Obama Minnesota

Together We Are One Great Nation: The American Dream Must Never Come At The Expense Of The American Family

EsquireUK — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:30:02 EST

Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporters! The American dream must never come at the expense of the American family. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com understands and as our next American President will safeguard this precious fabric of our great nation. But even as politicians in Washington talk about family values, we haven’t had policies that value families. Instead, it’s harder for working parents to make a living and to raise their kids. And the system is especially stacked against women. That’s why today, at a roundtable in California , he’s discussing his plan to give working women the support they need. As the son of a single mother, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama doesn’t accept an America that forces women to choose between their kids and their careers. To give parents a hand, he’ll double funding for afterschool programs. And to help put our kids on a pathway to success, he’ll launch a Children’s First Agenda to provide quality early childhood education for every American child. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama also believes we need real change to reform our leave policies so that folks aren’t left behind. He’ll expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover millions of additional Americans. To keep pace with the needs of Americans who are juggling work with family, we need to make sure you can take leave to care for elderly parents, and to join school activities with your kids. And to extend a hand to women who need it most, we need to cover employees who are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, so they can take the time they need. As President, he will also expand paid leave. To make sure our system is fair, he will press states to adopt paid-leave systems, and set aside $1.5 billion to fund the start-up costs and help states’ offset the costs to employers. And he’ll require employers to provide all of their workers with seven paid sick days a year, because you shouldn’t be punished for being sick. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama also believes that if we’re serious about helping working families, we need to push back against the special interests, and put a tax cut in the pockets of middle class Americans. That’s why he’s proposed a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 for American workers, and $1,000 for working families. This will cut taxes for 150 million Americans, give our economy a boost, and put fairness back into our tax code.

Together, we the people see a tidal wave of positive press coverage for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama…the historic possibility of the first black president…the derailing of the Clinton inevitability train…Presidential Candidate Barack Obama`s phenomenal ability to bring new people into the Democratic fold…the huge national momentum. It is remarkable to think that someone who addressed the 2004 Democratic convention as a state senator is now likely to be doing so as the party’s presidential nominee in 2008 www.barackobama.com . Together we are one great nation!

Thank you very much,Raphael Holoman-FranklinPresidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter

The antidote to allegations

Tom Hayes, working for change — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:39:02 EST

There are some folks who are going to buy the viral smears, and the negative soundbites, and the campaign can't afford to ignore them. As a member of the "Obama Rapid Response" group my responses, and those of the group, include both reporting and countering the alleged facts before they grow into problems, but we can also get beyond the allegations by proactively presenting the positives. Sure, the email(s) will still circulate and surface. Such tactics may even help opponents identify a few supporters of their own who resonate with the style and/or the substance. There is, nonetheless, a wealth of interesting, compelling, real information that's a whole lot more effective in expanding the understanding of voters, who are largely aware of the down-low tactics which visible politicians must endure.

Here's an entry at DIGG.COM, for instance, that points at an article from February 2007 demonstrating Senator Obama's non-partisan diplomacy in action dealing with John McCain, who had just issued a highly confrontational, critical assessment of the "Freshman Senator." Bringing documented cases of the candidate's exemplary actions to light helps build a context resilient enough to withstand the character assaults that outrageous tacticians, for better or worse, are bound and determined to launch.

As politically active citizens, we wear many hats.

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: 9th February Nebraska Democrats Will Choose Presidential Candidate

EsquireUK — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:08:08 EST

Richard Perry/The New York Times

Senator Barack Obama eyed the crowd on Wednesday at a rally at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City.

OMAHA, NE – Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) today endorsed Barack Obama www.barackobama.com for President, citing Obama's ability to bridge the partisan divide and to carry Democratic candidates across the country to victory in 2008.

"Those of us on both sides of the aisle who have made it our purpose to set aside partisanship to address some of the important issues of the day want a president that will join the effort, not foil it. Barack Obama, to me, represents the best hope for our own political reconciliation and a future where the cogs of government are working smoothly for progress instead of being gummed up by partisanship," said Senator Nelson. "Barack Obama will be the strongest candidate in the heartland, because he puts solutions and consensus fist and he inspires great crossover appeal among Republicans and independents."

"Senator Nelson represents how Washington should work – he reaches across the aisle to make progress where there is common ground," said Senator Obama. "Senator Nelson understands that Americans in the heartland do not believe the country is divided into red states and blue states, they are ready to unite around a common purpose to bring the change we so desperately need. As a Governor and a Senator, Ben Nelson led the fight to bridge the divide between urban and rural communities, to expand health care for children, to boost the production of renewable fuels, and to strengthen our military. Independent-minded leaders across the country are joining my campaign because they know we'll need to unite Americans of all ideologies and from all walks of life to bring change we can believe in."

Ben Nelson, serving in his second term in the U.S. Senate, also served as the two-term Governor of Nebraska. As Governor, Nelson expanded health care for children, produced balanced budgets, cut taxes for the middle class, expanded ethanol production, and launched a "One Nebraska" initiative to combat disparities between urban and rural communities. As Nebraska's Senator, Nelson has been a consensus builder who has worked to strengthen our homeland security, keep our promise to our veterans, and to support our agricultural economy.

Nelson, McCaskill Backing Obama

By ANNA JO BRATTON and SAM HANANEL – 13 hours ago

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama www.barackobama.com has won the endorsement of two fellow Democratic senators from the heartland — Ben Nelson, a popular moderate in largely Republican Nebraska and Claire McCaskill from Missouri, historically a bellwether in presidential contests.

Nelson said Saturday he believes Obama has ability to bridge the partisan divide and to carry Democratic candidates across the country to victory in 2008. Nelson, pledging his support for his Illinois colleague, said Obama has "the greatest potential to ending the bitterness and poisonous atmosphere in Washington."

McCaskill plans to announce her support for the Illinois senator Sunday, according to an Obama aide and a McCaskill staffer who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity so as not to upstage the announcement.

Her endorsement is expected to be a major boost for Obama in Missouri, one of nearly two dozen states holding primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5, and could help Obama woo female voters in his race against New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination.

The backing from Nelson and McCaskill caps a slew of big-name endorsements for Obama over the past week, including former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

McCaskill has praised Obama often and was widely believed to favor the Illinois senator over Clinton. But the Senate freshman had resisted openly supporting a candidate until now, saying she wanted to preserve working relationships with Senate colleagues.

She said last week that she identifies with the desire for change that Obama supporters have reported to pollsters.

Nelson said Obama's victory speech after winning Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses was an effort to reach out to Democrats, independents and "enlightened Republicans," and that Obama's campaign epitomizes what Nelson has tried to do in Washington.

Obama is the "prototype of what we need today," said Nelson, who served two terms as governor.

Nebraska Democrats will choose a presidential candidate Feb. 9.

Nelson often votes with his GOP colleagues, and in 2005 won praise from President Bush, who called Nelson "a man with whom I can work."

Republicans hold all statewide offices in Nebraska except Nelson's seat, and enjoy a heavy majority among voters.

Anna Jo Bratton reported from Omaha, Neb., Sam Hananel from Washington.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/sarahramey/CjPd

Community Blogs Welcome, Raphael.
Manage | Logout | Search Blogs Post from Sarah Ramey's Blog: Obama launches first ads in February 5th StatesBy Sarah Ramey - Jan 12th, 2008 at 12:30 pm EST Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content Tags: Arizona, California, Feb 5

Arizona and California -- two crucial Feb. 5th voting states -- began airing two ads for Barack Obama today.

You can watch the ad "Mother" currently airing in Arizona here:

And here's the ad, "Quiet" which is currently on the air in California:

For more happening in these Feb. 5th voting states, visit AZ.BarackObama.com and CA.BarackObama.com.

Participation in MN DFL Caucuses

Tom Hayes, working for change — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:46:44 EST

Most of you already know this, but below is a copy of email sent to make sure folks in the Northfield for Obama group are fired up and have good information when talking to friends. If you re-use it be sure to tailor it to your own CD/precinct/etc.

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: Still Fired Up And Ready

EsquireUK — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:03:37 EST

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., acknowledges the cheers of supporters and receives a hug from his wife, Michelle, upon arrival at his election night New Hampshire presidential primary rally at South Nashua High School in Nashua, NH., Tuesday night, Jan. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) NEDRA PICKLER | January 8, 2008 11:23 PM EST | NASHUA, N.H. — Barack Obama www.barackobama.com pronounced himself "still fired up and ready to go" after a second-place finish in New Hampshire's Democratic primary.

"You know, a few weeks ago no one imagined that we'd have accomplished what we did here tonight in New Hampshire," he told supporters. "For most of this campaign, we were far behind. We always knew our climb would be steep.

"But, in record numbers, you came out and you spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes you made it clear that at this moment in this election there is something happening in America."

He congratulated Hillary Rodham Clinton on a hard-fought victory and asked the crowd to give her a round of applause.

"All the candidates in this race have good ideas and all are patriots who serve this country honorably," Obama said.

Four years ago, when ballots were cast in New Hampshire's presidential primary, hardly anyone in the United States knew the name Barack Obama. This time, bidding to become the first black president, he was in the thick of the fight with the most famous name in Democratic politics.

Obama had hoped that a victory in Iowa would create a bandwagon that would take him through the nomination. But Tuesday night's results caught his campaign off guard.

It was hard to tell that from the cheers that went up when he and his wife, Michelle, walked into the room to loud chants of "Obama, Obama."

They approached the platform holding hands. Both applauded and waved to the crowd, then hugged and kissed briefly.

"We know the battle ahead may be long. But always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change," Obama said.

"I am still fired up and ready to go," he said.

Building on Iowa's momentum, Obama had the feel of a winner in the days leading up to New Hampshire's primary. People lined up for blocks in towns across the state to hear him speak. Those who attended often talked about the chance to see history being made.

"I want to tell my grandkids about how I saw this campaign," said 22-year-old Emily Webster, among those at a rally at Dartmouth College on Thursday.

The excitement couldn't overcome Clinton's organization, and she revived talk of another Clinton presidency with her victory on Tuesday night. The New York senator and her husband worked to keep Obama's train from rolling to the nomination; she got choked up talking about the choice facing voters, and former President Clinton sniffed that his campaign was a "fairy tale."

Obama's life could be described that way. It was not without hardships _ his father left the family when he was 2 years old to return to his native Kenya, and Obama struggled as a fatherless black child growing up in Hawaii.

"If you think about it, the odds of me being here standing before you as a presidential candidate are very slim," Obama often tells voters. "I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents, and we weren't born into money or privilege. What they gave me was love and an education and hope."

He got an Ivy League education and eventually a career in politics _ but he never had a serious Republican opponent.

