raised in a unique family.

While we live in a nation that is enriched by a vast array of diverse traditions, cultures and histories, it is our commonality that most defines us. The desire to build a life with a loved one, to provide for a family and to have children who will grow and thrive -- these are desires that all people share, regardless of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. My own experience has taught me this lesson well. I was born to a single mother, my devoted grandparents helped raise me, and then I married the woman of my dreams and had two beautiful daughters.

Senator Obama then went on to discuss his plan to help ease the burdens currently felt by all families, including LGBT families.

We know that the cost of the American dream must never come at the expense of the American family. For decades we’ve had politicians in Washington who talk about family values, but we haven’t had policies that value families. Instead, it’s harder for working parents to make a living while raising their kids. It's even harder to get a break.
That's why I'll double spending on quality after-school programs - so that you can know your kids are safe and secure. And that's why I'll expand the Family Medical Leave Act to include more businesses and millions more workers; to let parents participate in school activities with their kids; and to cover elderly care. And we'll finally put federal support behind state efforts to provide paid family and medical leave. We'll require employers to provide seven paid sick days each year. We'll enforce laws that prohibit caregiver discrimination. And we'll encourage flexible work schedules to better balance work and parenting for mothers and fathers. That's the change that working families need.

Finally, Barack reiterated his commitment to and respect for LGBT families.

We have to do more to support and strengthen LGBT families. Because equality in relationship, family, and adoption rights is not some abstract principle; it's about whether millions of LGBT Americans can finally live lives marked by dignity and freedom. That’s why we have to repeal laws like the Defense of Marriage Act. That’s why we have to eliminate discrimination against LGBT families. And that’s why we have to extend equal treatment in our family and adoption laws.
I’ll be a president that stands up for American families – all of them.

Thank you to Jennifer Chrisler and the Family Equality Council for asking the important questions and for helping build a stronger American family.

Obama Pride @ Comic-Con

Jamie Citron — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:51:36 EDT

Over the weekend, Obama Pride San Diego joined other supporters to register voters at Comic-Con, the largest comic book and popular arts convention in the world! Are you registered to vote? Have you moved since you last registered? If so, you need to re-register if you want to be eligible to vote in November.

You can register or re-register by clicking HERE!

Voices from the Field: Rebecca, Jeff & Laura from San Francisco

Jamie Citron — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:40:18 EDT

Though initially all split between Obama, Edwards and Clinton in the Primary, Rebecca Prozan, Jeff Soukup & Laura Spanjian came together to head up Obama Pride's efforts in Northern California. Together, they wrote the following op-ed for the Bay Area Reporter to coincide with San Francisco Pride. We wanted to share it with you on Obama Pride as well! Thank you to Rebecca, Jeff & Laura for their inspiring words and hard work!

January 20, 2009. Finally, after eight years of destructive, incompetent leadership the George W. Bush era will be over.
And we will have the chance to move into a new, progressive era with an inspiring Democratic leader as our president.
Imagine all the things that could happen with a Democratic president. Overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and ending discrimination against LGBT Americans in uniform. Repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and ending federal discrimination against LGBT families. Passing a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act and ending discrimination against all LGBT Americans in the workplace.
To make these dreams a reality, we all need to work together to elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
Staying divided, or more importantly, staying home, only gives us one outcome: President John McCain and more of George Bush's failed policies.

To read the rest of the piece please CLICK HERE.

Adopted Son Speaks Out

Jamie Citron — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:56:57 EDT

Upset with John McCain's shifting stance on LGBT Adoption, High School Senior and adopted son of two Lesbian moms, Alan, decided to share his thoughts on the matter with The Bilerico Project.

As someone who was adopted by two lesbian moms, I was certainly disappointed to find out that John McCain, a candidate for President of the United States, doesn't "believe in gay adoption."
What's not to believe in? Many gays and lesbians adopt children and create wonderful, loving families. My moms adopted me out of foster care when I was eleven years old. I'm seventeen now. I love my family. My moms provide for me in all the ways that other parents provide for their children. We have our problems just like everybody else, but in the end we take care of each other. We believe in each other.

Alan continues by saying:

John McCain says he supports a quicker route to adoption so kids who need homes can get them faster, but he clearly has a bias against my kind of family and all the ones I listed above. If John McCain had his way, my family would not exist. I'm not giving up my family just because John McCain is confused about what really makes a family.

If you would like to read Alan's entire post, please visit The Bilerico Project by clicking HERE.

My two moms, my little brother and me, we're doing just fine. We could do a little better if we had the support of people like John McCain, who as President or even as a senator has so much power over how other people live their lives. Without his support, we'll keep doing what we've always done-love each other, care for each other, argue like all families, make up like all families, and continue to work for a country that really respects all of its people and families.
We'd rather have our next president support us. Wouldn't you?

46-point lead among LGBT voters!

Jamie Citron — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:39:45 EDT

On Monday, a new Harris poll reported the first major data on the views of LGBT Americans in the 2008 General Election Cycle.

Among LGBT adults, 60 percent favor Obama while 14 percent favor McCain. Three percent of LGBT adults favor Barr, while 1 percent choose Nader. Six percent choose "other," while 17 percent of all LGBT voters are not yet sure which candidate to support -- comparable to the general population.

The poll went on to say:

Barack Obama leads John McCain among registered voters 44 percent to 35 percent, while Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate and Ralph Nader each receive 2 percent, a new Harris Interactive poll reported.

For more information on the polls findings, please click HERE.

To get involved click HERE!

New Yorker Cover: WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR!!!

Allison Ruby Reid-Cunningham — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:07:54 EDT

I couldn't believe what is on the cover of The New Yorker. I usually look forward to the funny and often deeply satirical cover art, but this one shocked and outraged me.

The cover shows Obama in a turban and traditional Muslim garb and his wife Michelle dressed in fatigues--rocking an afro and combat boots--and packing an assault rifle. They are giving one another a congratulatory "fist-bump." There is a portrait of Osama Bin Laden above the fireplace where the American flag is burning. Oh, and by the way, the room they're standing in... it's the Oval Office!

Now I know that The New Yorker is known for cartoons that people either "get" or "don't get"...

But I have to say, "I don't get it!"

Could someone please explain the joke to me?

The New Yorker described Barry Blitt's work as lampooning of "scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign."

"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.

"But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree," Burton added.

Cartoonist Barry Blitt defended his work, saying this:

I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is.

Although this may be the intention, the damaging impact of reinforcing rumors of the "Manchurian Candidate" variety by depicting imagery like this in the American popular media cannot be underestimated.

Throughout America, it is still widely believed that Barack Obama is a Muslim--and many readers may not realize that the cover is meant to be satirical. In its attempt to point out the obvious--that Obama is NOT a terrorist or Muslim or Black Power/"kill whitey" candidate--it may unfortunately have the opposite effect.

I'm not including the cover image here because I don't want to proliferate it unnecessarily, but I would like to encourage you to write a letter to the editor of the New Yorker to express your outrage at this racist, divisive, offensive and generally unfunny cover art.

Presidential Election 2008...Europeans Cheer For Barack Obama

EsquireUK — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:01:41 EDT

Europe promises cheers for Obama – and little else

By Philip Stephens

Published: July 10 2008 18:54 | Last updated: July 10 2008 18:54

Barack Obama is coming: Europe can scarcely contain itself. The Democratic contender for the White House is crossing the Atlantic to burnish his credentials as a world leader. Europeans just want to cheer.

I have my doubts as to whether Mr Obama will profit much from a series of photo-opportunities with the old continent’s tired and beleaguered leaders. The Middle East leg of his trip may make more news at home. The crowds in Europe will be another story. When he steps out of his pre-presidential limousine Mr Obama can expect to be greeted as a messiah.

As far as Europe is concerned, the US has made its choice. The pundits in Washington may only now be speculating about the possibility that Mr Obama could win by a landslide. Europe has already decided: it will get the American president it deserves. The ballot on November 4 is no more than an irksome formality.

Europeans are almost jealous. After all, when did they last get to cast a vote in a “transformational election”? Even those whose sympathies are with the Republican John McCain are caught up in Obamamania. My bet is that David Cameron, Britain’s Conservative leader, will be as eager as Prime Minister Gordon Brown to catch some of Mr Obama’s stardust.

Only Carla Bruni, partner and chanteuse to France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, can compete in the glamour stakes. The other day an old friend – by day a level-headed diplomat – went so far as to muse about an Obama-Bruni match. Now that, he remarked only half-whimsically, would give global politics a truly handsome couple. Mr Sarkozy, I suppose, might have something to say on the subject. So, one imagines, might Michelle Obama. But watch the body language when her husband turns up at the Elysée Palace.

Youth and charisma are not the only reason Senator Obama stirs envy among Europe’s leaders. He has done what they can only dream of. He has drawn the disenchanted back into politics. Who else has inspired a new political movement, has raised an army of 1.7m volunteers and can boast more than 1m campaign donors?

Little wonder Mr Sarkozy, Mr Brown and Germany’s Angela Merkel are keen to touch Mr Obama’s sleeve. Unsurprising also that Ms Merkel is reluctant to give him a podium at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. It was there Ronald Reagan issued a famous call for the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall”. Mr Obama would draw a crowd to shame the former president – and, more importantly, any serving European leader.

Sober voices struggle to be heard. This week I heard Bruce Katz, a vice-president of Washington’s Brookings Institution, lead an excellent discussion on the future of US politics. Inter alia, Mr Katz’s presentation underscored the gap between the preoccupation of US voters with domestic issues – the economy, energy prices, jobs, healthcare, the state of the cities – and the casual assumption of Europeans that the election is about nothing but US foreign policy.

I suspect that his caution – the election, he told the Smith Institute in London, is a competitive race – was lost on his audience. The thought that resonated was that the outcome would turn on the voters’ judgment of whether Mr Obama had the character to match the charisma. On this pivotal issue, Europeans have already made up their minds: Mr Obama is the real thing.

During George W. Bush’s presidency anti-Americanism has been rife. The old affection, though, has not been extinguished. Nor has the ingrained admiration for American ideals. Mr Obama provides a reason to swap the jeers for applause.

Deep in European foreign ministries, of course, there are hard-bitten diplomats cautioning against all this euphoria. The new president, whether Mr Obama or Mr McCain, will face the same problems. He will put the US national interest first. And the leader of what is still the world’s most powerful nation will never think like a woolly postmodern European.

Mr Obama plans to visit Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel as well as Europe’s three biggest capitals. He will see for himself, these diplomats say, the intractability of the challenges. It is not enough that he is an engaging fellow; and, of itself, engagement will not persuade Iran to surrender its nuclear ambitions.

I think these diplomats are overly pessimistic about Mr Obama’s ambition to change the rules of the game. Those in Europe’s corridors of power have grown so used to timorous politicians that they have forgotten the power of politics.

But you can see the dangers for the Democratic candidate. Adulation comes with a price tag. If he does win in November – and this columnist, at least, is sticking with the conditional – then expectations in Europe may well be even higher than at home.

I have written before about the contradiction in Europe’s view: a demand for US power and a deep distrust of it. Thus on the one hand there is a certain satisfaction that the debacle in Iraq has demonstrated the limits of Washington’s reach. America may still be the sole superpower but it is no longer the hyperpuissance. It must rely on others (Europeans) if it is to act effectively in the world.

On the other hand, there is an assumption that it is still America’s job to fix things. Why should Europe spend more on defence when the US has more ships and warplanes than the rest of the world put together? Of course, Europe shelters under the US security umbrella. But do not ask it to risk too much of its own blood and treasure in the effort to make the world a safer place.