Obama stopped by a polling site in Manchester on Tuesday, shaking hands with his supporters and those holding signs for other candidates. Three burly supporters of John Edwards were beaming as they shook the front-runner's hand and wished him luck. Obama correctly calculated they were from the Steelworkers union that endorsed Edwards four months ago.

"See you in the general," Obama said, hoping they would eventually be with him.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQFeature/CGTN

http://www.obamacampaigner.com/2008/01/08/presidential-candidate-barack-obama-together-we-are-one-great-nation/

Obama New Hampshire Primary Watching Event Tonight at O'Gara's

Carl — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:02:50 EST

Let's all hope another dream comes true tonight due to all of the hard work of Obama staff and volunteers in New Hampshire. I hope that we find inspiration and maybe a little perspiration as Minnesota staff and volunteers to work as hard and as diligently for whatever the Barack Obama campaign means to you in Minnesota. For me, it means engaging our citizens phone call by phone call, door knock by door knock, event by event, and then listening with respect and having a real conversation about politics and a future of hope. Then encouraging citizens to be involved in our political process & have FUN doing it. If you are interested in being an organizer in your precinct (core of our Iowa victory) please let the office 651-645-2008 or signup here http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/mnprecinct. It will soon be our time to continue this wave.

www.myspace.com/obamamn08

Lane — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:46:25 EST

CHECK OUT THIS NEW MINNESOTA OBAMA SUPPORT PAGE

http://www.myspace.com/obamamn08

LETS GET FIRED UP!!!

First NH votes in: Obama leads with 70% of the vote!

Nathan — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:14:32 EST

Okay, it's only tiny Dixville Notch, N.H., the town that votes at midnight on primary morning, in order to call itself "first in the nation" to vote in each presidential election. But with all seventeen (!) Dixville Notch votes counted, the Democratic primary currently stands at Obama 7, Edwards 2, Richardson 1, Clinton 0. (In related news, on the Republican side it's McCain 4, Romney 2, Giuliani 1.)

How does winning New Hampshire by 50 points sound to you?

Okay, I fearlessly predict that Obama's lead will shrink. But it would be pretty cool if Obama continued to collect as many votes as all of the Republicans put together!

Update: There's one other tiny New Hampshire hamlet that votes in the middle of the night, a town called Hart's Location. With those 13 Democratic votes added in, the election now stands at Obama 16, Clinton 3, Edwards 3, Richardson 1. So Obama's lead has actually grown from 50% to 56.5%--woo-hoo!

New Hampshire Polls: Big O has Mighty Mo....

Nathan — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:43:37 EST

I know that plenty of folks are opposed to poll-watching, because (theoretically) it takes our eye off the ball.

I understand the sentiment... but for the moment I say nuts to that, because the news out of New Hampshire is looking stunningly good for our guy--and it's the post-Iowa polls that show him with a big lead:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby (in a poll conducted January 4-6) has Obama leading by 10%:
Obama 39%, Clinton 29%, Edwards 19%, margin of error 3.4%.
American Research Group (ARG) (in a poll conducted January 5-6) has Obama leading by 11%:
Obama 39%, Clinton 28%, Edwards 22%, margin of error 4%.
CNN/WMUR/University of New Hampshire (in a poll conducted January 5-6) has Obama leading by 10%:
Obama 39%, Clinton 29%, Edwards 16%, margin of error 5%.
Gallup (in a poll conducted January 4-6) has Obama leading by 13%:
Obama 41%, Clinton 28%, Edwards 19%, margin of error 4%.
Rasmussen Reports (in a poll conducted January 4-5) has Obama leading by 12%:
Obama 39%, Clinton 27%, Edwards 18%, margin of error 3%.
McClatchy/NBC (in a poll conducted January 2-4, i.e., mostly before the late-January-3 news from Iowa) has Obama leading by 2%.:
Obama 33%, Clinton 31%, Edwards 17%, margin of error 5%.
(Then came Iowa!)

Looking good, huh?

Okay, now back to work!

(Update: I fixed two clerical errors in the Rasmussen item and added the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll.)

"Effective in the campaign," is neither sufficient, nor inherently synonymous with being worthy of our votes.

Tom Hayes, working for change — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:56:17 EST

Among the nuances that get glossed over amid the fervor of this process is precisely what the campaign reveals and/or doesn't about the aspirants. The attributes voters admired in the previous general elections gave us George W. Bush, resulting in a series of policy decisions that at best leave the economy and our standing in the world in a shambles for whoever is elected to clean up. Nobody can deny that he was an effective campaigner.

In the current race Senator Clinton, too, is running a polished, effective campaign. She's got good people, effective fund-raisers, and reacts adeptly to adversity, having preserved plausible deniability when a viral smear linked back to her organization emerges.

The challenge is to help voters see that while Senator Obama is undeniably a politician, he uses politics as a means to demonstrably noble goals, which is why so many believe he will wield the power of the Presidency in pursuit of bettering the country.

Unfortunately the qualities we need in our next President are not simply those of the veteran campaigner; being effective in the race is neither sufficient, nor inherently synonymous with being worthy of our votes.

Senator Clinton is as aware of what's going on with progressive voters as the rest of us are, likely more so. Naturally she's disappointed and doing all she can to regain the spotlight and momentum in the fight for delegates. I was stunned to hear her in the New Hampshire debate claiming 35 years of experience yet finding fault with John Edwards when his patient bill of rights stalled in the House of Representatives despite being passed by the Senate. The two are same sort of "experience," working hard on something you believe in which flounders - and ultimately sometimes fails, as was the case with her laudable health care initiative while First Lady. Yes, that's experience, and doubtless Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards both learned from the process.

Ironically, every experienced Democrat persisting after Iowa has taken up Obama's message, each claiming to be an Agent of Change. Yet Senator Clinton, for example, has resorted to very old-school ad hominem sound bite politics as her inevitability has evaporated.

In fact, if all we needed in the White House could be summed up as "effective campaigner" she might be the best. What we need, however, is not somebody who smiles and orchestrates a slick, effective campaign, but rather a visionary capable of reversing the disenfranchisement of the citizens of this country while restoring the integrity of the office of the President.

MN Campiagn Kickoff and Live Blogging TONIGHT

Joseph Junior — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:45:16 EST

At 1 30 pm, the bar at Abilene was bare. I ordered a hard cider (a tribute to the ale's long running history with American polity),grabbed some chips + salsa and a seat...to sit in. As 2 pm rolled around, the saturday morning couples has thinned and gave way to a packed house of Obama supporters. The crowd was very enthusiastic and very well informed about Obama. Most everyone I spoke with was stronlgy supporting Barack. A lot fo folks had returned from wa, and really highlighted how the Obama campaign obviously stood apart form the rest. The brilliance of teh candidate and the grace of his organization really pay off. volunteers are excietd and work hard for our candidate.This trend will surely continue, and i have no doubt that Obama will garner immense support as learn more and more about the man. I've always been a bit obsessive politically, but i have never really trusted any politician as much as i trust Barack Obama. And that what gives me hope. The effect he's had on me will undoubtedly win over many many more people, and i know that every other fervent Obama supporter does the exact same thing, everyday. We have a great candidate and a great campaign to contribute to. And i will do everything i can until feb 5 to make sure that Minnesota is stronlgy supporting Barack Obama on Super Tuesday

This weekend ill post some contact info for the Twin Cities campiag. Office site and volunteer opps, etc.

but possibly more exciting is tonight!

The NH primary is just next Tuesday, jan 8, only 3-4 days to some more votes are cast. Tonight is the last time eahc candidate will be put on the spot and televised to the world before those NH primaries begin.

Ill be LIVE BLOGGING tonight form 7-10 pm EST. Ill repsond to the debate, include some cool links, and provide JJ's .02 Republicans, BEWARE, i'm watching you too (and i like MCCain). Tune in and you'll find out my true feelings for Hillary Clinton. :)

Stray shots and tidbits:

NYT - The Obama Phenomenon: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05herbert.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

now listening: Goldfrapp - A&E - new single

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/47774-goldfrapp-a-e-stream

(check out their playlist on the right hand side: tracks from grizzly bear, radiohead, iron and wine, stephen malkmus, courtney tidwell)

peace, have a safe and sound weekend

joe jr.

After Iowa comes Minnesota

R from Minneapolis, MN — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:23:56 EST

I've just come back from Iowa totally inspired.....

It's great to win an election, but even better when it's done in a way that brings people together. Those of us who have spent a lot of time in politics know that too often people win by ripping others apart. Barack and the campaign, from the start, have been about something much more...about finding a way to unify a deeply divided country....and we saw that repeatedly in Iowa.

There was the lifelong Republican precinct captain who showed up at the Obama rally on election eve....he turned in his caucus materials to the Republicans and went to his first Democratic caucus for Barack. There were people who hadn't voted before. And there were scores and scores of young voters who have been told over and over again that they won't matter because they won't show up...

I even had one conversation that started bad, but got better: At a senior center I walked up to a woman named Pearl. She said she was going to the caucus but "wasn't sure about Obama.....I'm a little worried about his name." When I asked her want she meant she was embarassed to say it but thought with a name like his he could be a terrorist. I was pretty upset to hear this, especially because there were emails going around later traced to the Clinton camp that alleged he was a Muslim terrorist...and apparently those rumors got to Pearl.

I stumbled around for a response for a while but finally said: "Pearl, do you remember that in World War 1 and World War 2 people suspected Americans with German names could be spies...but they ended up fighting for and dying for our country." She thought about that an eventally came around.

As the results came in and the hall began to fill, you heard these wonderful stories about how Barack brought them into politics, or about how they saw this campaign as the hope to change the way poltiics happen in this country.

I could go on with great stories from down there but the better news is they mirror what I've been seeing here in Minnesota for months as the campaign has built. A year ago there were a handful of us marching in Uptown to try to convince Obama to run...and month after month more and more people got on board....coming from all parts of the state and politics. Now we get a few weeks to make it a real movement.

So let's keep it rolling. We should all be thinking right now about people we know who haven't gone to caucuses, including people who are independents and Republicans. Talk to them in the wake of this big Iowa win about coming with you to the Minnesota caucuses on Feb. 5. Wear your button around, especially in unlikely places, and talk to strangers about the chance we will have in a few weeks to pick a president.

I really look forward to seeing you all on the campaign these next few weeks. History is really being made in America right now, and Minnesota is about to get its chance.

So Happy!

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:31:17 EST

I don't have any real deep insight or anything - just wanted to express my jubilence about last night's victory, I'm seriously walking on Cloud 9 right now!!! We just all have to make sure we do not allow this victory to in any way make us complacent! This is just the beginning!!!!!