I exaggerate only slightly. Everywhere I go in Europe, I come across laundry lists of demands on the next US president – whether it is Mr Obama or Mr McCain.

The US must embrace a low-carbon economy as a prelude to signing up to a successor to the Kyoto protocol. It must show due respect to the United Nations as the fount of legitimacy in relations between states. It should join the International Criminal Court and commit itself more fully to the chemical weapons convention. It should breathe new life into the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Oh, and by the way, it must broker peace in the Middle East, leave Iraq a peaceful democracy and make a viable state out of Afghanistan.

It is worth saying that many of the suggested policy shifts are in US as well as European interests. The central foreign policy task of the next president will be to rebuild the legitimacy of US leadership. But as they cheer Mr Obama, Europeans need to make up their minds about what they have to offer. So, next Friday’s column: what Mr Obama might usefully say to us Europeans.

philip.stephens@ft.com

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa6fefd6-4ea1-11dd-ba7c-000077b07658.html

Obama & Faith-Based Initiatives

David C. — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:49:16 EDT

First I would like to apologize to any I might offend by my statements. While I will try to remain even-handed, as a Democrat in Texas I feel strongly about those issues I am about to discuss, having finally gotten a breath of fresh air in the form of the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.

To all those worried or demoralized by Obama's pledge to keep faith-based initiatives, let me say first that I am one of you. I worry about state money going to churches, although my vantage point is perhaps somewhat different than most - I feel like, if you look at the churches of Europe, that the separation of church and state is as much to the benefit of the church as the state.

I just wanted to respectfully point out the existence of the book "Tempting Faith," by David Kuo, who used to be a part of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives created by Bush. (kudos to ProgressIllinois.com's post, "Getting Faith-Based Initiatives Right" for pointing it out to me) Even if you don't read it, there are two points, one quite explicit and the other implicit, that can be derived from Kuo's work. The obvious point is that Bush was just using this initiative to score political points with evangelicals and to attempt to chip away at the African-American vote, which is traditionally both Democratic in voting record yet church-attending at rates higher than the national average (of course, along came our senator from Illinois, and hopes of that got dashed for 2008).

The implicit point of this book's existence - and this is the zinger - is that *the government worked with faith-based organizations before President Bush.* Bush's innovation, as it was in so many other areas, was to thoroughly politicize the process for cynical political gain, and to completely subvert previous Constitutional safeguards against the mixing of church and state.

I'd like to say this again: this cooperation between faith-based initiatives and the federal government is nothing new. It existed before Bush, and that means that, at the very least, this was something that President Clinton had at his disposal. If a President Obama does nothing more than reinstate the First Amendment safeguards which Bush called "barriers" and got rid of, he will have been a huge improvement over both the Bush Administration and a theoretical McCain Administration.

(more after the jump)

LGBT Pride Events

Jamie Citron — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:16:00 EDT

Obama for America HQ in Chicago sent out the following email. Click the link to order a special limited edition Obama Pride 2008 T-shirt or to view a slideshow of the best photos from Prides around the country.

Dear Friend --

Thanks to supporters like you, we made a big impact during Pride month.

Volunteers all across the country helped grow this grassroots movement and bring more voices into the political process. You organized your communities to march in Pride parades, registered voters, and shared Barack's message of change by reaching out to friends and neighbors.

Check out some of the best photos from Pride events all over the country, and make a donation of $30 or more to receive a special edition Obama Pride T-shirt to show your pride in style:

Pride month may be over, but you can still show your pride and support this campaign through Obama Pride events.

On My.BarackObama, it's easy to find an Obama Pride event near you. You can also set up an event of your own, invite your friends, and post it online for others to find.

To get started in your community, just log onto your My.BarackObama account and go to our Pride events page. (If you don't have a My.BarackObama account yet, creating one is simple and quick.)

http://my.barackobama.com/prideevents

We are proud to join with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender supporters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of the LGBT community.

Thank you for everything you're doing,

Obama for America

P.S. -- Please forward this email to others who may be interested in seeing the slide show and getting a T-shirt of their own.

Voices from the Field: Marti in Indiana

Jamie Citron — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:52:35 EDT

Enthusiastic Obama supporter and transgender advocate, Marti Abernathey, wrote the following piece for The Bilerico Project. The entire piece can be read HERE. Congrats on being elected a delegate and making history!

If you know me, you know how jazzed I am about Barack Obama. The first time I ever heard about Barack the “Indianapolis” Colts still hadn’t ever won a Super Bowl. It was October 17th 2006, which just so happened to be my 39th birthday. Barack had been to Indiana the previous day to attend a fundraiser for Baron Hill, Joe Donnelly, and Brad Ellsworth (who at the time were three Congressional candidate hopefuls). At the time Jim Shella said:

“He then pointed out that the Colts have been “eeking out victories” while the Bears have been winning blowouts. Ever the politician, he said he’s looking forward to a Bears/Colts Super Bowl matchup.” (At the time of that fundraiser the Colts were 5-0, and in fact did go on that year to face the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl)
When Barack announced in January of 2007 he was running for president of the United States of America, I started to research him relentlessly. The more I learned about him, the more I liked him. My fire for Obama grew steadily over the months, but the turning point for me was the HRC/Logo Presidential Forum.
I knew I had to get involved with the campaign, I just wasn’t sure how. In November I wrote: Since that time I’ve brought together the people (that would eventually become) the members of the Obama transgender subcommittee, I’ve hosted an Obama dinner, and I was the Pride coordinator for Indiana. But on Saturday June 21st, 2008, one of the most historic events of my life took place. I was chosen as the first ever transgender delegate from the state of Indiana. This wasn’t a haphazard event. I had the support of the Indiana Stonewall Democrats, the Barack Obama campaign, and the Indiana Democratic Party.
During the Convention I was given a copy of the Indiana Democratic Party Platform. What I read inspired me to take this picture at the time:
This was taken from the platform section titled “Including Every Hoosier.” It says:
“The Indiana Democratic Party is proud of our long-standing commitment to and support for civil rights and equality. Our 2008 ticket makes history, creating the opportunity for the first African-American president and the first female governor. As the party of the people, we strongly oppose restriction of opportunity to Hoosiers based on their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or economic background.”
I’ve never been prouder of the Indiana Democratic Party, the GLBT community, and the state. It’s a year of firsts for Indiana and for the country, and I feel blessed to take part in one of the most historic elections in my lifetime.

LGBT youth organizer

Duane...a bitter michigander for Obama! — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:25:47 EDT

I am happy to annouce that I have been names the youth organizer for the Washtenaw County LGBT Democrats. I will be working my best to get the LGBT community involved and voting in the upcoming election, as well as hosting events and voter registration drives.

If you would like to join the group, please join the link below. We are look for members of the LGBT community or Allies...anyone interested in getting involved

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18057276167

The LGBT Interest Group of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party located in Washtenaw County Michigan is committed to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families. The Interest Group seeks to improve the lives of LGBT individuals both in Washtenaw County and throughout this great State of Michigan through educational programming, social activities, public service, get out the vote 2008, and outreach

Seattle Pride Parade

Jody Rodgers — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:14:10 EDT

I have to say, marching a couple of days ago with the Obama group in the Seattle Pride parade may have been one of the most fun things I have done all year! It was truly a joyous experience having crowds of people yelling for Obama, yelling for us, the Obama supporters. Joann and I had made Obama Pride logo buttons and I passed out about 500 Obama buttons which didn't even last half way through the route. People were SO excited to get Obama stickers and buttons!

The Obama group won the parade's People's Choice award! Joann took photos as she marched: http://www.flickr.com/photos/buttons4obama/sets/72157605909020106/

Great work Jen and Jake for organizing this wonderful event!

P.S.I said in a recent post I stated I was going to get the Obama Pride video ready for the iPhone. Still working on that, but just as an FYI, it was encoded by YouTube and can now be viewed on the iPhone's YouTube application by clicking on this link in Safari or on the Mail application: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRGHwRQ4qU4

What to do if you get push-polled

David C. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:33:55 EDT

Push-polling, or more neutrally, "Advocacy Calls," are polls that deviate from the normal polls in that they ask questions that are specifically designed to cast doubts about one political candidate/side or the other, or even plant incriminating notions attacking the other side. They are highly partisan, thus "pushing" the opinions of the caller on you. Here are some excellent ideas, courtesy desmoinesdem and cross-posted across the blogosphere recently, about what to do if you get push-polled.

A summary? Don't hang up. Get pen and paper and take notes in as much detail as you can manage, with as little use of your own intuitions as to who is attacking yo and why as possible, except as commentary. Don't assume the campaign office knows about this just because a lot of people have doubtless been getting these calls.

If it's a person polling you, insist on getting the phone number that is legally mandated to be provided. If it's a robocall, try not to miss that number, as they'll probably be speaking fast. Get that information to your nearest campaign office's campaign manager. Our guy Obama's done a good job about making this stuff comparatively easy to find on the Internet, so that's a good a place as any to start. If you tell the campaign office you got push-polled and you have notes, they'll probably at least give you a number. A copy of desmoinesdem's full post follows the jump.

Michelle Obama: "Barack has made crystal clear his commitment to ensuring full equality for LGBT couples."

Jamie Citron — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:20:47 EDT

On June 26th, Michelle Obama joined several hundred LGBT activists to speak about her husband's record on LGBT rights and his vision for our shared future...

We have Barack Obama, who believes that we must fight for the world as it should be.

A world where together we work to reverse discriminatory laws like DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

A world where LGBT Americans get a fair shake at working hard to get ahead without workplace discrimination.

A world where our federal government fully protects all of us - including LGBT Americans - from hate crimes.

And, a world where our federal laws don't discriminate against same-sex relationships, including equal treatment for any relationship recognized under state law.

A world that recognizes that equality in relationship, family, and adoption rights is not some abstract principle; it's about whether millions of LGBT Americans can finally live lives marked by dignity and freedom. Barack has made crystal clear his commitment to ensuring full equality for LGBT couples. That is why he supports robust civil unions. That is why he has said that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide for themselves how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples -- whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage. And that is why he opposes all divisive and discriminatory constitutional amendments - whether it's a proposed amendment to the California and Florida Constitutions or the U.S. Constitution. Because the world as it should be rejects discrimination.

But, it's not just about the positions you take, it's also about the leadership you provide.

(Photo copyright AP Images)

Continue reading for Michelle's full speech...

Bolthouse Farms Organic Juices Helps Pay For Anti-Marriage CA Amendment

Jeremy Bishop- Pride At Worker — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:15:52 EDT

As reported by Alex Blaze on the Bilerico Project,William Bolthouse, founder and 43% owner of Bolthouse Farms, a farm in California that provides organic juices, lemonades, and smoothies to places like Whole Foods and other organic market places, has just recently given a donation of $100,000 to proponents of a campaign to strip California couples of the right to marry.

We know that many progressive people are concerned about what they put in their bodies, and we wanted to let you and your friends know that organic juice you maybe enjoying could be helping to strip the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people of the right to marry in California.

Now company spokespeople for Bolthouse Farms will iterate that they do not donate directly to any campaigns. But their owner, William Bolthouse, uses the profits from the sales of their organic drinks to fund his noxious political views. In addition to funding the initiative to strip Californians of their marriage rights, his foundation, the Bolthouse Foundation, is a major donor to the Alliance Defense Fund, the right's response to the ACLU.

Now we know that corporate leaders can spend their money however they would like, but that doesn't mean that we have to support them by using our hard earned dollars to purchase their products, at a price of our own rights.

Please take a moment and let Bolthouse Farms and their distributors know that you will no longer be purchasing their organic products, because even though they are organic, they come with some nasty side effects.