Anticipation...Let the Year of Obama Begin!

Trying to Take My Page Down — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:49:07 EST

What an electric feeling it was to wake up this morning and realize the significance of this New Year's Day! Only two more days until Iowa. Do they make advent calendars for this sort of thing? It seems like years ago that I watched the first Democratic debate at an Obama House Party and now on the eve of the first caucus, Senator Obama widens his lead in the final polling over Senator Clinton. What a sweet feeling of anticipation to know that soon the Obama snowball will be rolling downhill, gaining momentum, growing bigger, faster, larger, as the Obama avalanche steamrolls into a November victory. This is such an important New Year's Day, bringing with it more than the usual allotment of hope for change and anticipation of a fresh start. We are greeted this new year by the prospect of President Barack Obama leading the charge to a more united political system, with a congress that can actually get things done, a more respected United States on the global stage, a stronger economy that provides opportunity for all, and a renewed sense of mutual respect for ALL citizens of our country...even those with whom we disagree, perhaps them most of all. I hope all of you are feeling similarly energized and enthusiastic about 2008! Happy New Year!

ND Senator and Former Governor Latest to See the Light...

vette58 — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 04:06:33 EST

Senator Obama continues to pick up endorsements around the Country as our leaders begin to visualize Senator Obama's audacity of HOPE...

North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad announced this morning that he is endorsing Barack Obama`s presidential campaign.

Conrad has been a senator since 1986, and says he hasn`t endorsed anyone in a Democratic presidential primary before. But Conrad says he believes Obama has the greatest potential among the Democratic presidential candidates to unite the country and inspire people.

He says Obama also has a good understanding of the challenges the country faces and will move the country in the right direction.

"I also think he`ll help bring the change that our country requires. He absolutely understands the imperative to reform health care, to reduce our dependence on foreign energy, restore fiscal discipline, and to conduct a foreign policy that rebuilds respect for America," says Conrad.

He also says he`ll be campaigning with Obama this weekend in Iowa.

http://www.kqcd.com/News_Stories.asp?news=14491

Former Alaska Governor Tony Knowles says he's backing Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president.

Knowles says Obama is electable.

The two-term governor says Obama has a vision for tackling America's toughest challenges at home and abroad.

Knowles says that includes ending the war in Iraq, keeping promises to military veterans and making health care affordable.

Knowles also says Obama can reach across party lines and unite people to bring change.

Knowles served two terms as governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002.

http://www.ktva.com/topstory/ci_7831730

My Saturday in Iowa Farm Country

Carl — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:26:19 EST

I took up the request by out Mason City office for door knocking on Saturday, I was sent to a very rural area of Iowa near the Minnesota border. These were doors that have never been knocked on during an Iowa caucus and seen as a conservative area of the district. It is a testament to all the hard work that we are at the point where we can have volunteers door knocking on the remote areas of the county. Thanks to the staff and all the volunteers both Iowans and Minnesotans.

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: This Is The Most Important Election Of Our Lifetime

EsquireUK — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:00:36 EST

Marshalltown Times-Republican Endorses ObamaDes Moines, IA | December 30, 2007

Des Moines, IA -- Citing his "openness" and "common sense approach" on issues such as health care and energy, the Marshalltown Times-Republican today endorsed U.S. Senator Barack Obama www.barackobama.com for President.

Obama has also been endorsed by the Sioux City Journal, Iowa City Press Citizen, Ottumwa Courier, Woodbine Twiner/Logan Herald-Observer, Daily Iowan, Iowa State Daily, Des Moines' El Latino, and Sioux City's Mundo Latino.

See below for excerpts of the editorial:

With a philosophy of openness - from education to the economy, government to military actions - Barack Obama has based his message of hope and change on the belief that Americans want to be involved in their government. We couldn't agree more.
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In an age where closed doors, secret military posts and middle-of-the-night pork barrel votes are all too common, Obama believes we can still come together as a country, we can work together to build a better America.
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Obama also understands that a universal healthcare plan must be practical and achievable, not a pipe dream used only to gain momentum on the campaign trail. His plan doesn't ram a national health insurance program down our throats, rather it merely guarantees access to health insurance for all Americans.
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Obama offers a new path, one filled with hope and change. We think it's a path worth traveling down.

----

You can read the entire editorial below:

Obama brings message of hope, change
Open the doors and let the American people in.
Marshalltown Times-Republican

We couldn't agree more.

In an age where closed doors, secret military posts and middle-of-the-night pork barrel votes are all too common, Obama believes we can still come together as a country, we can work together to build a better America.

It's true, his experience in running a country may not be as lengthy as that of his opponents, but perhaps that is a good thing.

Too many of the candidates already have too much "experience" in our eyes - too much "experience" manipulating the system, too much "experience" bowing to special interests and too much "experience" during a previous White House stint.

Obama has what we would call more "down to earth" experience: helping in his community working as a civil rights activist, and, of course, his time in the Illinois State Senate.

The argument has also been made that Obama lacks experience dealing with foreign policy and foreign leaders. Perhaps that "lack of experience" will translate into some bold, decisive actions that actually deal with foreign issues, rather than the typical "nod and smile" philosophy.

And while many Democratic candidates have called for an immediate troop withdrawal in Iraq, Obama understands that such action would be detrimental to foreign relations, the people of Iraq and our own troops. Instead, he proposes a controlled and responsible withdrawal from Iraq that would take a couple of years to properly complete.

Obama also understands that a universal healthcare plan must be practical and achievable, not a pipe dream used only to gain momentum on the campaign trail. His plan doesn't ram a national health insurance program down our throats, rather it merely guarantees access to health insurance for all Americans.

His common sense approach carries through to other issues as well: a sensible energy plan that helps reduce environmental impacts without shutting off everyone's electricity and a teacher pay program that rewards those who work hard to teach our children and doesn't reward those who don't.

Obama offers a new path, one filled with hope and change. We think it's a path worth traveling down.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CgLJ This is the most important election of our lifetime

Whichever candidates the voters nominate, the choice before Americans in November 2008 will be stark indeed

Michael Tomasky in Washington
Monday December 31, 2007
The Guardian

The best news as 2008 dawns, of course, is that this most endless of presidential campaigns now finally reaches a point at which something actually happens. Finally the people will speak, starting Thursday in Iowa. So what will they say?

The races in both parties have developed along very unexpected lines, making this probably the most fascinating presidential election in decades. Let's start with the Republicans. Here we have the most unpopular sitting president since Richard Nixon. Significant majorities of his countrymen have long since concluded that they made a mistake in electing him; that he isn't up to the job; that he basically lied us into a war; that his domestic policies have been at best no great shakes; and that the conservative ideology to which he has been in thrall has not served the country well, to put it mildly.

And yet, by and large, the Republican candidates are running on exactly the same policies that Bush has pursued. Consider this list. All the major Republican candidates want to "stay the course" in Iraq, denouncing any discussion of withdrawal as evidence of pusillanimity. All see the fight against terrorism in more or less Bushian terms. All want to make the Bush tax cuts, now scheduled to sunset in 2010, permanent - even John McCain, who at the time voted against them. All have promised the leaders of the Christian right that they will appoint supreme court judges "in the mould of" Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

What this euphemistic language means is that whatever a candidate's previous positions on abortion and gay rights - Rudy Giuliani, for instance, has supported both - the leaders of the religious conservative movement have exacted commitments from all the Grand Old Party candidates to appoint the kind of judges they want, and that matters far more than past positions.

There's more. Healthcare is a priority in this election. But to hear these Republicans, you'd never know it. Their healthcare plans range from cynical to inadequate. Climate change? They barely acknowledge the problem and are particularly loath to acknowledge that human activity has contributed to it. They continue to insist, as Republicans since Ronald Reagan have, that the only real domestic enemy the American people face is the federal government, which they continue to want to starve.

It's pretty astonishing, really - we're at the tail end of a failed presidency, and the people running to succeed it are promising to continue its failed policies.

Now, many observers would say, well, they're just pandering to their party's rightwing base, and once one of them secures the nomination, he will tack to the centre. Undoubtedly, he will, for tactical reasons. But the real question is how the next Republican will govern should he happen to win. And the answer to that question is that there's every reason to assume that he will be just as a conservative as Bush for one simple reason: the interest groups that run the GOP will not brook much deviation from the standard line.

Those interest groups are three. The neocons run foreign policy - the Iraq disaster has not affected their influence in the GOP one whit. The theocons run social policy. And the radical anti-taxers run domestic policy. Until forces inside the GOP rise up to challenge these interests, any Republican administration will be roughly as conservative as Bush. The candidates have slightly different theories of stasis, they will tinker around this edge or that, but that's about all you can say.

On the Democratic side, there is far more divergence. Not so much on policy - they're all for universal or nearly universal healthcare, for getting out of Iraq, for doing more for unions, for bringing some equity and progressivity to our taxation system and so on. If you'd asked me a year ago what the major Democrats' positions on the leading issues would be, I would not have guessed that they'd be this uniformly liberal.

What they differ on is how they and the country will accomplish these things. The astute analyst and writer Mark Schmitt was the first to identify this phenomenon, naming the Democratic race the "theory of change" primary. John Edwards's theory of change is that the system is corrupt, spoiled by corporate greed, and so the way to get change is to wage a kind of class war against it. Barack Obama's theory of change is to ask independents and conservatives of good faith to work with him on encircling resistant forces and changing the system. Hillary Clinton's theory of change is that the system is failing Americans in certain particular respects and that it is best massaged by someone with years of experience working within it.

The Democratic caucus-goers of Iowa will tell us Thursday night which of these theories, retailed to them at close range for many months, they've embraced, although the outcome seems likely to be close, so the question won't yet be settled. Republican caucus-goers seem more likely to tell us that they like Mike Huckabee's version of stasis. But even that won't reveal much, because Iowa's GOP caucus-goers are heavily weighted toward religious conservatives like Huckabee.

Whichever theory of change Democratic voters nominate, and whichever theory of statis Republican voters select, the choice before Americans next November will be stark. In 2004, many Americans, particularly liberals fearful about a second Bush term, took to calling that election "the most important of my lifetime". And it was, for a while. Now this one is.

Michael Tomasky is editor of Guardian America

michael.tomasky@guardian.co.uk

From Mason City: 5 days remaining...Now is our time

David — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:32:05 EST

I'm forwarding this letter from Chris Miller...it's such a good story of what we are all doing. Keep up the good work. Call me if you can come to Mason City, IA. We need more MN help!

David Jensen, 651-260-3531

Subject: From Mason City: 5 days remaining... Now is our time
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:30:17 +0000

Obama Friends, I awoke today at 7:00 a.m. on a couch in a log cabin on State Road 300 outside of Mason City, Iowa. Much to my surprise, I was the last one awake: the six staffers and volunteers sharing the cabin with me were already up, dividing up walk lists of voters to visit, counting literature, and coordinating rides to our turf. The temperature was 16 degrees. I walked in to Coffee Cat, the local coffee shop, and found an Obama poster on the wall. At the Kum N’ Go, the attendant squealed with delight at my Obama pin. I sat in traffic on a snow-covered road behind a pick-up truck with an Obama bumper sticker. At 3:00 p.m. a camera from channel 3’s news team arrived in the office. We have a lot of work left to do but things feel good here. In Minnesota, Kansas, and North Dakota our campaign teams have generated over 2200 calls to Iowa voters each day for the last three days. Here in Iowa our teams have been knocking doors 8 hours a day and phone banking 4 hours a day since December 27. There are supporters here from as far away as California, Florida, and New York. We will knock our entire ID universe twice in these last 10 days. We are knocking doors of targeted Independents and Republicans, as well as Democrats. Melissa from Minneapolis and Sarah from New York, two volunteers in for the final 10 days, just returned from canvassing an area of 66 square miles. We are going to towns no campaign has knocked in before, and talking with voters that other campaigns will not talk to. This is an unprecedented field program. It is unmatched by any campaign in Iowa currently or previously. From North Dakota today great news: the endorsement of U.S. Senator Kent Conrad, an unprecedented show of support from North Dakota. In Minneapolis today Council Member Elizabeth Glidden pledged her support to Barack Obama. In 12 hours yesterday we worked together to generate 72 Iowa volunteer day commitments, and more are committing today. This morning in Mason City we were joined by 16 Minnesotans including Kim Ellison and her daughter Amira, Minneapolis Council Members Don Samuels and Paul Ostrow, and Paul’s son Matt. This past Wednesday St. Paul Congresswoman Betty McCollum joined Senator Obama in Mason City. On Sunday Council Member Glidden will join us to knock doors. On Wednesday Minneapolis Council Member Ralph Remington and his wife, and Minneapolis Mayor Rybak and his family will join us here in Mason City. This weekend Senator Cohen, Representative Jaros, and Duluth Council Member Elect Tony Cuneo will phone bank with us from Minnesota. Mayor Rybak, Minneapolis Council Member Ralph Remington, and St. Paul Council Member Elect Melvin Carter are doing online outreach for Senator Obama. With 5 days to go before the first contest in this election we are standing at a rare moment in time: a moment in which we can change the future. A moment in which we can help to decide the outcome of this election and the direction of our country for the next four years. This moment will be with us only briefly, and then forever it will be gone. Now is our time. Thanks for all that each of you has done. Thanks for all that you have given. That which you have left to give is that which will make the difference: it will make this moment happen. In the time that we have left, give the following:
Come to Iowa to work with us: Call David at 651-260-3531 or go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vplp

Work with us from your state or your home: Call Jared at (612) 801-0059 or go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vplp

Reach out to folks you know. Ask them to support Senator Obama and to work with us in these next days http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vplp
Thanks to each of you for all that you’ve done in the last year. Let’s make the most of this moment before it passes. Now is our time. -Chris 5 days remaining... Chris MillerMidwest Field DirectorObama for Americacmiller@barackobama.com312-533-0374

6 days to IA - You can still help!

David — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:19:43 EST

Hey there,I know that there was an e-mail clearing up some of the confusion recently...but in case you missed it: we have two huge needs re: Iowa 1) Phone Banking from the St. Paul Office every day from now through January 3rd - any amount of time that you can give is great! Call Matthea Little Smith at 612-741-9146 and she will set you up for phonebanking from the office or from your home.2) Door Knocking in IA - We still need more volunteers to come down. I'm here at the Mason City Office helping to coordinate the short term MN volunteer effort. Call me at 651-260-3531 if you can come down for one day, two days, three, etc. We can put you to use. We are still able to arrange some housing as well, or I can give you the names of nearby hotels. It's great if you can drive - you'll be much more effective here with a car.Thanks for all you are doing! FIRED UP AND READY TO GO!David JensenGrassroots volunteerd-jensen@comcast.net

Voter Likens Presidential Candidate Barack Obama To John F. Kennedy

EsquireUK — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 13:11:00 EST

Voter likens Obama to Kennedy
The Hawk Eye | December 28, 2007
By WILLIAM SMITH
Marjorie Marsh has been participating in caucuses since John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960. He remains her favorite president.
She hadn't seen a presidential candidate like Kennedy until she saw Barack Obama.
"I see many of Kennedy's attributes in Obama," she said.
A self-professed "die-hard" Democrat, Marsh has never voted for a Republican presidential candidate in her life.
Marsh, 94, is taking an even more active role this year drumming up support for Obama. The Fort Madison woman is a precinct captain for the Jan. 3 caucus and makes her way to Obama's Fort Madison headquarters three times a week to campaign.

Read the full article from The Hawk Eye

Community Blogs Welcome, Raphael.
Manage | Logout | Search Blogs Post from Eddie Lee's Blog: Fulfilling a Generation's Promise: Real Leadership for SeniorsBy Eddie Lee, NH Obama Staff - Dec 28th, 2007 at 10:37 am EST Also listed in: 6 groups Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content Tags: Barack Obama, Longterm Care, Medicare, seniors, social security Rate this Post:
(What is this?)
Often labeled “the greatest generation,” our senior citizens have seen a lot in their time. Many of them marched for equality beside Martin Luther King Jr., fought for justice with Bobby Kennedy, or answered a timeless call to service under President John F. Kennedy.
But now, many of them need help. They’re concerned about Social Security or dealing with the maze of coverage for Medicare Part D. They’re paying too much for prescription drugs and coping with rising costs on everything. More than anything, they’re worried about the country they’re leaving behind to their children and grandchildren.
Across New Hampshire, they’re ready for new leadership. They're ready for the torch to be passed to a new generation to bring about change we can believe in.

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  "You're So Lame" video | Report to Admin Reply By rich Today at 10:51 am EST new video song called

"You're So Lame":

Link   Everybody's president | Report to Admin Reply By David Williams from Knoxville, TN Today at 10:52 am EST President Obama will be everyone's president! Not just the president of certain demographics or interest groups.   In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Aunt Becky Today at 10:58 am EST it's important to know that most are fearful of change. It comes with growing older. We hang so long, we get used to hanging!

I find it helpful to let folks talk about their fears. The poor dears are frightened and need to articulate what they're feeling.

Empathy is of utmost importance.

Auntie B. (who is pushin' 60 and is well aware of what happens as we reach Codgerhood) Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By rich Today at 11:17 am EST Even middle agers are fearful of change.

Good point, Aunty Becky, about showing empathy towards those who fear CHANGE. Having a sense of humor can help too:

Link Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Desert Rat Dan Today at 11:44 am EST Auntie B,

My dad is 77 and I can tell that he "wants" to believe in Senator Obama but that he is still too cynical. He doesn't think ANYBODY will be able to change the system. Please, I need some words of wisdom and/or inspiration to get him over the hump. Thanks.

p.s. He watches Fox News Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Brian S. Today at 11:54 am EST Dan, is he religious at all? (doesn't matter what religion)

If so, forward him Barack's speech on religion and politics. I just watched it again and forwarded it to a few friends at church who are "on the fence." It is truly AMAZING...we NEED a President who thinks like this and sees the issues like this.

To find it, click on BarackTV and it's under the "speeches" section...Good luck!!! Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Mildred 16 minutes ago Dan, tell your grandfather that Barack is an amalgam of JFK and Adlai Stevenson. Your grandfather will remember Stevenson's campaigns and his intellect. Barack embodies the humane and political visions of both leaders. Our generation will not witness many more elections. Here's our opportunity to grasp this chance. Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Mile High Girl 16 minutes ago Thanks for the video suggestion. I'll check it out.

I would love to find a way to bridge the gap between people who vote for intellectual reasons and people who vote for religious or other convictions (e.g. abortion, or racism as mentioned by Stephanie below).

Now, THANKS!!! to everyone working hard out there in Iowa!

I had the chance to christen my new "Got Hope?" t-shirt on Christmas Eve, and had a nice chat with a friend's sister from San Francisco, who said, "I've thought from the very beginning that he was the candidate capable of doing the job." I also heard from an old friend in Michigan after forwarding the Obama family "Happy Holidays" video, who said that he "will vote for the man". (However, he said that Sen. Obama took his name off the MI primary ballot. Does that sound right?)

You are working for all of us, IOWA. I did another matching donation last night, as my way to help out. We really appreciate you!!! Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Novlette 53 minutes ago Dan:

Some quotes stay with me. These two may be helpful to you.

"Perfection is unobtainable, but it is the quest for it that makes life worth living."
- from an article on Jason Green, Nevada field staff

"Don't vote your fears, vote your aspirations"
- I believe from the Deval Patrick endorsement speech Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Ruckus83 46 minutes ago Im very happy to report that my 67 year old grandmother, who had been a Clinton supporter originally, last night said with complete confidence that Obama WILL be the next President, and my 69 year old grandfather had been on the fence between Edwards and Obama but they are both now in Obama's court. Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Amy 33 minutes ago I love hearing things like that. Thanks, Ruckus. I think the negative ads with Edwards' face on them will hurt him. Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Steven R 38 minutes ago Dan, it's sad that people have grown to this point where they've lost the ability to believe in change. You have got to tell him that change can happen if you believe in it. I can happen if we all work together. I'd send him right to the best parts of yesterday's speech to give him some very eloquent reasons why change and hope count especially in todays world where the problems seem insurmountable. Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Amy 35 minutes ago Dan, only worry about it if he plans to caucus for someone else in an early or Feb. 5 state. Otherwise, just be positive about our candidate and leave it at that. Plenty of time to convince him before the general!

I've got some cynics in my neck of the woods, too. These two men really like Obama, but they think we need a white man as the nominee in order to win. ;-) They don't plan to caucus, either, and I'm not encouraging them. Our caucus is Feb. 9. Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Amy 31 minutes ago Let me add that these two men are Democrats! I've got a whole bunch of former moderate Republicans who can't wait to caucus for Obama.

I think people who are rational and common sense and not ideological in the extreme are the ones who support Obama. Young people have grown up in a more postmodern world, where they see the limitations of ideology better than my generation does. Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Arizona Grandma 55 minutes ago These song lyrics are for you Auntie B. First from my favorite musical "South Pacific". (Because I grew up hearing that I look like Mitzi Gaynor)

When the skies are brighter canary yellow
I forget ev'ry cloud I've ever seen,
So they called me a cockeyed optimist
Immature and incurably green.