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/bolthouse

Speak out now!

Obama Pride Video

Jody Rodgers — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:58:50 EDT

Jen Hauseman and Jake Standish, co-directors of Seattle Pride and inspiring Obama supporters, had the idea of creating a video to introduce Barack Obama to the LGBT community. I worked with them on making a short video that highlights some of his past speeches with an emphasis on Obama's commitment and bold support of the GLBT community. I hope you enjoy the video and please pass it on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRGHwRQ4qU4

Also, we have a very simple Pride button design that we will be adding to our templates page on Buttons4Obama.com very soon. If you haven't thought about making buttons for the campaign please check out the site as it is a lot of fun and we all know the world needs more flair!

Obama Pride

Charles Crain — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:33:54 EDT

As much of the country celebrates Gay Pride and we near the 39th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, I think that it is important to step back and compare the candidates' positions on the issues which are important to the LGBT community. Senator Obama has long been an ally of the gay community. Though he does not favor same-sex marriage, he does support civil unions for same-sex couples--and these unions would come with all of the rights and responsibilities of a heterosexual marriage. He has voiced his support for the trans-inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and for the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill. Barack favors repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," teaching comprehensive sex education in schools, and increasing funding for HIV/AIDS prevention. In short, he is everything that we could hope for in a candidate.

On the other hand, John McCain is almost identical to President Bush in his views about the LGBT community. He claims to be a maverick and a moderate and he touts the fact that he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. However, closer examination reveals that he only voted against the FMA on state's rights grounds and then turned around and appeared in TV ads supporting a same-sex marriage ban in his home state of Arizona. He opposes expanding federal hate crimes legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity; he opposes forbidding workplace discrimination of gays and lesbians; he opposes repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell;" he opposes allowing adoption by same-sex couples. Do these sound like moderate positions to you?

Most importantly, Senator McCain has pledged to appoint "strict constructionist" judges to the courts at a time when three Supreme Court justices might leave the bench during the next President's term. He voted to confirm Samuel Alito and John Roberts and plans to fill America's courts with nominees like them, putting such decisions as Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas at risk. The LGBT community cannot afford such an assault on our rights. Read the Human Rights Campaign's report on Senator McCain (http://www.hrc.org/equality08/264.htm) and you will see that, no matter what he says, he is no moderate or friend to the gay community.

We must unite around Barack Obama and work to elect him to the Presidency. As we celebrate Pride, I urge you to think about who will best represent us, and all Americans, in the White House. And then do something about it.

Obama Announces David Noble as LGBT Vote Director

Jamie Citron — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:40:50 EDT

Welcome Dave!

The Obama campaign announced Wednesday that David Noble, former executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats and current director of public policy and government affairs at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, has been appointed as director of the LGBT vote for the campaign. Noble will be stepping down from his position at NGLTF and officially starting with the campaign on June 21.

CLICK HERE for full post.

Obama's Statement on Pride 2008!

Jamie Citron — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:24:31 EDT

Chicago, IL -- Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement commemorating Pride month.

“I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans.”

“It’s time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let’s enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let’s repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let’s treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law.”

“We are ready to accomplish these goals because of the courage and persistence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people who have are working every day to achieve equal rights. The gay couple who demand equal treatment in our family laws as they raise their children; the lesbian soldier who wants nothing more than to serve her country openly and honestly; the transgendered workers who asks for the simple dignity of being judged by the quality of their work. Generations of LGBT Americans, at once ordinary and extraordinary, have made possible this moment in our history. With leadership and hard work, we can fulfill the promise of equality for all.”

The Obama for America campaign is proud to be actively participating in over 60 local and state wide Pride events over the summer. To find the events nearest you please visit www.pride.barackobama.com/pridemonth; join us around the country as we show our Pride and support for Barack Obama!

Human Rights Campaign Endorses Barack Obama

Jamie Citron — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:13:57 EDT

PRESS RELEASE - Human Rights Campaign Endorses Sen. Barack Obama for President of the United States 6/6/2008

WASHINGTON–The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, today announced that the organization will endorse Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president of the United States. The decision was made by the HRC Board of Directors based on Senator Obama’s support for GLBT equality, his demonstrated leadership, and his unwavering commitment to civil rights.

Read Full Endorsement

The Ongoing Fight On FISA

David C. — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:48:16 EDT

A friend of mine just sent me a couple of links telling me something amazing: despite majorities in both houses, Congress is on the verge of giving the Bush Administration what they want in terms of federal retroactive protection for all companies that do warrantless wiretapping for the government. The first link talks about the lobbying side of all this, while the second link is more an opinion post. I've got to say, while the CQ link is bad enough, the DailyKos link makes a very good point: that telecom corporations are essentially telling us that their legal fees trump concerns for national security, and they want Congress to chip in.

Barack Obama Begins To Unite American Voters

EsquireUK — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:35:04 EDT

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama focused on unifying a fractured party for the five-month battle for the White House on Wednesday and announced a high-profile three-person team to head the search for a running mate.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John Kennedy, will vet prospective running mates along with former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson, who performed the same task for John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984, and former deputy Attorney General Eric Holder.

Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday and will be the first black candidate to lead a major U.S. party into a White House race. His last Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, refused to concede but called it "an honor" to have competed against him.

Clinton's supporters turned up the pressure for the New York senator to be named as Obama's No. 2, but Obama's campaign said the search process was just beginning.

"Senator Obama is pleased to have three talented and dedicated individuals managing this rigorous process," spokesman Bill Burton said. "He will work closely with them in the coming weeks but ultimately this will be his decision and his alone."

Obama returned to Capitol Hill to a hero's welcome from Democrats who swarmed to shake his hand, pat his back and hug him. He gained more support from prominent Democrats as the party turned its focus to the November election against Republican John McCain.

The Illinois senator took aim at McCain for his staunch support of the Iraq war during a speech to a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, saying the Arizona senator "refuses to understand or acknowledge the failure of the policy that he would continue."

SPOKEN TO CLINTON

"He criticizes my willingness to use strong diplomacy, but offers only an alternate reality -- one where the war in Iraq has somehow put Iran on its heels," he said. "Senator McCain offers a false choice: stay the course in Iraq, or cede the region to Iran."

In the same speech, Obama tried to smooth relations with Clinton after their long and sometimes bitter nominating fight, calling her an "extraordinary candidate and extraordinary public servant."

He told reporters at the Capitol that he had spoken to Clinton "and we're going to be having a conversation in coming weeks. And I'm very confident how unified the Democratic Party's going to be to win in November."

Clinton, in a later speech to the same group, complimented Obama but offered no sign of when she would end her campaign.

"It has been an honor to contest these primaries with him. It is an honor to call him my friend," she said. "I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel."

Democratic leaders urged the remaining undecided delegates to the August convention to make up their minds by Friday, but few tried to hurry Clinton out of the race.

"That's up to her," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of a timeline for Clinton to end her race. "She been through a very long and rigorous campaign. She's done beautifully. She has to wind down in her own time."

The victory by Obama, son of a black Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement and followed one of the closest and longest nomination fights in recent U.S. political history.

Obama clinched the win after a wave of uncommitted delegates announced their support on Tuesday, pushing his total to 2,156, according to an MSNBC count. Clinton, who would have been the first woman nominee in U.S. political history, won more than 1,900 delegates.

Obama's achievement drew praise from a Republican Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the highest-ranking black in President George W. Bush's Cabinet.

"It's a country that has overcome many, many, now years, decades of, actually a couple of centuries, of trying to make good on its principles," Rice said.

"And I think that what we're seeing is, an extraordinary expression of the fact that 'we the people,' is beginning to mean all of us," Rice said, a reference to the opening line of the U.S. Constitution.

Clinton told New York members of Congress on Tuesday she would be open to becoming Obama's vice presidential running mate, and her backers turned up the pressure on Obama to pick her as his No. 2.

Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said he wrote to the Congressional Black Caucus urging members to push Obama to choose Clinton.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN3144368520080604?sp=true

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gG5gJ2

Post from HQ Blog: Obama Addresses AIPAC ConferenceBy HQ Blog - Jun 4th, 2008 at 2:31 pm EDT Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content

Earlier today, Senator Obama addressed members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington D.C. He delivered an extensive speech which touched on his own long held sense of commitment to the Israeli people, while outlining many of the tough policy decisions that will await the next President of the United States.

When Senator McCain spoke to the same audience yesterday, he lobbed a variety of attacks at Senator Obama's foreign policy positions. Today Barack responded, delineating the flaws in John McCain's Iraq policy...

Senator McCain offers a false choice: stay the course in Iraq, or cede the region to Iran. I reject this logic because there is a better way. Keeping all of our troops tied down indefinitely in Iraq is not the way to weaken Iran – it is precisely what has strengthened it. It is a policy for staying, not a plan for victory. I have proposed a responsible, phased redeployment of our troops from Iraq. We will get out as carefully as we were careless getting in. We will finally pressure Iraq's leaders to take meaningful responsibility for their own future.

Here are some photos from the AIPAC Conference:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/HQblog/gG5CKp

Click here to read the full text of Senator Obama's remarks.