I have heard people rant and rave and bellow
That we're done and we might as well be dead,
But I'm only a cockeyed optimist
And I can't get it into my head.

I hear the human race
Is fallin' on its face
And hasn't very far to go,
But ev'ry whippoorwill
Is sellin' me a bill,
And tellin' me it just ain't so.

I could say life is just a bowl of Jello
And appear more intelligent and smart,
But I'm stuck like a dope
With a thing called hope,
And I can't get it out of my heart!
Not this heart...

And this one - remember Connie Francis? - and used for JFK!!! High Hopes

Once there was a silly old ram
Thought he'd punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram scram
He kept buttin' that dam.

'Cause he had high hopes
He had high hopes
He had high apple pie
In the sky hopes.

So any time your feelin' bad stead of feelin' sad
Just remember that ram
Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam
Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam.

So keep those high hopes
Keep those high hopes
Keep that apple pie
In the sky hopes.

All problems just a toy balloon
They'll be bursted soon
They're just bound to go pop
Oops, there goes, another problem, kerplop.

Oops, there goes, another problem, kerplop... Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Aunt Becky 22 minutes ago Thanks, Ariz Gram.

Another one that's appropriate (with respect to Dubya) "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair!" LOL

Auntie B. Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Arizona Grandma 2 minutes ago PERFECT! LMFAO! Here's some of those lyrics. (And, I really need to get to work. I'm spending too much time at this computer today)

Oho! If you laugh at different comics,
If you root for different teams,
Waste no time, weep no more,
Show him what the door is for.
Rub him out of the roll call
And drum him out of your dreams.

(I can't wait to "drum him out of my..." nightmares) Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By waterprise2 21 minutes ago On the Seniors CERTAIN to vote for Obama side: we live in MI--the crazy primary state. However, we CAN vote "non-committed" to show our support for anyone but HRC! (She's the only one who kept her name on the ballot--against the "rules"...)
My 84-year-old mother is just TOO excited for Change and Obama! Because she and most of her friends vote "Absentee", she is calling TODAY all of her friends to make sure that they understand how the crazy vote in MI goes before they send in their ballots...

We'll vote "non-committed" instead of HRC...that'll send a message!

Like a lot of seniors we see here on the blog, there are many who lived through the Depression, all of the wars, JFK, MLK, RFK...and they're FIRED UP and READY TO GO!! Re: In dealing with Seniors... | Report to Admin Reply By Theresa in Maine 12 minutes ago Aunt Becky: I officially qualify as a senior citizen at 65 years old.

I welcome change. I want to have hope again. I want to trust that our broken system will change from the same old Washington insider policies and big money fat cats.

The ONLY president who can do this for my children and grandchildren is Senator Obama --- OF THIS I AM CERTAIN.

If folks want to elect a mediocre president who is a white male and whose presidency could be similar Jimmy Carter (mind you - I have great great respect for Jimmy Carter due to his Habitat for Humanity work,) then they can vote of John Edwards.

If folks want to elect someone who is burdened with baggage, among other things, if they want to revisit the 90's and take this country backwards then vote for Hillary.   Not quite a senior | Report to Admin Reply By Arizona Grandma Today at 11:06 am EST I will be turning 55 in March. Time for my Tuesday discount at IHOP. I have NEVER seen a better candidate for President than Barack Obama.

Hope drowns cynicism. Change defeats anger. I am tired of hearing the angry cynics. IMO if you don't vote (and do your homework about the candidates before doing so) you don't deserve to be angry or cynical. The only people to blame for the mess that this country is in are the people who didn't take the time to educate themselves and vote responsibly. It's not American Idol...it's our lives and the health and stability of the world that's at stake here.

My brother teased me about my Obama bumper sticker on Thanksgiving. He said, "They're all the same!" (meaning politicians). So, I asked him, "What do you know about Obama?"...no reply...and, "When is the last time you voted?" I said, "Do me a favor, do my grandchildren a favor, do the world a favor...learn as much as you can about the candidates and vote. Things will never change until the disenfranchised start to become involved."

O.K. - that's it! On to work. Thank all of you for your hard work, for your intelligence and thoughtfulness, and for caring enough about our world to become involved! Re: Not quite a senior | Report to Admin Reply By Desert Rat Dan Today at 11:22 am EST Beautiful post. Thank you for articulating it so well. Re: Not quite a senior | Report to Admin Reply By Amy 28 minutes ago Arizona Grandma, thanks for that lovely post! Very inspiring.   "I choose change and I choose Obama!" | Report to Admin Reply By Donna - NH Today at 11:08 am EST Excellent diary on DailyKos by dengre.

"I choose change and I choose Obama!

"The race is close and it is time to get off the fence.

"I have.

"I have chosen the only candidate who seems to understand that FEAR is the obstacle to progress.

"I have chosen the only candidate to consistently confront the culture of FEAR with a platform of HOPE.

I have chosen to support Barack Obama."

Full diary here.
Link   Change | Report to Admin Reply By Strong Heart Today at 11:18 am EST I'm ready to pass the Torch but I wont let go I'll help them carry it too... Re: Change | Report to Admin Reply By Arizona Grandma 26 minutes ago This one's for you Strong Heart - you with the impeccable taste in music!

High Hopes by Pink Floyd Link

And my favorite part...

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide
At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

Thank you for all of your hopeful words!   So wonderful! | Report to Admin Reply By Peter from Switzerland Today at 11:25 am EST Oh sweet Lord! What a wonderful video, what an uplifting feeling, I am overwhelmed, close to tears. This is a masterpiece of compiling fragments of interviews and speeches. Can there be anything more authentic than this? History is about to take a sharp turn for the better, brighter future for all. Re: So wonderful! | Report to Admin Reply By Peter from Switzerland Today at 11:26 am EST And that new animated Obama'08 logo at the end is awesome! Good Weather for Caucus night | Report to Admin Reply By Luis Today at 11:31 am EST For the past 2 weeks,I haved been postng the latest model guidance for January 3rd,and all along it has been with good weather.No snostorms,and temperatures will be in the high 30s to low 40s.So in terms of the weather is concerned,there will not be any problems with ice or a blizzard being a problem so go in full force and caucus for the next president of the United Staes,Barack Obama.

OBAMA 08

Link Re: Good Weather for Caucus night | Report to Admin Reply By rich Today at 11:39 am EST Luis -

Thanks for providing these forecasted Jan 3 weather links. Yes, it looks good with clear skies over Iowa that day. Re: Good Weather for Caucus night | Report to Admin Reply By Laura Hubka Today at 11:41 am EST Yes, it will be great here. I wish I could give you more info. But all eyes are watching.

It is gonna be a great night. Sorry I cant be on here much. We are so busy. We have great help in our little field office. Re: Good Weather for Caucus night | Report to Admin Reply By Aunt Becky 10 minutes ago Laura, reading between the lines, it appears that all is well.

Love and hugs,
Auntie B. Re: Good Weather for Caucus night | Report to Admin Reply By Amy 53 minutes ago Thanks, Luis! We love your good news, you're a sweetie!   depression antidote | Report to Admin Reply By dorothy Today at 11:41 am EST This video of a mix of young and old, professional, military, blue collar, students, etc. is the perfect antitidote for depression. Sometimes I get so irritated with these "little pundits" and their spins. So when I see what they do not report, it is salve to the soul.

Let us continue to encourage folks to stomp in Iowa and New Hampshire. I am so proud to be a part of it.   No more questions? | Report to Admin Reply By Ernie Today at 11:45 am EST Apparently Hillary is taking no more questions now at her appearances. See Drudge link. Re: No more questions? | Report to Admin Reply By William from Gainesville, FL Today at 11:54 am EST Each and every presidential candidate should be open and forthright, answering all questions that voters might have. Our next president must be a strong leader who is not afraid to stand up for their opinions and beliefs. They should be willing to face their opponents and clearly explain to them why they believe what they do. Barack Obama is a man who has strong convictions and is not afraid to explain his positions.

Go Barack! Re: No more questions? | Report to Admin Reply By Donna - NH 15 minutes ago Here is the link.

Link

Clinton's "don't ask" policy

"As she races through Iowa in the days before next week's caucuses, Hillary Clinton is taking few chances. She tells crowds that it’s their turn to “pick a president,’’ but over the last two days she has not invited them to ask her any questions."   Yahoo | Report to Admin Reply By marytnurse Today at 11:55 am EST On my yahoo email account home page, I find at the top this FABULOUS logo/banner with a bunch of Obama stickers staggered in a diagonal line across the banner, and from the bottom right they begin to peel away, displaying a 'find your caucus location' and a picture of our guy. I started applauding!

I'm not going to get to go to the Coralville speech, as the door knockers aren't here yet to pick up their packets from me yet. I love listening to his question and answer times, this is when he wins 'the wizened ones' over! I'll live lol. Re: Yahoo | Report to Admin Reply By Amy 54 minutes ago OH, poor you! I was sick with the flu when he came to my neck of the woods, and I'd paid for a ticket!

Hope it all works out well today. Thank you so much for all you're doing, mary. You're an inspiration to us all. Re: Yahoo | Report to Admin Reply By marytnurse 21 minutes ago lol I'll trade for the waiting for door knockers! I hope they make it, this is more rural and it's snowing...they are supposed to go through town, and they have hiway driving, but if they are from....hee hee just then they knocked! There are three of them, and they are ON THEIR WAY OUT KNOCKING!!!   Super video! | Report to Admin Reply By Amy 56 minutes ago It's the best way to start the day - coming here to this positive, inspiring place, the Obamablog. There's nothing like it to lift the spirits at the end of a long day, either.

The blog is a testament to the kind of positive thinking and hard work that Obama personifies. Kudos to all our blog hosts, and a big, enthusiastic hug to all of you out there, too!

Thanks!   Some Encouraging News... | Report to Admin Reply By Marcus @ SDSU 54 minutes ago I mentioned this in a earlier thread, but for any doubters or those feeling anxiety, yesterday when I was making phonecalls to voters I found out that throughout the whole day at the Campaign office there were about 200 or more people that were supporting Obama while 130 or so supported Clinton, and John Edwards supporters were somewhere around 30-50...

I Would say that out of all the calls normally made, about 80% of the Iowans don't pick up, 10% just straight out either hang up or don't want to talk, about 8% are undecided, and the 2% are actually for a candidate.

So while this definitely is not an official poll or anything, I hope that it encourages all us Obama supporters who can't donate money (like myself) b/c lack of money, to help out the campaign, make phonecalls and really make a difference.