Remarks at AIPAC Policy Conference
Senator Barack Obama
June 4, 2008
As Prepared for Delivery
It's great to see so many friends from across the country. I want to congratulate Howard Friedman, David Victor and Howard Kohr on a successful conference, and on the completion of a new headquarters just a few blocks away.
Before I begin, I want to say that I know some provocative emails have been circulating throughout Jewish communities across the country. A few of you may have gotten them. They're filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for President. And all I want to say is – let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty frightening.
But if anyone has been confused by these emails, I want you to know that today I'll be speaking from my heart, and as a true friend of Israel. And I know that when I visit with AIPAC, I am among friends. Good friends. Friends who share my strong commitment to make sure that the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable today, tomorrow, and forever.
One of the many things that I admire about AIPAC is that you fight for this common cause from the bottom up. The lifeblood of AIPAC is here in this room – grassroots activists of all ages, from all parts of the country, who come to Washington year after year to make your voices heard. Nothing reflects the face of AIPAC more than the 1,200 students who have travelled here to make it clear to the world that the bond between Israel and the United States is rooted in more than our shared national interests – it's rooted in the shared values and shared stories of our people. And as President, I will work with you to ensure that it this bond strengthened.
I first became familiar with the story of Israel when I was eleven years old. I learned of the long journey and steady determination of the Jewish people to preserve their identity through faith, family and culture. Year after year, century after century, Jews carried on their traditions, and their dream of a homeland, in the face of impossible odds.
The story made a powerful impression on me. I had grown up without a sense of roots. My father was black, he was from Kenya, and he left us when I was two. My mother was white, she was from Kansas, and I'd moved with her to Indonesia and then back to Hawaii. In many ways, I didn't know where I came from. So I was drawn to the belief that you could sustain a spiritual, emotional and cultural identity. And I deeply understood the Zionist idea – that there is always a homeland at the center of our story.
I also learned about the horror of the Holocaust, and the terrible urgency it brought to the journey home to Israel. For much of my childhood, I lived with my grandparents. My grandfather had served in World War II, and so had my great uncle. He was a Kansas boy, who probably never expected to see Europe – let alone the horrors that awaited him there. And for months after he came home from Germany, he remained in a state of shock, alone with the painful memories that wouldn't leave his head.
You see, my great uncle had been a part of the 89th Infantry Division – the first Americans to reach a Nazi concentration camp. They liberated Ohrdruf, part of Buchenwald, on an April day in 1945. The horrors of that camp go beyond our capacity to imagine. Tens of thousands died of hunger, torture, disease, or plain murder – part of the Nazi killing machine that killed 6 million people.
When the Americans marched in, they discovered huge piles of dead bodies and starving survivors. General Eisenhower ordered Germans from the nearby town to tour the camp, so they could see what was being done in their name. He ordered American troops to tour the camp, so they could see the evil they were fighting against. He invited Congressmen and journalists to bear witness. And he ordered that photographs and films be made. Explaining his actions, Eisenhower said that he wanted to produce, "first-hand evidence of these things, if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda."
I saw some of those very images at Yad Vashem, and they never leave you. And those images just hint at the stories that survivors of the Shoah carried with them. Like Eisenhower, each of us bears witness to anyone and everyone who would deny these unspeakable crimes, or ever speak of repeating them. We must mean what we say when we speak the words: "never again."
It was just a few years after the liberation of the camps that David Ben-Gurion declared the founding of the Jewish State of Israel. We know that the establishment of Israel was just and necessary, rooted in centuries of struggle, and decades of patient work. But 60 years later, we know that we cannot relent, we cannot yield, and as President I will never compromise when it comes to Israel's security.
Not when there are still voices that deny the Holocaust. Not when there are terrorist groups and political leaders committed to Israel's destruction. Not when there are maps across the Middle East that don't even acknowledge Israel's existence, and government-funded textbooks filled with hatred toward Jews. Not when there are rockets raining down on Sderot, and Israeli children have to take a deep breath and summon uncommon courage every time they board a bus or walk to school.
I have long understood Israel's quest for peace and need for security. But never more so than during my travels there two years ago. Flying in an IDF helicopter, I saw a narrow and beautiful strip of land nestled against the Mediterranean. On the ground, I met a family who saw their house destroyed by a Katyusha Rocket. I spoke to Israeli troops who faced daily threats as they maintained security near the blue line. I talked to people who wanted nothing more simple, or elusive, than a secure future for their children.
I have been proud to be a part of a strong, bi-partisan consensus that has stood by Israel in the face of all threats. That is a commitment that both John McCain and I share, because support for Israel in this country goes beyond party. But part of our commitment must be speaking up when Israel's security is at risk, and I don't think any of us can be satisfied that America's recent foreign policy has made Israel more secure.
Hamas now controls Gaza. Hizbollah has tightened its grip on southern Lebanon, and is flexing its muscles in Beirut. Because of the war in Iraq, Iran – which always posed a greater threat to Israel than Iraq – is emboldened, and poses the greatest strategic challenge to the United States and Israel in the Middle East in a generation. Iraq is unstable, and al Qaeda has stepped up its recruitment. Israel's quest for peace with its neighbors has stalled, despite the heavy burdens borne by the Israeli people. And America is more isolated in the region, reducing our strength and jeopardizing Israel's safety.
The question is how to move forward. There are those who would continue and intensify this failed status quo, ignoring eight years of accumulated evidence that our foreign policy is dangerously flawed. And then there are those who would lay all of the problems of the Middle East at the doorstep of Israel and its supporters, as if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all trouble in the region. These voices blame the Middle East's only democracy for the region's extremism. They offer the false promise that abandoning a stalwart ally is somehow the path to strength. It is not, it never has been, and it never will be.
Our alliance is based on shared interests and shared values. Those who threaten Israel threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the front lines. And I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security.
That starts with ensuring Israel's qualitative military advantage. I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat – from Gaza to Tehran. Defense cooperation between the United States and Israel is a model of success, and must be deepened. As President, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade – investments to Israel's security that will not be tied to any other nation. First, we must approve the foreign aid request for 2009. Going forward, we can enhance our cooperation on missile defense. We should export military equipment to our ally Israel under the same guidelines as NATO. And I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself in the United Nations and around the world.
Across the political spectrum, Israelis understand that real security can only come through lasting peace. And that is why we – as friends of Israel – must resolve to do all we can to help Israel and its neighbors to achieve it. Because a secure, lasting peace is in Israel's national interest. It is in America's national interest. And it is in the interest of the Palestinian people and the Arab world. As President, I will work to help Israel achieve the goal of two states, a Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security. And I won't wait until the waning days of my presidency. I will take an active role, and make a personal commitment to do all I can to advance the cause of peace from the start of my Administration.
The long road to peace requires Palestinian partners committed to making the journey. We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations. That is why I opposed holding elections in 2006 with Hamas on the ballot. The Israelis and the Palestinian Authority warned us at the time against holding these elections. But this Administration pressed ahead, and the result is a Gaza controlled by Hamas, with rockets raining down on Israel.
The Palestinian people must understand that progress will not come through the false prophets of extremism or the corrupt use of foreign aid. The United States and the international community must stand by Palestinians who are committed to cracking down on terror and carrying the burden of peacemaking. I will strongly urge Arab governments to take steps to normalize relations with Israel, and to fulfill their responsibility to pressure extremists and provide real support for President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad. Egypt must cut off the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Israel can also advance the cause of peace by taking appropriate steps – consistent with its security – to ease the freedom of movement for Palestinians, improve economic conditions in the West Bank, and to refrain from building new settlements – as it agreed to with the Bush Administration at Annapolis.
Let me be clear. Israel's security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable. The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive, and that allows them to prosper – but any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.
I have no illusions that this will be easy. It will require difficult decisions on both sides. But Israel is strong enough to achieve peace, if it has partners who are committed to the goal. Most Israelis and Palestinians want peace, and we must strengthen their hand. The United States must be a strong and consistent partner in this process – not to force concessions, but to help committed partners avoid stalemate and the kind of vacuums that are filled by violence. That's what I commit to do as President of the United States.

The threats to Israel start close to home, but they don't end there. Syria continues its support for terror and meddling in Lebanon. And Syria has taken dangerous steps in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, which is why Israeli action was justified to end that threat.
I also believe that the United States has a responsibility to support Israel's efforts to renew peace talks with the Syrians. We must never force Israel to the negotiating table, but neither should we ever block negotiations when Israel's leaders decide that they may serve Israeli interests. As President, I will do whatever I can to help Israel succeed in these negotiations. And success will require the full enforcement of Security Council Resolution 1701 in Lebanon, and a stop to Syria's support for terror. It is time for this reckless behavior to come to an end.
There is no greater threat to Israel – or to the peace and stability of the region – than Iran. Now this audience is made up of both Republicans and Democrats, and the enemies of Israel should have no doubt that, regardless of party, Americans stand shoulder-to-shoulder in our commitment to Israel's security. So while I don't want to strike too partisan a note here today, I do want to address some willful mischaracterizations of my positions.
The Iranian regime supports violent extremists and challenges us across the region. It pursues a nuclear capability that could spark a dangerous arms race, and raise the prospect of a transfer of nuclear know-how to terrorists. Its President denies the Holocaust and threatens to wipe Israel off the map. The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat.
But just as we are clear-eyed about the threat, we must be clear about the failure of today's policy. We knew, in 2002, that Iran supported terrorism. We knew Iran had an illicit nuclear program. We knew Iran posed a grave threat to Israel. But instead of pursuing a strategy to address this threat, we ignored it and instead invaded and occupied Iraq. When I opposed the war, I warned that it would fan the flames of extremism in the Middle East. That is precisely what happened in Iran – the hardliners tightened their grip, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected President in 2005. And the United States and Israel are less secure.
I respect Senator McCain, and look forward to a substantive debate with him these next five months. But on this point, we have differed, and we will differ. Senator McCain refuses to understand or acknowledge the failure of the policy that he would continue. He criticizes my willingness to use strong diplomacy, but offers only an alternate reality – one where the war in Iraq has somehow put Iran on its heels. The truth is the opposite. Iran has strengthened its position. Iran is now enriching uranium, and has reportedly stockpiled 150 kilos of low enriched uranium. Its support for terrorism and threats toward Israel have increased. Those are the facts, they cannot be denied, and I refuse to continue a policy that has made the United States and Israel less secure.
Senator McCain offers a false choice: stay the course in Iraq, or cede the region to Iran. I reject this logic because there is a better way. Keeping all of our troops tied down indefinitely in Iraq is not the way to weaken Iran – it is precisely what has strengthened it. It is a policy for staying, not a plan for victory. I have proposed a responsible, phased redeployment of our troops from Iraq. We will get out as carefully as we were careless getting in. We will finally pressure Iraq's leaders to take meaningful responsibility for their own future.
We will also use all elements of American power to pressure Iran. I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That starts with aggressive, principled diplomacy without self-defeating preconditions, but with a clear-eyed understanding of our interests. We have no time to waste. We cannot unconditionally rule out an approach that could prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. We have tried limited, piecemeal talks while we outsource the sustained work to our European allies. It is time for the United States to lead.
There will be careful preparation. We will open up lines of communication, build an agenda, coordinate closely with our allies, and evaluate the potential for progress. Contrary to the claims of some, I have no interest in sitting down with our adversaries just for the sake of talking. But as President of the United States, I would be willing to lead tough and principled diplomacy with the appropriate Iranian leader at a time and place of my choosing – if, and only if – it can advance the interests of the United States.
Only recently have some come to think that diplomacy by definition cannot be tough. They forget the example of Truman, and Kennedy and Reagan. These Presidents understood that diplomacy backed by real leverage was a fundamental tool of statecraft. And it is time to once again make American diplomacy a tool to succeed, not just a means of containing failure. We will pursue this diplomacy with no illusions about the Iranian regime. Instead, we will present a clear choice. If you abandon your dangerous nuclear program, support for terror, and threats to Israel, there will be meaningful incentives – including the lifting of sanctions, and political and economic integration with the international community. If you refuse, we will ratchet up the pressure.
My presidency will strengthen our hand as we restore our standing. Our willingness to pursue diplomacy will make it easier to mobilize others to join our cause. If Iran fails to change course when presented with this choice by the United States, it will be clear – to the people of Iran, and to the world – that the Iranian regime is the author of its own isolation. That will strengthen our hand with Russia and China as we insist on stronger sanctions in the Security Council. And we should work with Europe, Japan and the Gulf states to find every avenue outside the UN to isolate the Iranian regime – from cutting off loan guarantees and expanding financial sanctions, to banning the export of refined petroleum to Iran, to boycotting firms associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, whose Quds force has rightly been labeled a terrorist organization.
I was interested to see Senator McCain propose divestment as a source of leverage – not the bigoted divestment that has sought to punish Israeli scientists and academics, but divestment targeted at the Iranian regime. It's a good concept, but not a new one. I introduced legislation over a year ago that would encourage states and the private sector to divest from companies that do business in Iran. This bill has bipartisan support, but for reasons that I'll let him explain, Senator McCain never signed on. Meanwhile, an anonymous Senator is blocking the bill. It is time to pass this into law so that we can tighten the squeeze on the Iranian regime. We should also pursue other unilateral sanctions that target Iranian banks and assets.
And we must free ourselves from the tyranny of oil. The price of a barrel of oil is one of the most dangerous weapons in the world. Petrodollars pay for weapons that kill American troops and Israeli citizens. And the Bush Administration's policies have driven up the price of oil, while its energy policy has made us more dependent on foreign oil and gas. It's time for the United States to take real steps to end our addiction to oil. And we can join with Israel, building on last year's US-Israel Energy Cooperation Act, to deepen our partnership in developing alternative sources of energy by increasing scientific collaboration and joint research and development. The surest way to increase our leverage in the long term is to stop bankrolling the Iranian regime.
Finally, let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel. Sometimes there are no alternatives to confrontation. But that only makes diplomacy more important. If we must use military force, we are more likely to succeed, and will have far greater support at home and abroad, if we have exhausted our diplomatic efforts.
That is the change we need in our foreign policy. Change that restores American power and influence. Change accompanied by a pledge that I will make known to allies and adversaries alike: that America maintains an unwavering friendship with Israel, and an unshakeable commitment to its security.
As members of AIPAC, you have helped advance this bipartisan consensus to support and defend our ally Israel. And I am sure that today on Capitol Hill you will be meeting with members of Congress and spreading the word. But we are here because of more than policy. We are here because the values we hold dear are deeply embedded in the story of Israel.
Just look at what Israel has accomplished in 60 years. From decades of struggle and the terrible wake of the Holocaust, a nation was forged to provide a home for Jews from all corners of the world – from Syria to Ethiopia to the Soviet Union. In the face of constant threats, Israel has triumphed. In the face of constant peril, Israel has prospered. In a state of constant insecurity, Israel has maintained a vibrant and open discourse, and a resilient commitment to the rule of law.
As any Israeli will tell you, Israel is not a perfect place, but like the United States it sets an example for all when it seeks a more perfect future. These same qualities can be found among American Jews. It is why so many Jewish Americans have stood by Israel, while advancing the American story. Because there is a commitment embedded in the Jewish faith and tradition: to freedom and fairness; to social justice and equal opportunity. To tikkun olam – the obligation to repair this world.
I will never forget that I would not be standing here today if it weren't for that commitment. In the great social movements in our country's history, Jewish and African Americans have stood shoulder to shoulder. They took buses down south together. They marched together. They bled together. And Jewish Americans like Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were willing to die alongside a black man – James Chaney – on behalf of freedom and equality.
Their legacy is our inheritance. We must not allow the relationship between Jews and African Americans to suffer. This is a bond that must be strengthened. Together, we can rededicate ourselves to end prejudice and combat hatred in all of its forms. Together, we can renew our commitment to justice. Together, we can join our voices together, and in doing so make even the mightiest of walls fall down.
That work must include our shared commitment to Israel. You and I know that we must do more than stand still. Now is the time to be vigilant in facing down every foe, just as we move forward in seeking a future of peace for the children of Israel, and for all children. Now is the time to stand by Israel as it writes the next chapter in its extraordinary journey. Now is the time to join together in the work of repairing this world.

what i want to see

missy — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:15:23 EDT

so WHEN Obama takes the presidency i really hope to see great change in our country..its not even a specific issue or area of interest..i was so let down when f***ing Bush took office..when he was elected to another term the phrase "let down" is a dramatic understatement..what happend to the voice of the people..oh yeah its the voice of the people with money..higher taxes so the rich get a tax break..i am slightly irritated with the politics of our current oval office and congress people so bare with me..i pay taxes, i dont recieve any government benefits, i am not an ex con, but i am a lesbian and because of that i am basically not recognized by the state or country for that matter because of the state i live in and i feel that i should be able to marry the person that i love..Barack bellieves that all people be treated equal, whether its because of his heritage, being a minority himself, or he just out right believes thats what our country was built on and feels it should stay, well, finally begin he has all my support..and the healthcare system, ugh, i shouldnt even start on that..i am a mother of one, a full time employee and full time student in college at the age of 28, and some how i am not qualified for assistance and to top it all off my job or school provide medical dental vision or any type of insurance period..it really pisses me off....until next time....VOTE OBAMA

Curing The Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Sickness

EsquireUK — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:58:48 EDT

Op-Ed Columnist

Who’s Afraid of Barack Obama?

FRANK RICH

Published: December 2, 2007

JUST 24 hours after Hillary Clinton mowed down a skeptical Katie Couric with her certitude that she would win the Democratic nomination — “It will be me!” — her husband showed exactly how she could lose it.

By Frank Rich

By telling an Iowa audience on Tuesday night that he had opposed the Iraq war “from the beginning,” Bill Clinton committed a double pratfall. Not only did he refocus attention on his wife’s most hazardous issue, Iraq, just as it was receding as the nation’s Topic A, but he also revived unhappy memories of the truth-dodging nadirs of the Clinton White House.

Whatever his caveats, Mr. Clinton did not explicitly oppose the Iraq war from the beginning. But Al Gore did unequivocally and loudly in a public speech before the beginning, as did an obscure Illinois state senator named Barack Obama. What if Mrs. Clinton had led an insurrection against the war authorization in the Senate? Might she have helped impede America’s rush into one of the greatest fiascos in our history?

That history cannot be rewritten in any case, by Bill Clinton or anyone else. But future history is yet to be made. In the year to come, it will be written by the candidates and the voters, not by those journalists who, as the old saw has it, lay down history’s first draft.

Election year isn’t even here yet, and already most of the first drafts penned by the political press have proved instantly disposable, from Fred Thompson’s irresistible Reaganesque star power to the Family Research Council’s ability to abort the rise of Rudy Giuliani. The biggest Beltway myth so far — that the Clinton campaign is “textbook perfect” and “tightly disciplined” — was surely buried for good by the undisciplined former president’s seemingly panic-driven blunder last week.

The Washington wisdom about Mr. Obama has often been just as wrong as that about Mrs. Clinton. We kept being told he was making rookie mistakes and offering voters wispy idealistic sentiments rather than the real beef of policy. But what the Beltway mistook for gaffes often was the policy.

Mr. Obama’s much-derided readiness to talk promptly and directly to the leaders of Iran and Syria, for instance, was a clear alternative, agree with it or not, to Mrs. Clinton’s same-old Foggy Bottom platitudes on the subject. His supposedly reckless pledge to chase down Osama bin Laden and his gang in Pakistan, without Pakistani permission if necessary, was a pointed rebuke of both Mrs. Clinton’s and President Bush’s misplaced fealty to our terrorist-enabling “ally,” Pervez Musharraf. Like Mr. Obama’s prescient Iraq speech of 2002, his open acknowledgment of the Pakistan president’s slipperiness turned out to be ahead of the curve.

Now that the Beltway establishment, jolted by the Iowa polls, is frantically revising its premature blueprints for a Clinton coronation and declaring, as Time’s inevitable cliché would have it, that Mr. Obama has “found his voice,” it’s worth looking at some campaign story lines that have been ignored so far. They tell us more than the hyped scenarios that have fallen apart. Indeed, they flip the standard narrative of Campaign 2008 on its head: Were Mr. Obama to best Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic nomination, he may prove harder for the Republicans to rally against and defeat than the all-powerful, battle-tested Clinton machine.

The unspoken truth is that the Clinton machine is not being battle-tested at all by the Democratic primary process. When Mrs. Clinton accused John Edwards of “throwing mud” and “personally” attacking her in a sharp policy exchange in one debate, the press didn’t challenge the absurd hyperbole of her claim. In reality, neither Mr. Edwards nor any other Democratic competitor will ever hit her with the real, personal mud being stockpiled by the right. But if she’s getting a bye now, she will not from the Republican standard-bearer, whoever he may be. Clinton-bashing is the last shared article of faith (and last area of indisputable G.O.P. competence) that could yet unite the fractured and dispirited conservative electorate.

The Republicans know this and are so psychologically invested in refighting the Clinton wars that they’re giddy. Karl Rove’s first column for Newsweek last week, “How to Beat Hillary (Next) November,” proceeded from the premise that her nomination was a done deal. In the G.O.P. debates through last Thursday, the candidates mentioned the Clintons some 65 times. Barack Obama’s name has not been said once.

But much like the Clinton campaign itself, the Republicans have fallen into a trap by continuing to cling to the Hillary-is-inevitable trope. They have not allowed themselves to think the unthinkable — that they might need a Plan B to go up against a candidate who is not she. It’s far from clear that they would remotely know how to construct a Plan B to counter Mr. Obama. The repeated attempts to fan “rumors” that he is a madrassa-indoctrinated Muslim — whether on Fox News or in The Washington Post, where they resurfaced scurrilously on the front page on Thursday — are too demonstrably false to survive endless reruns even in the Swift-boating era.

Part of the Republicans’ difficulty in countering Mr. Obama, should they have to, is their own cynical racial politics. For the most part, race has been the dog that hasn’t barked in this campaign despite the (largely) white press’s endless fretting about whether the Illinois senator is too white for black voters and too black for white voters. Most Americans aren’t racist, most Republicans included. (Those who are won’t vote for the Democratic presidential candidate even if it’s not Mr. Obama.) But the G.O.P., by its own doing, is nonetheless saddled with a history that most recently includes “macaca” and Katrina, Mr. Bush’s appearance at Bob Jones University in 2000 and the nonexistent black population of its Congressional delegation.

As the Republican leadership knows, this record is an albatross, driving away not just black voters but crucial white swing voters, too. Ken Mehlman, the former G.O.P. chairman, and Mr. Rove, as recently as in that Newsweek column, have implored their party to reach out to minorities. So have Newt Gingrich and Jack Kemp. But not even conservative leaders of this stature could persuade their party’s top 2008 presidential contenders to show up for a September debate moderated by Tavis Smiley for PBS at the historically black Morgan State University.

It’s not because those no-shows are racists; it’s because they are defensive and out of touch. With the notable exception of Mike Huckabee, most of the party’s candidates have barricaded themselves from African-Americans for so long that they don’t know how to speak to or about them. As sure-footed as these Republicans are in attacking the Clintons and Streisand — or in exchanging fire with Al Sharpton and hip-hop moguls — they are strangers to the mainstream multiracial and multicultural America exemplified by an Obama or an Oprah.

An Obama candidacy would force them to engage. Or try to. A matchup between Mr. Obama and Mr. Giuliani, who was forged in the racial crucible of New York’s police brutality nightmares of the 1990s, or between Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney, who was shaped by a religion that didn’t give blacks equal membership until 1978, would be less a clash of races than of centuries.

But there’s another, even more fascinating hidden story line in the 2008 campaign that speaks to the potential prowess of an Obama candidacy. Despite the thuggish name-calling of a few right-wing die-hards (e.g., Rush Limbaugh mocking “Barack Hussein Odumbo”), the dirty secret of a number of conservatives is that they are disarmed by Mr. Obama even though they know his record is more liberal than Mrs. Clinton’s.

The drumbeat of approval has been remarkably steady. Last year Mark McKinnon, a top adviser to both the 2000 and 2004 Bush campaigns, admiringly called Mr. Obama “a walking, talking hope machine” who “may reshape American politics.” Andrew Ferguson devoted pages in The Weekly Standard to raving about “Dreams From My Father,” Mr. Obama’s memoir, before dismissing its political sequel, “The Audacity of Hope.” Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, keeps trying to write anti-Obama articles but they’re so mild that they never really contradict his judgment of a year ago that the senator from Illinois “is the only presidential candidate from either party about whom there is a palpable excitement.” Even Tom Tancredo, the most virulent immigration demagogue of the G.O.P. presidential field, has spoken warmly of Mr. Obama.

Perhaps most striking is the case of Shelby Steele, the archconservative scholar who shares Mr. Obama’s mixed-race heritage. Though he has just written an entire book, “A Bound Man,” to argue (unpersuasively, in my view) that Mr. Obama “can’t win,” he can’t stop himself from admiring the guy throughout. Peggy Noonan wasn’t being tongue-in-cheek when she wondered in The Wall Street Journal last month whether Mr. Obama “understands the kind of quiet cheering he is beginning to garner from some Republicans.” In her view “they see him as a Democrat who could cure the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton sickness.”