We got a LOT of hard work to do, b/c it looks like a DEAD HEAT...I just hope and pray all these students come back to caucus.... Re: Some Encouraging News... | Report to Admin Reply By Theresa from NY 19 minutes ago Hi Marcus,

I applaud you and your efforts. Thank you for your perseverance and dedication. If you have touched one caucus goer, you have made a difference.

I have also started calling and reaching out to voters in New Hampshire to join the team and do GOTV activities. It's very different than what you are doing in that these are Barack Obama supporters, but I still found it hard!

And I also found that the more phone calls you make the easier it gets.

Keep up the great work and know that you are appreciated.

Obama 08! Re: Some Encouraging News... | Report to Admin Reply By Marcus @ SDSU 14 minutes ago Thanks Theresa, I really appreciate the uplifting, kind words...

But you're definitely right that the more calls you make, the more comfortable and rewarding it is..

I know all of us are working really hard to make a difference and I just hope and pray that all are hard work will pay off come Jan. 3rd... Re: Some Encouraging News... | Report to Admin Reply By Athena 4 minutes ago Hello, Marcus,

Thank you for your hard work - it is priceless!

Actually, it appears that Obama is way ahead in your little poll. Six months ago, those numbers would have been very different.

We have much work to do, because the toil never ends - but that is what a champion's life is all about. You work as though you were last in the line so that you come out a winner.

That is what Barack has done. He has been humble, hard working, has taken nothing for granted and has won the hearts and minds of millions.

That is the stuff that true victors are made of.   almost there | Report to Admin Reply By Ilya 50 minutes ago Very inspirational video!
Only 5 days and 7 hours left till the caucus!   be Inspired | Report to Admin Reply By John_M 47 minutes ago In these last few days before Iowa - when the whole world is watching, perhaps it's time to let go of all those words and every little gesture by the press, the polls - the other candidates, and let us hope for what might be.

I know - no matter what any of us say - we'll keep on searching for that turn of phrase - that one last poll - that final confirmation that our hearts will soar on Jan 3, but nothing, until that final count in Iowa, will calm us - so, I made a video for the people of Iowa.

Let's hope they 'reach for what is possible'.

Iowa - listen to your heart - be inspired.

Link   PLEASE READ!!! | Report to Admin Reply By Stephanie 46 minutes ago Reading the blogs yesterday I came upon the story of a woman in Iowa whose house had been vandalized with racial slurs aimed at Obama. They also stole the Christmas presents they had in their garage. Well, little did I know I would be dealing with racism again that night.

It started when my husband went to a friend’s house. Politics was brought up somehow and my friend says to my husband "You're not going to vote for that N***** are you?” My husband was totally shocked all he could say is you're racist? Our friend then went on to say he is a democrat and he has absolutely no idea where Obama stands on the issues but he did not want a black president telling him what to do.

This is someone we have known for 7 years and I had no idea!! He isn’t someone who was around in the 60’s, he is 30 years old. When my husband came home and told me that I couldn't believe it. I was totally disgusted and most of all disappointed! I'll never be able to look at him the same!

So I thought about it all night……and thought what do we here on the Obama blog do with something like this? WE DONATE! I made a matching donation yesterday before all this happened but I am going to make another donation. Will you please do the same? Do it for the woman in Iowa, do it for my racist ex-friend, do it for the racism you have encountered, do it for Obama!!!

Let's see how much we can raise. I'll start it with $50. What can you give? PLEASE READ!!! | Report to Admin Reply By Michele B 22 minutes ago I'm donating $50 as well, for the Marshalltown incident, your racist acquaintance, and all the sickening comments I read on other blogs. God help these ignorant people. Re: PLEASE READ!!! | Report to Admin Reply By Desert Rat Dan 10 minutes ago Amen Michele. Re: PLEASE READ!!! | Report to Admin Reply By marytnurse 11 minutes ago I am working with a woman here in my precinct, that I have known for a few years since she came to town and I love, who will not be a Precinct Captain because she's AA and this is a small community; she's afraid others will think she's only for Barack because of their shared melatonin levels. I've encouraged her that I don't THINK that will be an issue, but I can't promise her that. MAN I wish I could promise her that! I worry that my disability will affect how people see me, and thus discount my support of Barack, so I know what she's talking about.

Bottom line, I abuse Barack's statement with those who will openly tell me this or who I can't get an indication from as to why they are resisting, 'if not now, when will be the right time for us to have a President who has the face of the world?' They at least get quiet if that is the reason for their resistance. Re: PLEASE READ!!! | Report to Admin Reply By Theresa from NY 5 minutes ago Dear Stephanie,

I am so sorry to hear that you and your husband had to go through that.

It's funny, now that the prospect of Barack actually winning in Iowa is becoming real, the race issue is rearing it's ugly head.

Lately, I have been hearing some negative thoughts about Barack and how prejudice will keep him from taking the White House. These are from members of my own family, who are from India. They really think he's not going to make it. It's not because they dislike Barack, very much to the contrary, it's more because of their own experiences with prejudice and fighting the glass ceiling, that informs this opinion.

In the end, I do what I can to reassure them that Barack the reason he has been so successful is because he speaks to the commonalities that bind us, not on what divides us.

I also point out that Barack's supporters span every race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and age. His appeal rises above the myopic thinkers out there in this country.

There will be those who are racist and use this as an excuse not to support Barack but I see them as the minority. I believe in the goodness and common sense of the majority of the American people to rise above this prejudicial thinking.

It's happening now in Iowa (a state that is 90% white). If Iowans can accept and love our guy, I believe America will too.

I am also donating $50.00 to prove my point! :-)

Hang in there my friend, and we will win this together.   Experience | Report to Admin Reply By lvampa 45 minutes ago Is this the type of "experience" Hillary can bring to the table?

Link

NBC News has obtained, exclusively, extraordinary secret video, shot by the U.S. government. It illustrates an enormous opportunity the Clinton administration had to kill or capture bin Laden. Critics call it a missed opportunity. Re: Experience | Report to Admin Reply By Time from Atlanta, GA 41 minutes ago From the Department of Silver Linings

Link Re: Experience | Report to Admin Reply By Time from Atlanta, GA 37 minutes ago From the Department of Silver Linings

Link Re: Experience | Report to Admin Reply By TheBlackKnight aka Isaac 15 minutes ago I've long since said that Bill Clinton and not George Bush is responsible for 9/11, now we have the proof. This is post dynomite.

Note to the campaign, don't sit on this one, the more Hillary boast of her experience, the more inept she and Bill look.

We don't want to hear it Hillary, tell it to the victims of 9/11. The Republicans can't wait to use this on Hillary. Re: Experience | Report to Admin Reply By Aunt Becky 14 minutes ago re Ivampa's above link...

HOLEEEKRAP! Wait till this is aired! Kids, how exciting IS this?

Auntie B. (who just got back from a routine physical. Blood pressure elevated. Big surprise, eh?)   Positive Blogs | Report to Admin Reply By Marcus @ SDSU 32 minutes ago There are tons of negative blogs out there against Obama, so when they talk about Pakistan or the whole nonsense about how he doesn't have experience we should post this:

"It is time to turn the page. When I am President, we will wage the war that has to be won, with a comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on to the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan; developing the capabilities and partnerships we need to take out the terrorists and the world's most deadly weapons; engaging the world to dry up support for terror and extremism; restoring our values; and securing a more resilient homeland.

The first step must be getting off the wrong battlefield in Iraq, and taking the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As President, I would make the hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional, and I would make our conditions clear: Pakistan must make substantial progress in closing down the training camps, evicting foreign fighters, and preventing the Taliban from using Pakistan as a staging area for attacks in Afghanistan.

I understand that President Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will." - Sen. Barack Obama

"the issue that I would like to stress is that Barack Obama also said, if Pakistan won't act. And that's the critical issue, that the government has to act. And the government has to act to protect Pakistan's own serenity and integrity, its own respect, and to understand that if it creates a vacuum, then others aren't going to just twiddle their thumbs while militants freely move across the border." -PM Benazir Bhutto

Link
http://www.cfr.org/publication /14041/ Re: Positive Blogs | Report to Admin Reply By Time from Atlanta, GA 24 minutes ago Politico
Obama and Pakistan

Link   BREAKING NEWS: THIS IS IMPORTANT | Report to Admin Reply By John from Las Vegas, NV 19 minutes ago Former Edwards supporters from 2004 state in a letter that he is a hypocrite. Yeah, this will convert a lot of Edwards to Obama!

Link   No Endorsement Coming...:( | Report to Admin Reply By Donna of MD 16 minutes ago You know I am somewhat disappointed in Mr. Gore with this. I know he wants to keep his global climate change aspirations alive for the next President and does not want to step on anyones toes but hasn't Obama taught us that you have to step outside that box and have hope and not fear.

I like Gore but I think his endorsement would sent Barack right over the

top.Link   The fierce urgency of now - fundraising | Report to Admin Reply By Athena 16 minutes ago Yesterday, we were all so caught up in the excitment of how well Obama did in the CNN interview, that some of you may have missed this:

Members of the Grassroots Finance Committee have each pledged to raise $1,000 by year's end. As you know, Barack is not accepting money from federal lobbyists or PACs. Meanwhile, other candidates are receiving millions from these groups or benefitting from millions coming from 527s.

We mostly rely on small donors, and we face some hideous expenses when we get to the Feb. 5th states, so the urgency of recruiting new donors cannot be underestimated.

This was underscored yesterday in the last conference call for GFC members. Here are some tips that were shared with us which may help us to raise the funds we need:

At the outset of this campaign, Our Candidate began with 20,000 potential donors and ended up, in the first quarter, with 100,000 donors - an unprecedented fourfold giving rate.

HRC had started with 250,000 names and got 50,000. Traditionally a great score, but nothing compared to what Obama did.

After Q2, we got to 260,000 and HRC's campaign stopped reporting these numbers...

Now we are trying for 500,000....

What we GFCers were doing was planting seeds, farming. (This speaker spoke from KY)

Tactical advice: go back out and ask people again - those who did not donate. Plant a seed. Send the exact same message you first sent. Write: Dear x, happy holidays, just checking in, I am reaching my goal, hope you got my previous message, I am trying to fulfill my own pledge"....it's amazing how quickly people will respond to that second e-mail.

They are sometimes embarrassed that they did not answer back.

Also go back to those people who said "yes" but never donated. If they have given their word, 95 percent are good for them.

(cont'd) Re: The fierce urgency of now - fundraising | Report to Admin Reply By Athena 14 minutes ago THEN follow up with those who said "maybe" - they may have questions or doubts. Address those. Give them little factoids, such as his electability, then include the link.

THEN go back to those people you THOUGHT of asking but did not. Your pitch: Talk a lot about the progress and the success you have had - say: "I made this pledge, I am almost there, please help my get to my goal." Say that you don't have a lot of time left.