Or at least they do in the abstract. Should Mr. Obama upend the Beltway story line by taking Iowa, the Republicans will have every reason to be as fearful as the Clinton camp is now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/opinion/02rich.html?scp=10&sq=frank%20rich%20barack%20obama&st=cse

Samatha Power: Message To 2008 Graduates...Be A Good Ancestor

EsquireUK — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:59:21 EDT

Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, is the author of Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World (Penguin Press, 2008), a biography of the UN peacemaker killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq. The founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy (1998-2002), she is also the author of "A Problem from Hell:" America and the Age of Genocide (Harper Collins, 2003), which won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, the 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award for general nonfiction, and the Council on Foreign Relations' Arthur Ross Prize for the best book in U.S. foreign policy. From 1993-1996, Power covered the wars in the former Yugoslavia as a reporter for the Boston Globe, U.S. News and World Report and the New Republic. She has remained an active journalist, reporting from Rwanda, Burundi, Cambodia, Kosovo, East Timor, Zimbabwe, and Sudan. She is a contributor to the New Yorker magazine and a foreign policy columnist with Time magazine, and won the 2005 National Magazine Award for best reporting.

The following is Samantha Power's address to the graduating class of Pitzer-Claremont College in California earlier this month.

It is an indescribable honor to be here with you today, class of 2008. It is an even greater honor that you extended the invitation before what I now -- with exaggerated self-importance -- call "Monster-gate." I am grateful to you for not rescinding the invitation after I opened my big mouth and became global villain for a day. If you ever needed evidence that even college graduates never grow up -- they just get more sophisticated at disguising their inner child -- I offered it. Thanks for standing by your humbled commencement speaker.

Since I graduated from college in 1992, I have been blessed to have been a part of some pretty momentous causes. Yet I count as the greatest privileges of my life the sunny days like this one, where I have the chance to deliver a commencement address. I take this responsibility very seriously, and I consider it a great act of trust toward a stranger. So thank you again, Pitzer.

Ok now that I've raised expectations, let me add a qualifier: be wary today and every other day of anybody who claims to have specialized knowledge on the way things should turn out. In your lives or in the world.

I was in Fenway Park and Yankee stadium in October 2004, at the start of your freshman year here, when the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs to vanquish the New York Yankees and the curse and win their first World Series in 86 years. The experts said it couldn't be done, but the experts knew history, they knew that no baseball team had ever come back from three games down in a series. The experts knew things, but they didn't know those Boston Red Sox.

I was in Darfur, Sudan that same year, and I met refugees who begged me to bring their stories back to the United States so the U.S. government would act. The Darfurians pleaded for humanitarian aid to be delivered, for Sudan's killers to be prosecuted, and for peacekeepers to be sent to protect civilians. The experts said it couldn't be done, that governments traditionally pursue their "national interests," that the U.S. government was too busy with al Qaeda, North Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan to worry about "mere" humanitarian issues. Again, the experts knew things, but they didn't know that STAND chapters would spring up on 500 college campuses across the country, that ordinary people concerned about Darfur would create a 1-800-genocide number, that members of Congress would be given "genocide grades" for their actions and would scramble to move from a C- to a B. The experts didn't know that students on the Pitzer college campus would organize a concert for Darfur that would raise $7,000. And they certainly didn't know that this movement would generate such political pressure that the United States would spend more than $3 billion keeping those refugees alive. They didn't know that the International Criminal Court would indict the leading war criminals. And they didn't know that a peacekeeping force would be authorized. Now let me be clear: the killings have not stopped, and there is far more left to do. But if citizens had deferred to conventional wisdom about what was doable, many more people in Darfur would no longer be with us today.

And back in 2005 I was minding my own business when I received an email from the office of a certain junior Senator from Illinois inviting me to drop by to discuss his vision for fixing U.S. foreign policy. A one hour meeting with this man, Barack Obama, turned into such a staggering four hour tutorial (I was the student, he the teacher) that I decided then and there to leave my job as a professor at Harvard and move to Washington to work in his office. I have been open-mouthed -- or what the Irish call, "gob-smacked" -- ever since, as I've watched the race between Senator Obama and Senator Clinton electrify the nation. The experts said it couldn't be done -- they said men would never vote for a woman, but they did; they said that white Americans weren't ready for an African-American, but they were; they said that young people would talk a good game, but they wouldn't get their acts together to register and then to vote, but you did. The experts knew things, but they didn't know today's Americans, and they certainly didn't know your generation of young people.

Again and again, the experts have proven wrong. Yet if the Red Sox, the Darfur activists, or Obama had deferred to these experts, history would have turned out very differently. The experts deal in probabilities, but you all have the chance to decide on possibilities and make what is possible real.

So how do you begin to think about doing that? I'd like to offer five suggestions.

First, as you figure out your path in life, try to follow your nose. I had classmates in college who had decided by the time we graduated what they wanted to be on this earth - "Tony award winning actor," "congressman by the age of thirty," "broker of an India-Pakistan peace deal." These folks were unbelievably determined and polished. They had amassed thick rolodexes and devised detailed flow charts, indicating how they would get to their self-designated promised lands. They knew their end states and would have given Machiavelli a good run for his money in reaching their goals. I have students like this too. One young man came into my office recently and said, "I want your life. I want to write books and magazine articles and get to know a Presidential candidate." My response was: "you so don't want my life!" Now don't get me wrong: I love my life. But this student knew that life only in silhouette. He knew nothing of my many missteps, of the internal struggles, of the constant tradeoffs, and he knew nothing of how I set out on a path hoping to do one thing and ended up doing something radically different. He only knew the box score. But just as one can not decide in advance to win a baseball game by a score of 6-3, one can not script a precise professional destination. The contingencies - and one's ability to pivot from them - have a greater impact upon one's destiny than one's plan.

I promise you that I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing if I had set out to reach a specific end state. Every choice up to this point, I have made by following my nose. I went to Bosnia as a journalist in the early 1990s not so I could somehow, one day, end up having the honor of speaking at your commencement, but because I was one of many Americans sickened by the television images of emaciated men and women imprisoned behind barbed wire in modern-day concentration camps.

And believe me, while in college, I didn't say, "I want to become the author of long books on dark topics." I wrote a paper for a law school class on U.S. responses to the major genocides of the twentieth century. And then at the end of the semester decided I still didn't have an adequate answer to the question of why U.S. leaders had done so little to stop genocide, from the Armenians to the Holocaust to Rwanda. So I kept going. I took a year off law school to try to figure out the answer to that question, and, only when I got the impression that others were interested in the answer too did I decide to pull my findings together in a book, which became "A Problem from Hell" -- a title my mother thinks I chose to describe my personal relationship to the book writing process. When I was later told by publishers that there was no market for such a book, I was crushed of course, but it didn't stop me because I still hadn't quite figured out the answer to my question.

When I went to work for Senator Obama in 2005, I went not because I thought he would run for president, but because I thought he had a lot to teach. I also realized I'd been writing about American foreign policy for a long time but was woefully ignorant about how the Congress functioned day to day. If, going forward, you view yourselves as full-time students in a real world university, it is difficult to go that far astray.

Parents, please don't worry! I'm not using this privileged pulpit to encourage dilettantism. Instead, I'm encouraging you, class of 2008, to focus on the next thing, and take some of the pressure off finding the eventual thing. Emphasize the substance of what you will learn, not the status of what you will be called. Ask yourself, "What will I take away from this? Will I learn a new skill? A new town? A new mindset?" Put one foot in front of the other for as long as you can afford to, rather than trying to map your way to the winner's platform.

Second, be sure to create quiet time so you maximize the chances you will be able to hear your gut when it speaks to you. The French film director Jean Renoir once said, "The foundation of all great civilizations is loitering." But class of 2008, we have all stopped loitering. I don't mean we aren't lazy at times. I mean that no moment goes unoccupied. A year or so I was driving my car to work, and I caught myself -- ladies and gentlemen don't try this at home - listening to a book on tape, talking on my cellphone, keeping an eye on the GPS, and texting a friend on my blackberry at the same time. I'm not proud of this. And it gets even worse. Now a recovering member of Pathological Multi-Taskers Anonymous, I am here to admit that I do not drive an automatic! Yes, I performed all of these tasks while driving a stick shift. Not good.

Not only "not good" because of the physical hazards associated with such reckless multi-tasking. But also not good because this moment approximates the modern American condition. Stillness is becoming as extinct as the polar bear. More people spend more time with their computers today than with their spouse or significant other. And indeed a quarter of Americans say the internet can serve as a substitute for a spouse or a significant other!

We go for a run, and we listen to music. We sit down to write, and we secretly pine for the ping of the email interruption. We wait in line at the grocery store, and we use the check out line to return phone calls. Soon when we fly on airplanes, we will be able to fill every airborne moment with calls and emails and connectedness. If I am not mistaken, the shower is now the only place we are guaranteed to have time to ourselves, and soon undoubtedly, our iPods will be waterproof and our cell phones will be devised to drown out the shower current and to amplify the human voice. All that we will have left will be that quiet, peaceful time when we wait expectantly at the other side of the airport x-ray belt for our gadgets to be returned to us after screening ... and think now, how we already break the airport rules and reach our hands back into the dark vortex of the conveyor belt just so we can be reunited with our technology seconds more quickly!

There are great benefits to connectedness, but we haven't wrapped our minds around the costs. Comedy Central would happily hire a limo to take Steven Colbert to and from work every day. But he says he wouldn't be funny if he didn't drive himself home. On his drive from New York to New Jersey, he puts the devices away and lets his mind drift ... with side-splittingly funny results. Many of the best decisions you make in life will come from listening not to your parents, not to your horoscope, and not to your MySpace visitors. Your best decisions will come after you have placed a metaphorical stethoscope up to your gut and managed to listen to yourself. These days it can be hard to hear oneself amid the din, but try!!

Third, by far the most important quality one needs in life is not in fact talent; it is resiliency. I just spent the last four years writing a book about Sergio Vieira de Mello, a person I have begun to describe as "the most important man you've never heard of," a cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy, who was a global trouble-shooter, nation builder, and peacemaker. He spoke seven languages, worked in fourteen war zones, and knew more than anyone on earth about how to deal with violent and broken places. Tragically Sergio and 21 others were blown up by a suicide bomber in the attack on UN headquarters in Iraq in 2003. Sergio was like Sysyphus. He pushed that boulder up the hill, and it rolled back down that hill, but he retrieved it and pushed it up again, over time making incremental but essential progress. He managed to save the lives he did less because of his judgment than because of his resiliency.

When I think about resiliency today, I also think about a man named Gil Loescher. When the suicide bomber struck the UN's Iraq base in 2003, Sergio happened to be meeting with Gil, an American human rights and refugee advocate. Miraculously, although the bomb went off right outside Sergio's office, Gil managed to survive the explosion and was pinned beneath concrete. Now sadly American soldiers had been deployed without the equipment they needed to do a proper, full-scale search and rescue mission. Nonetheless, they improvised, tracking down a rusty saw in one of the bombed-out UN offices. With this saw they amputated Gil's legs and pulled him out of the collapsed building. Gil was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany and given a 25% chance of survival. For more than a year after the attack, tiny shards of glass would work themselves free from his skin. His face was badly scarred, and he initially had no use of his right hand. But Gil made extraordinary progress, reacquiring the use of that hand and mastering computer-assisted prosthetic legs. He resumed writing a book on protracted refugee crises and, in 2006, just three years after the attack, he managed to travel 1,200 miles along the northern Thai border to interview Burmese refugees. In one of the camps, he made a special point of visiting an out-of-the-way care center for disabled refugees run by Handicap International. But after wheeling himself across the camp, he found the facility had been built atop a steep mud bank that his wheelchair could not ascend. Resigned to turning back, Gil suddenly saw five Burmese faces peering down at him from the top of the bank. The Burmese, each of whom had a wooden prosthetic leg, scrambled down the bank, raised Gil's wheelchair onto their shoulders and carried him up the hill.

Loescher divides his existence into his "first life" and his "second life." He says that on occasions when he is tempted to feel sorry for himself, he thinks about refugees. "My whole career," he says, "I have been visiting refugee camps, and, without realizing it, I was getting tutorials about resilience. If they can bounce back, I certainly can." Life is a crucible, but whenever I'm tempted to give up on something, I think of Gil and those selfless and determined Burmese. And after today, whenever I waver, I'm going to think about Lauren. [Lauren Steinberg is a Pitzer senior who spoke during the commencement ceremony. Last year she was hit by a car and narrowly survived. Despite extensive head and body injuries, multiple surgeries, and prolonged absences, she returned to Pitzer this year and came just one credit shy of graduating with her class.]

Success is not about who never fails. It is about who can spring - or even stagger - back up. That immortal American philosopher John Wayne said "life is getting up one more time than you've been knocked down."

Fourth, find friends who have your back. Last weekend I attended a conference in honor of a Nobel Prize winning Princeton psychologist named Danny Kahneman. Kahneman is a remarkable scholar who has done groundbreaking experiments which showed the ways in which humans are not as rational as had long been assumed. At the conference, which celebrated his retirement, lawyers, economists, and psychologists got up to present work that had been galvanized or influenced by his theories. The day was a tour de force, a monument to the kind of impact one man and his ideas can have on the world. At the end of the day Kahneman was asked what he was most likely to be remembered for. The audience hushed in anticipation. Here Kahneman would elevate one of his many theories above the rest. Posterity would record which experimental research the great Kahneman himself thought most landmark. "The one thing that I'm sure of," he said, "is that I'll be forgotten." But he was next asked the source of his nearly unrivalled professional success. Again the scholars in the room waited expectantly. This time, he gave them a response they could take home, answering, "my choice of friends."

The beauty of this is that, while much in this life is beyond our control, all of us hold the power to choose our friends. We can each be a Nobel prize winner at friendship. None of us are perfect friends always, but one way to think about friendship is in terms of carefulness. Be careful with those you love. And surround yourself with people who are careful with you. A good friend of mine devised a rather taxing standard for love and friendship - and a grim one too - "who would you want to become a refugee with?" If your neighborhood were hit by Hurricane Katrina, or Cyclone Nargis, who would have your back? Look around you today. Your parents have your back, your siblings have your back, your closest friends have your back. Keep it that way. And be sure they know you have theirs.

Fifth and final suggestion -- actually more of a plaintive appeal -- please be a good ancestor. Two or three or even four decades from now, you will get to sit where your parents are sitting today. Your kids will know that in 2008 your generation stood at a crossroads. They will know that you had a chance to stem the tide of global warming -- to undo the damage that my generation and our predecessors have done to our shared planet. Your kids will know that you had a chance to restore the Constitution of the United States, a constitution that of late has come to be seen by some as optional. On issue after issue, your kids will know that you were the first generation to be educated about global challenges -- global warming, nuclear proliferation, global disease pandemics, terrorism, etc. -- and your kids will ask you, "what did you do to meet those challenges?" I hope you can claim prouder ancestry than we can. Already seventy-two percent of you can say you studied abroad, many of you can say that you led the drive to make your resident halls green and energy efficient, and several of you high-tailed it down to New Orleans after the hurricane to help those in need. Your student body amassed 110,000 hours of community service. That is 110,000 hours you could have spent doing something else!

And now going forward you can build on these efforts. You can be the generation that makes this country energy independent; you can be the generation that wipes out malaria in the developing world; you can be the generation that summons global resources to halt genocide in Darfur and beyond; you can be the generation that deals with the scourge of terrorism and its causes; and you can be the generation that ends extreme poverty. My generation and our predecessors haven't been responsible caretakers. But you can be. In John F. Kennedy's inaugural address he observed that Americans were daunted by the mortal challenges of the Cold War and the nuclear age. But he declared, "I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation."

That is the attitude to bring out into the messy world you inherit. The responsibilities of global citizenship are a burden. But my, those responsibilities are also a real privilege. Some poet once said, "Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw the stars." You can choose to see the stars, Pitzer class of 2008.

Take the time this weekend to celebrate with the parents who made today possible, the teachers who made today valuable, and the friends who made your last four years unforgettable. And then go forth to be this 21st century's "greatest generation." Follow your nose. Find quiet time to listen to your gut. Be resilient. Find friends who have your back. And above all, please be a good ancestor. You can. And you must.

Thank you, Pitzer class of 2008, and good luck.

Keynote Speaker

Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize winning Author, Journalist, Lawyer, and Human Rights Activist has been selected by the senior class as this year's Keynote speaker.

Power is The Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, the 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award for general non-fiction, and the Council on Foreign Relations' Arthur Ross Prize for the best book in US foreign policy. Power’s New Yorker article on the horrors in Darfur, Sudan, won the 2005 National Magazine Award for best reporting.

Power was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy (1998-2002). From 1993-1996, she covered the wars in the former Yugoslavia as a reporter for the USNews & World Report, The Boston Globe, and The Economist. Power is the editor, with Graham Allison, of Realizing Human Rights: Moving from Inspiration to Impact. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, she moved to the United States from Ireland at the age of nine. She spent 2005-06 working in the office of Senator Barack Obama and recently released a political biography of the UN's Sergio Vieira de Mello, entitled Chasing the Flame.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samantha-power/message-to-graduates-be-a_b_103886.html

Signs that I'm now an engaged citizen (or a political junkie)

David C. — Mon, 26 May 2008 04:39:45 EDT

...I just made my first amateur policy suggestion to Senator Obama, complete with researched opinion and links to appropriate articles. I realize this is not necessarily apropos to our particular areas, but I think that I might have stumbled onto a good idea through sheer dumb luck, and I'd like to see if what my fellow Obama supporters think.

This whole thing started because of two articles: the first by Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard suggested five non-major pieces of legislation to attempt to do to the Democrats of the 110th Congress what President Truman did to the Republicans of the 80th Congress, and label them a "Do Nothing Congress."

(http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/143bzrbw.asp?pg=2).

The second was an article by John D. Dingell of the Washington Post about the idea of a carbon tax,and how it's actually more faithful to market principles than a cap-and-trade system:

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102051.html).

Obama Invokes Kennedy Family's Legacy

EsquireUK — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:09:12 EDT

Sunday, 25th May 2008

I was born the year that his brother John called a generation of Americans to ask their country what they could do. And I came of age at a time when they did it. They were the Peace Corps volunteers who won a generation of goodwill toward America at a time when America’s ideals were challenged. They were the teenagers and college students, not much older than you, who watched the Civil Rights Movement unfold on their television sets; who saw the dogs and the fire hoses and the footage of marchers beaten within an inch or their lives; who knew it was probably smarter and safer to stay at home, but still decided to take those Freedom Rides down south – who still decided to march. And because they did, they changed the world.
I bring this up because today, you are about to enter a world that makes it easy to get caught up in the notion that there are actually two different stories at work in our lives.
The first is the story of our everyday cares and concerns – the responsibilities we have to our jobs and our families – the bustle and busyness of what happens in our own life. And the second is the story of what happens in the life of our country – of what happens in the wider world. It’s the story you see when you catch a glimpse of the day’s headlines or turn on the news at night – a story of big challenges like war and recession; hunger and climate change; injustice and inequality. It’s a story that can sometimes seem distant and separate from our own – a destiny to be shaped by forces beyond our control.
And yet, the history of this nation tells us this isn’t so. It tells us that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us, but by us – by generations of men and women, young and old, who have always believed that their story and the American story are not separate, but shared. And for more than two centuries, they have served this country in ways that have forever enriched both.

I say this to you as someone who couldn’t be standing here today if not for the service of others, and wouldn’t be standing here today if not for the purpose that service gave my own life.

Obama Asks Wesleyan Students to Serve Their Country (Update3)

By Kim Chipman

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama, standing in for Senator Edward M. Kennedy as commencement speaker at Wesleyan University, invoked the Kennedy family's legacy of public service and challenged students to look beyond material gains and work for our ``collective salvation.''

``No one is forcing you to care,'' Obama said. ``You can take your diploma, walk off this stage and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy. But I hope you don't.''

With a commanding lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama said that if he is elected he will call upon the students and the nation to ``be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency.''

Wesleyan officials estimated the crowd at 25,000, including those who viewed the speech on closed-circuit television in rooms around the campus set up to handle the overflow. Last year, 8,000 attended the college's 175th anniversary celebration.

Obama pinch-hit for Kennedy at the Middletown, Connecticut, school after the 76-year-old Democratic Party lion was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Kennedy, along with his niece, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, endorsed Obama in January, a symbolic ``passing of the torch'' to the Illinois senator.

`Not Done Yet'

``It is rare in this country of ours that a person exists who has touched the lives of nearly every single American without many of us even realizing it,'' Obama said in tribute to his cancer-stricken Senate colleague from Massachusetts. ``And I have a feeling that Ted Kennedy is not done just yet.''

Obama said the students should draw inspiration from Kennedy and devote their energies to the common good.

``It's because you have an obligation to yourself,'' Obama, 46, said. ``Because our individual salvation depends on our collective salvation.''

Among the Wesleyan graduates today is Kennedy's stepdaughter, Caroline Raclin. The commencement also marks the 25th reunion for Kennedy's son, Edward Kennedy Jr., who graduated from the school in 1983.

Recalling his time as a community organizer in Chicago, Obama said there are many ways the students can help others.

``At a time of war, we need you to work for peace,'' he said. ``At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again.''

`Childhood Adrift'

He reminded the audience he was raised by a single mother and his grandparents, living overseas and in Honolulu, after his Kenyan father left when he was 2-years-old. ``I spent much of my childhood adrift,'' said Obama, who lived in Indonesia during much of his time in elementary school.

After graduating from Columbia University in New York, he said his decision to take a $12,000-a-year job as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side changed his life. ``Through service, I discovered how my own improbable story fit into the larger story of America,'' he said.

Obama also referred to his father's roots by noting that two graduating Wesleyan students plan to go to Kenya to help bring alternative sources of energy to poverty-ridden areas.

He told the graduating class that the world they are entering will need a ``generation of volunteers' to work on renewable energy projects as governments battle global climate change. He also stressed the need for more people to act as academic mentors to children and donate their time to high-need areas such as New Orleans or a local homeless shelter.

Wesleyan Graduates

Today's appearance gives Obama more exposure to a network of wealthy, high-profile Wesleyan graduates, including Sun Microsystems Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Schwartz, former Southwest Airlines Co. Chairman Herb Kelleher, ``The West Wing'' television show actor Bradley Whitford and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

Kennedy has served in the Senate since 1962, making him the second-longest-serving current lawmaker in the chamber after Senator Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat.

In 1984 he received an honorary degree from Wesleyan, a school of 2,700 students that is sometimes confused with Wellesley College, New York Senator Hillary Clinton's alma mater, or Ohio Wesleyan University.

Kennedy wasn't present at today's graduation ceremony. His wife, Vicki, did attend.

Wesleyan is tied for 11th place on U.S. News & World Report's ranking of top American liberal arts colleges.

Obama, who graduated from Columbia University in New York and obtained a law degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had no previous ties to Wesleyan. Today he received an honorary degree of laws from the school.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Middletown, Connecticut at kchipman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 25, 2008 14:21 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aLTJUPvvZtP0&refer=politics

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/us/politics/26wesleyan.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

http://www.cnn.com/league/

Barack Obama: A Leader Of Such Visionary Powers

EsquireUK — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:03:50 EDT

Sunday, 18th May 2008

Expertise at poker, America's favourite pastime, used to be an unwritten job requirement for all would-be Presidents. Proficient White House poker players have ranged from Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Harding to FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, LBJ and Nixon.

As a lifelong poker fanatic, I approve. Were I American, the poker-playing candidate would always get my vote. As I noted in my 1990 book, Big Deal, chronicling my year as an aspirant poker pro, Truman played the game with the White House press corps while pondering whether to drop the first atomic bomb on Japan; Nixon financed his first political race on his wartime poker winnings in the navy; Johnson used his poker know-how to forge political alliances in Texas.

In recent years, this great tradition seems to have fallen out of fashion: Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton, Bush Jr - not a player among them. Or is it just that the 'new puritanism' has all candidates zipping their lips about anything remotely to do with gambling? This seems to be why the world is not yet aware of the poker skills of Senator Barack Obama, who now seems certain to be this autumn's Democratic candidate against John McCain.

Asked by the Press Association to name a 'hidden talent', Obama revealed early in the campaign that he considers himself 'a pretty good poker player'. Subsequent investigations were hampered by a shutdown on the subject from his media minders. But it is already on the record that, after a cool reception from fellow legislators in 1997, when he first took his seat in the Illinois senate, Obama won over colleagues of all parties with his charm and expertise at the poker table.

With another freshman senator, Terry Link, Obama co-hosted a regular game for which there was soon a waiting list, including Republicans as well as Democrats. 'When it turned out that I could sit down and have a beer and go out for a round of golf or get a poker game going,' Obama told the Chicago Tribune, 'I probably confounded some of their expectations.'

His was not a big game - on a bad night, a player could lose 200 bucks - but Obama has declined to discuss it as his hopes of the nomination have risen. 'American puritanism,' says Illinois-based writer James McManus, bestselling author of Positively Fifth Street and the forthcoming The Story of Poker, 'has turned playing poker for tiny stakes into radioactive information.'

In a recent New Yorker piece, McManus suggested that poker was the secret of rookie Obama's transformation among 'the Chicago machine pols and downstate soybean farmers' from 'overeducated bleeding-heart and greenhorn' to regular kinda guy. Link said: 'You hung up your guns at the door... it was just a boys' night out - a release from our legislative responsibilities.'

From what I'm told by intimates, Obama's poker skills bode well for a potential leader of the free world. He is versatile, but shuns unnecessary risks; he wants to be holding premium cards before he even thinks of getting involved; the only gambles he takes are very closely calculated.

America would be mad to pass up a potential leader of such acumen. In a world so fraught with danger, a leader of such visionary powers will surely restore his country's tarnished reputation. So let's hear it for one potential sign of Obamanian 'change': White House poker games played, like Harry Truman's, with chips embossed with the presidential seal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/18/barackobama.poker

Obama Statement on Cally Court Decision?!?

Stardust, Germany — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:26:08 EDT

I think it would be necessary and very good for Barack to issue a statement celebrating the Californian courts' decision for Gay Marriage. Following up our success with NARAL it could be critical to broaden or LGBT-support - and apart from that, this is such a huge success for Gays and Lesbians that Barack really should speak out and take part in our celebrations.

2 Democrats Were Registered Today

theantidesi101 — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:55:00 EDT

2 Democrats were registered today. 2 more people were added to the many newly registered voters ready to vote for Obama in November. 2 more voters. 2 more preservers of our Democracy. 2 more hopes for America. 2 more chances for a progressive America.

Virgin Territory

theantidesi101 — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:27:51 EDT

This is all new to me, and it's all happening so fast. I find myself giving more time, more emotional investment and more effort for this. This, this candidacy, this movement, this organization of pissed off but inspired activists for change. I find myself reserving 30 minutes every day of the week to call for this cause, picking up the phone, dialing people I never have known and forging bonds with these strangers over a message of hope. I feel ownership of a movement for change, and while I know there's so much I would like to see more of in Barack as a candidate, he still inspires me. Inspired my enough to explore this strange virgin territory that is his own social networking phenomenon.

Vote For Change: Barack Obama Laying Groundwork For November Presidential Election

EsquireUK — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:45:02 EDT

Saturday, 26th April 2008

Barack Obama, who hasn't quite clinched the Democratic nomination, is already laying the groundwork for the November election by recruiting new voters and by providing an avenue for donors to give even more.

Yesterday, his campaign announced "Vote for Change," what it described as an unprecedented 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive. The effort will start with at least 83 events across the country on May 10 and has already launched a website.

"If we're going to push back on the special interests and finally solve the challenges we face, we're going to need everyone to get involved," Obama said in a statement.

The campaign takes credit for registering more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 165,000 in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 in Indiana. Obama has won the overwhelming majority of new voters in primaries and caucuses.

Also, Obama's campaign confirmed yesterday that it is setting up a joint fund-raising committee with the Democratic National Committee, an arrangement that allows donors to write one check to be divided between the candidate and the national party, which can use its share to help the candidate. The contribution limit is $28,500, compared to $2,300 for the general election for donations directly to a candidate.

John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and the Republican National Committee already have a joint committee. Hillary Clinton does not yet have the same arrangement, usually done for the nominee.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/26/obama_making_plans_to_attract_voters_and_money_for_november/

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGCVNs

Obama-DNC Fundraising Deal

After a series of discussions, the Obama campaign www.barackobama.com and the Democratic National Committee have decided to file papers with the Federal Election Commission establishing a “joint fundraising agreement.” Under the law, such a committee can accept up to $28,500 from individuals, most of which would go to the DNC.

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has already formed such an alliance with the Republican National Committee. Their group — called Victory — was created in March after McCain clinched the GOP nomination and is headed by McCain adviser Carly Fiorina.

Sources say the DNC has also held talks with Hillary Clinton’s campaign about forming a separate vehicle with her, but that no deal has been struck.

The fact that the Obama campaign is moving forward and Clinton is not at this time reflects certain important realities: Obama’s team is more confident that he will win the nomination than is Clinton’s — and Obama’s campaign has the necessity and luxury of thinking about and planning for the general election to come.

As part of that preparation, the campaign is thinking about how to divide up roles and responsibilities between the campaign’s Chicago headquarters and the DNC in Washington.

The DNC has stood out during this election cycle as the one major party entity that has not been raising money like gangbusters, and officials in both camps hope the joint agreement can allow the DNC to tap into Obama’s extraordinary leverage and popularity with donors, particularly after he secures the nomination — assuming he does.

The committee formed under the agreement is still in search of a final name.

http://thepage.time.com/obama-dnc-fundraising-deal/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120916797777146321.html

CNN Tonight: Gov. Bill Richardson vs. James Carville!

David in Houston — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:29:26 EDT

Larry King Live at 9:00pm ET
on Wednesday, April 23, 2008

CNN Tonight: Gov. Bill Richardson vs. James Carville!

Only on Larry King Live!
Gov. Bill Richardson and James Carville
debate Hillary Clinton's Pennsylvania victory!
Will the win be enough to keep her competitive in the race?

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE!

Cool youtube video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyhIBXNfqMA

Mrs. Clinton Won the Pennsylvania Primary...Lost the War for the Nomination

EsquireUK — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:07:44 EDT

Last Night Clinton Won the Pennsylvania Primary, but Lost the War for the Nomination

Posted April 23, 2008 | 09:42 AM (EST)

The Pennsylvania Primary was Hillary Clinton's last chance to deliver a game changing blow to Obama's campaign for the nomination. She failed to deliver.

Pennsylvania provided her with her final real opportunity to knock the wheels off the Obama campaign. She needed a crushing victory of 18% to 25% to have any real chance of altering the math or the psychology. Demographically, Pennsylvania was made for Hillary: the second oldest state in the nation, heavily blue collar, Catholic and rural -- Hillary's voter profile. She started with a lead of almost 20 points. But her final margin -- which the Pennsylvania Secretary of State says was only 9.2% -- fell far short of what was needed to stop Obama's nomination. Here's why:

1). Pledged Delegates. By CNN's count, Clinton netted about 14 pledged delegates in Pennsylvania. That still leaves Obama up by 151 pledged delegates. It is likely that after Guam, Indiana and North Carolina, there will be no net change in pledged delegates, even if Clinton wins Indiana, since Obama will certainly pick up delegates in North Carolina. But at that point only 251 pledged delegates will remain to be chosen.

Even if she got 80% of all of the pledged delegates that remain after Indiana, she would still trail Obama at the end of the day.

The battle for the pledged delegate advantage is over.

2). Popular Vote. Pennsylvania was her best opportunity to really close in on Obama's popular vote lead. She picked up about 216,000 net votes. But that still leaves her over 600,000 votes behind, and Obama will likely increase his popular vote margin further after the contests on May 6th. Her failure to blow Obama out in Pennsylvania makes it almost impossible for her to close the popular vote gap.

3). Electability. Clinton's entire strategy rests on the premise that she can convince Super Delegates that Obama is unelectable. Only a massive win in Pennsylvania would have credibly made that case. Clinton's victory did little to enhance her argument.

Regardless of the passions of the moment, history shows us that just because voters prefer one candidate in the primary, it doesn't mean they won't vote for her Democratic opponent in a general election when the choice is a Republican. When all is said and done, primary voters almost always vote for the candidate of their party in a general election - regardless of what they might say (on either side) in the middle of a primary fight.

In fact, the people who decide general elections rarely set foot in primary voting booths. They are the independent voters who vote only in general elections and unengaged voters who are would vote Democratic, but have to be mobilized to go to the polls.

The fact is that to whatever degree Hillary might have more appeal among independent rural and blue collar voters, Obama more than makes up in additional appeal to independent suburban voters. Obama's ability to mobilize new young and African American voters in the general election is indisputably greater than Clinton's.

And of course, Obama will not go into the General Election burdened by the towering Clinton negatives that her own negative campaign strategy increases daily.

The polls, and even Pennsylvania Governor and Clinton supporter Ed Rendell, make it clear that Obama can win Pennsylvania in the general election. But Obama can also broaden the playing field with a shot at winning states like Colorado and Virginia.

4). Super Delegates. Finally is a fact that is generally overlooked by pundits. At the close of the primaries, Obama will not need a stampede of Super Delegates to clinch the nomination. In fact he will only need about 40% of those that remain today.

Let's make the most conservative assumptions about the outcome of the remaining races: Guam, even; North Carolina, 58%-42% Obama; Indiana, 54%-46% Clinton; Kentucky, 60%-40% Clinton; West Virginia, 60%-40% Clinton; Oregon, 56%-44% Obama, Montana 56%-44% Obama; Puerto Rico, 60%-40% Clinton. That would leave Obama at 1,846 delegates at the close of the Primaries.

He would need only 41% of the Super Delegates remaining today to clinch the nomination with 2,025. And let's remember, he has picked up almost one Super Delegate a day for the last month. There is no reason to believe he won't keep picking up Super Delegates as the contest continues. So by the end of the primaries he will need an even lower percentage of the Super Delegates that remain.

All that remains for Clinton are more opportunities have her own campaign to be shut down. If she loses Indiana and North Carolina it will be extremely hard for her to continue. But there is no longer any opportunity for her to defeat Obama.

Clinton's may have won last night, but she failed to do what she needed to do to derail Obama's march to the nomination. In retrospect, Pennsylvania will appear as Clinton's Waterloo.

Robert Creamer is a long time political organizer and strategist and author of the recent book: Stand Up Straight. How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/last-night-clinton-won-th_b_98165.html