One of the things about money in politics: tell people, this is a new kind of politics, a new kind of campaign. Say to people "look, I just need $5, $10 and they sometimes will give more. We will reach our goal of 500,000 donations.

We are so close! We can do it, concludes Matthew
Barzun, a member of our National Finance Committee - who has said all of the above in this thread.

(cont'd) Re: The fierce urgency of now - fundraising | Report to Admin http://www.broadcasturban.net/player/kcep/player.htm.

On Sunday, Dember 30th at 3:00 p.m. PT on KKVV 1060 AM, Sister Nina Griffen will be hosting an Obama radio show with myself, and other supporters on her "Save the Lost at all Cost" show. The call in number is (702) 650-5588. This show will also broadcast live via the worldwide internet by going to www.sheepfinders.com, and is rebroadcast at www.streamingfaithfaith.com under "RED SEA RADIO."

Please turn your dials to the stations above this weekend and lend your support by calling in and telling the radio audience why you're in support of Obama for President.

Thanks so much and we look forward to hearing from you.

Yvette Williams
Group Administrator, Nevadans4Obama

Why Do We Do This? Drive to Iowa to Walk in the Cold.

Carl — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:50:13 EST

I have had the opportunity to go to Iowa the last 2 Saturdays and walk the streets of Iowa going "door-to-door" for Barack Obama. As I get some quizzical looks from some friends/family who I have talked to when I say that I am spending my Saturday walking in Iowa.   I spent sometime this past week on why I do this.
I truly believe that we are making a difference by realizing the importance of the next election and having conversations with people about issues that face our nation, our caucus/primary process and our candidate, Barack Obama, and other candidates.

Remember, You Are Supporting The Strongest U.S. Presidential General Election Candidate

EsquireUK — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:12:19 EST

Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter!
You should know that you are supporting the strongest U.S. Presidential General Election candidate. While the stakes are so clear, think about how important a Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com victory in 2008 is to you, and help us get there. We are building an amazing and effective movement, and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama needs your help. Countdown To Change is reaching more and more Americans who are ready to fight -- and vote -- for something better.

Please do what you can to help Presidential Candidate Barack Obama today. Remember, you are supporting the strongest U.S. Presidential General Election candidate www.barackobama.com
Thank you very much!
Raphael Holoman-Franklin
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter


NV DEM PARTY & MSNBC ANNOUNCE PRESIDENTIAL BLACK AND BROWN DEBATE

vette58 — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:19:18 EST

Below is an excerpt from the offical press released today:
The Nevada Democratic Party will partner with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and IMPACTO, 100 Black Men of America, and the College of Southern Nevada to hold the second Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. The debate will be telecast live by MSNBC and held at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm Pacific Standard Time.

Nevada, the second state in the nation to hold a presidential caucus and the first in the West to host an early window nominating contest, was chosen as an early state in part because 40 percent of its population is minority, primarily Hispanic and African-American. Issues affecting these communities such as economic development, education, health care and the war in Iraq will be highlighted during the debate.

With 11 days between the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8th and the Nevada caucus, the Silver State could be the a circuit breaker that halts the momentum of the candidate that wins both earlier contests; the tiebreaker if two candidates split the New Hampshire primary and Iowa Caucuses; or the validator for a candidate who wins all three.

“Nevada will play a critical role in the selection of our nominee as the first test in the West and the first test of the Hispanic vote,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “We’re proud to announce this debate and applaud NBC and MSNBC for recognizing the important role of Nevada’s diverse electorate. We thank our co-sponsors – the U.S. Hispanic Chamber and IMPACTO, the 100 Black Men of America and the College of Southern Nevada – for helping to host this historic event in Nevada.”

“We are happy that the voters of Nevada will have another opportunity to hear from our candidates before the January 19th caucus,” said Democratic Party Chair Jill Derby. “I’d like to thank IMPACTO, a nonpartisan political action committee affiliated with the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce, and the African American Democratic Leadership Council for the work they did to secure this important debate in Nevada.”

The Executive Committee of the African American Democratic Leadership Council, which includes many of Nevada’s Democratic African American elected leaders, has worked since January to secure a debate that would highlight issues important to Nevada’s minority population.

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: Election 2008 Latest Polls

EsquireUK — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:25:44 EST

Election 2008 Latest Polls
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Wednesday, December 12RacePollResultsSpreadNew Hampshire Democratic Primary Rasmussen Clinton 28, Obama 31, Edwards 17, Richardson 8, Biden 4Obama +3Iowa Democratic Caucus Rasmussen Obama 26, Clinton 29, Edwards 22, Richardson 7, Biden 5Clinton +3New Hampshire Republican Primary Suffolk/WHDH Romney 31, McCain 19, Giuliani 17, Huckabee 10, Paul 5, Thompson 4Romney +12New Hampshire Democratic Primary Suffolk/WHDH Clinton 33, Obama 26, Edwards 15, Richardson 5Clinton +7Iowa Republican Caucus Strategic Vision (R)Huckabee 30, Romney 25, Thompson 13, Giuliani 10, McCain 5Huckabee +5Iowa Democratic Caucus Strategic Vision (R)Obama 33, Clinton 25, Edwards 24, Richardson 4, Biden 4Obama +8South Carolina Democratic Primary SurveyUSA Clinton 44, Obama 40, Edwards 11Clinton +4Georgia Republican Primary Strategic Vision (R)Huckabee 23, Thompson 20, Giuliani 17, McCain 11, Romney 10Huckabee +3Georgia Democratic Primary Strategic Vision (R)Clinton 34, Obama 27, Edwards 12, Richardson 5Clinton +7Republican Presidential Nomination ABC/Wash Post Giuliani 25, Huckabee 19, Romney 17, Thompson 14, McCain 12, Paul 3Giuliani +6Democratic Presidential Nomination ABC/Wash Post Clinton 53, Obama 23, Edwards 10, Richardson 3, Biden 3Clinton +30New Hampshire Republican Primary CNN/WMUR Romney 32, McCain 19, Giuliani 19, Huckabee 9, Paul 7, Thompson 1Romney +13New Hampshire Democratic Primary CNN/WMUR Clinton 31, Obama 30, Edwards 16, Richardson 7Clinton +1 Tuesday, December 11RacePollResultsSpreadIowa Republican Caucus Rasmussen Huckabee 39, Romney 23, Thompson 8, Giuliani 8, McCain 6, Paul 5Huckabee +16South Carolina Republican Primary SurveyUSA Huckabee 30, Thompson 18, Romney 19, Giuliani 13, McCain 10Huckabee +11Republican Presidential Nomination CNN Giuliani 24, Huckabee 22, Romney 16, Thompson 10, McCain 13, Paul 6Giuliani +2Democratic Presidential Nomination CNN Clinton 40, Obama 30, Edwards 14, Richardson 4, Biden 4Clinton +10General Election: Giuliani vs. Clinton CNN Giuliani 45, Clinton 51Clinton +6General Election: Romney vs. Clinton CNN Romney 43, Clinton 54, Und 1Clinton +11General Election: McCain vs. Clinton CNN McCain 50, Clinton 48McCain +2General Election: Huckabee vs. Clinton CNN Huckabee 44, Clinton 54Clinton +10General Election: Giuliani vs. Obama CNN Giuliani 45, Obama 52Obama +7General Election: Romney vs. Obama CNN Romney 41, Obama 54, Und 1Obama +13General Election: McCain vs. Obama CNN McCain 48, Obama 48, Und 1TieGeneral Election: Huckabee vs. Obama CNN Huckabee 40, Obama 55, Und 1Obama +15General Election: Giuliani vs. Edwards CNN Giuliani 44, Edwards 53, Und 1Edwards +9General Election: Romney vs. Edwards CNN Romney 37, Edwards 59, Und 1Edwards +22General Election: McCain vs. Edwards CNN McCain 44, Edwards 52, Und 1Edwards +8General Election: Huckabee vs. Edwards CNN Huckabee 35, Edwards 60, Und 1Edwards +25Democratic Presidential Nomination CBS News/NY Times Clinton 44, Obama 27, Edwards 11, Richardson 2, Biden 2Clinton +17Republican Presidential Nomination CBS News/NY Times Giuliani 22, Huckabee 21, Romney 16, Thompson 7, McCain 7, Paul 4Giuliani +1New York Democratic Primary Siena Clinton 50, Obama 19, Edwards 10Clinton +31New York Republican Primary Siena Giuliani 48, McCain 15, Thompson 7, Romney 7, Huckabee 7Giuliani +33New York: Giuliani vs. Clinton Siena Giuliani 41, Clinton 50, Und 9Clinton +9New York: Giuliani vs. Obama Siena Giuliani 43, Obama 47, Und 10Obama +4Wisconsin Republican Primary U. of WI Thompson 30, Giuliani 25, McCain 15, Romney 5, Huckabee 8, Paul 4Thompson +5Wisconsin Democratic Primary U. of WI Clinton 39, Obama 26, Edwards 15, Richardson 4Clinton +13 Monday, December 10RacePollResultsSpreadRepublican Presidential Nomination Rasmussen (Wed)Giuliani 20, Huckabee 23, Romney 14, Thompson 10, McCain 8, Paul 6Huckabee +3Democratic Presidential Nomination Rasmussen (Wed)Clinton 36, Obama 28, Edwards 13, Richardson 4, Biden 4Clinton +8South Carolina Democratic Primary Insider Advantage Clinton 22, Obama 28, Edwards 14, Biden 10, Richardson 2Obama +6 Sunday, December 09RacePollResultsSpreadSouth Carolina Republican Primary Mason-Dixon Huckabee 20, Thompson 14, Romney 15, Giuliani 17, McCain 10, Paul 4Huckabee +3Iowa Republican Caucus Mason-Dixon Huckabee 32, Romney 20, Thompson 11, Giuliani 5, McCain 7, Paul 2Huckabee +12Iowa Democratic Caucus Mason-Dixon Obama 25, Clinton 27, Edwards 21, Richardson 9, Biden 5Clinton +2New Hampshire Democratic Primary Mason-Dixon Clinton 30, Obama 27, Edwards 10, Richardson 7, Biden 3Clinton +3New Hampshire Republican Primary Mason-Dixon Romney 25, McCain 16, Giuliani 17, Huckabee 11, Paul 5, Thompson 6Romney +8South Carolina Democratic Primary Mason-Dixon Clinton 28, Obama 25, Edwards 18, Biden 2, Richardson 1Clinton +3Nevada Democratic Caucus Mason-Dixon Clinton 34, Obama 26, Edwards 9, Richardson 7Clinton +8Nevada Republican Caucus Mason-Dixon Giuliani 25, Romney 20, Huckabee 17, Thompson 9, McCain 7, Paul 5Giuliani +5 Saturday, December 08RacePollResultsSpreadIowa Republican Caucus Newsweek Huckabee 39, Romney 17, Thompson 10, Giuliani 9, McCain 6, Paul 8Huckabee +22Iowa Democratic Caucus Newsweek Obama 35, Clinton 29, Edwards 18, Richardson 9, Biden 4Obama +6General Election: Giuliani vs. Edwards Rasmussen Giuliani 44, Edwards 44, Und 12TieGeneral Election: Huckabee vs. Edwards Rasmussen Huckabee 40, Edwards 44, Und 16Edwards +4Michigan Republican Primary Rasmussen Giuliani 19, Romney 20, Thompson 9, McCain 8, Huckabee 21, Paul 7Huckabee +1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next >>

Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter!
Last year, we as a nation asked and expressed our desire as voters to take America in a new direction. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com is leading and taking this challenge seriously every day to bring about that change. Together we can move forward. Together we can restore trust in our American values. Together we can reclaim that precious American dream of hope and opportunity for all. Together we can put Presidential Candidate Barack Obama on a firm path to victory in the 2008 Presidential General Election.
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is committed to turning the page on textbook campaign politics, providing quality and affordable health care for 10 million American children - kids not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid and not lucky enough to have parents with health insurance - and passing a new national energy policy that lowers energy bills and begins to reverse global warming. And we are determined to end the war in Iraq responsibly. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama will use his power and leadership authority as our next president to help Americans live and prosper in a nation of bountiful hope and opportunity!
In a few weeks, the primaries will start across America and voters will again ask for a new direction. Let us offer with our ongoing support and dedication this nation and the world the new vision and hope which Presidential Candidate Barack Obama uniquely possess. We are all playing an important role in this historic Countdown To Change.
Wishing you best wishes this Holiday Season,
Raphael Holoman-Franklin
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter

p.s. "We are in a defining moment in our history" ... "Our nation is at war. The planet is in peril. The dream that so many generations fought for feels as if it's slowly slipping away. And that is why the same old Washington textbook campaigns just won't do it. That's why telling the American people what we think they want to hear, instead of telling the American people what they need to hear, just won't so it." "America, our moment is now," ..."I don't want to spend the next year, or the same four years, refighting the same fights we had in the 1990s. I don't want to pit red America against blue America. I want to be the president of the United States of America." (Presidential Candidate Barack Obama)

MN CONGRESSWOMAN BETTY MCCOLLUM ENDORSES OBAMA!

Alexandra S. — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:15:39 EST
MINNESOTA CONGRESSWOMAN BETTY MCCOLLUM

ENDORSES BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT

ST. PAUL, MN -- Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN04) today endorsed Barack Obama for President.

“The Iraq War has been the most disastrous foreign policy decision of our lifetime and Barack Obama got it right when he opposed this war of choice from the start,” said Congresswoman McCollum. “Barack Obama has the courage to move our country forward by challenging Washington’s tired conventional thinking. I’m endorsing Barack Obama for President because I trust his leadership – for my family, for our country and for a more secure world. We need a President who can unite the American people to confront the serious challenges facing our nation, especially ending the war in Iraq, and that is Barack Obama.”

“Congresswoman McCollum has been an outspoken leader on the challenges facing communities across America, and I’m grateful for her endorsement,” said Senator Obama. “Betty McCollum had the judgment to oppose authorizing the war in Iraq, and she has worked to end the war as quickly and responsibly as we can. As a former teacher, McCollum has fought for strong schools, well-trained teachers, and affordable and accessible education programs for all students. Above all, Congresswoman McCollum knows that to make progress, we need leadership that will unify the nation to get things done.”

In 2000, McCollum made history as the second woman in Minnesota state history to be elected to Congress. McCollum serves as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, is a Senior Democratic Whip, as well as a co-founder of the Global Health Caucus.

In Minnesota, Obama has also been endorsed by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Congressman Keith Ellison. Obama for America was the first presidential campaign to open an office in the state – the headquarters is located in St. Paul. In the past ten weeks since that opening the campaign has held a caucus and grassroots training in St. Paul that drew a crowd of 400; caucus and grassroots trainings in every congressional district, every week; an eight-city canvass of Minnesota where 80 supporters knocked on over 2,500 doors on a single Saturday; individual canvasses every weekend in cities across the state; phonebanks every night of the week; and a Turn the Page in Iraq rally at Macalester College.

###

Barack Obama's message

Tom Hayes, working for change — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:56:57 EST

We are in a defining moment in our history:

"Our nation is at war. The planet is in peril. The dream that so many generations fought for feels as if it's slowly slipping away.
And that is why the same old Washington textbook campaigns just won't do. That's why telling the American people what we think they want to hear instead of telling the American people what they need to hear just won't do.
America, our moment is now. I don't want to spend the next year, or the next four years, re-fighting the same fights that we had in the 1990s. I don't want to pit 'red' America against 'blue' America; I want to be the President of the United States of America."

Urgent-Vote Obama Time Person of the Year!

vette58 — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 03:57:00 EST

Can't ask for better media attention than for Obama to WIN the Time Person of the Year announced on Dec 31st right before the early voting states. Please help him win this honor and get a much needed push into the mass media FREE. No other candidate comes close enough to make this happen so please don't let him miss out on this opportunity and get this message out to all of his supporters. Go to the link below right now
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1672153,00.html?pkw=PSTMGLTX111207CNND1397
If you didn't hear the debate this morning you can go to www.npr.org to download the audio. Please take a minute and support Senator Obama on the Youpolls site by going to
http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1189

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: When A Movement Gains Momentum

EsquireUK — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:48:14 EST

When A Movement Gains MomentumThe Iowa Jefferson Jackson Dinner is one of the pivotal moments in the contest for the Democratic party's presidential nomination, and Barack Obama gave what could be the most important speech of the campaign to more than 9,000 Iowa Democrats in Des Moines this weekend.

He sparked new momentum on the ground in Iowa, where the January 3rd caucuses will be the first true test of our campaign and Senator Clinton's.
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/11/10/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_33.php

See some of the overwhelming response to the performance and donate now so we can capitalize on this moment.

Des Moines Register (David Yepsen) "Yepsen: Obama's superb speech could catapult his bid":The six leading Democratic presidential candidates showed up for the Iowa Democratic Party's big Jefferson Jackson Dinner on Saturday night, and five of them gave very good speeches. Barack Obama's was excellent. It was one of the best of his campaign. The passion he showed should help him close the gap on Hillary Clinton by tipping some undecided caucusgoers his way. His oratory was moving, and he successfully contrasted himself with the others — especially Clinton — without being snide or nasty about it.
Read more from the Des Moines Register

The Garance (Garance):Barack Obama, on the other hand, finally gave the speech his supporters have been waiting for him to give all year. If anyone comes out of this dinner with The Big Mo, it will be him. Obama’s supporters used their voices, not tools, to make noise. The moment House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced his name in her introduction, she was met with screams, whoops, ululations, whistles, shouts, and cries of wordless enthusiasm. When she said, "Please welcome the next president of the United States" — a line she’d used in earlier introductions — the crowd burst into what my notes could only capture as "TOTAL ROAR."
Read more from The Garance

Washington Post (Dan Balz and Shailagh Murray) "Obama stands out in night of speeches":...In the view of many watching, he [Obama] emerged as the oratorical winner at the biggest Democratic political event in Iowa before the state's January caucuses....Before the Saturday dinner, Barbara and Mike Donnelly hadn't been certain which candidate to support in the Democratic caucuses. They left with colorful glow necklaces, handed out by Obama's campaign. "We just think he's a very strong character," said Barbara Donnelly. Obama's speech "crystallized it for me," said Mike Donnelly.
Read more from The Washington Post

ABC News (David Chalian/Eloise Harper/Sunlen Miller/Raelyn Johnson) "Democrats Rally the Troops in Iowa":... The Obama troops clearly won the contest for loudest cheers in the hall as they offered some call and response with the "fired up, ready to go" chants that have become the standard finale to the senator's stump speech.... In what appeared to be the most rousing speech of the evening, Sen. Obama was sure to revisit his theme of calling for a change in the political climate and again offering a thinly veiled swipe toward his main opponent. "This party -- of Jefferson and Jackson, of Roosevelt and Kennedy -- has made the most difference in people's lives when we've led, not by polls, but by principle; not by calculation, but by conviction," Obama said to applause.
Read more from ABC News

MSNBC (Aswini Anburajan) "Obama Shows Off Organizational Strength":Nearly one in three people at last night’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner was an Obama supporter. The campaign brought 3,000 supporters to a dinner that had 9,000 attendees. They also made sure to have a representative from each of Iowa’s 99 counties in attendance. ... Obama’s speech was buoyed by his large crowd of supporters. They chanted, yelled and stood up and cheered as he evoked the civil rights movement to talk about how he could only stand on this stage because those who had come before him were not afraid to take the difficult positions that he is supposedly espousing now.
Read more from MSNBC First Read

Chicago Sun-Times (Jennifer Hunter) "Obama vows moral high ground for Dems, U.S.":About 9,000 activists turned up for the dinner... But Obama's followers were the most uproarious.
Read more from the Sun Times

Time (Anna Marie Cox):Obama: The excerpts give a flavor of what he delivered, but I have to say, given the low energy of the room, his performance was especially striking. Again, the applause at his introduction was thundering. He also drew the longest, loudest responses throughout his speech: hooting, hollering and he was the only candidate to draw an enthusiastic chant. He also was the only candidate that seemed, for lack of a better word, to be working it. He gave that speech as if he was trying to convince people, not just solidifying the support he already had.
Read more from Time.com

Barack Obama's Speech at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner

NBC Nightly News

ABC Nightly News

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Mrs. Clinton, Please Allow Your Experience To Be Evaluated

EsquireUK — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:10:27 EST
Secrecy Issues Dog Giuliani, Clinton

Tuesday December 4, 2007 12:31 AM
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Rodham Clinton have secrecy issues dogging them.
The front-runners in national polls for their parties' nominations both are grappling with disclosure controversies as they seek to succeed President Bush, known as one of the most secretive chief executives in modern history.
For the Republican former New York mayor, the primary issue is Giuliani Partners, the consulting business he formed when he left City Hall. He still works for the firm but won't shed light on its business dealings or release a client list. He's not required to; the company is privately held.
``It isn't mysterious at all,'' Giuliani insists, arguing that the media has identified clients.
He's also battling - and dismissing - suggestions that security expenses for extramarital liaisons with current wife Judith Nathan were hidden in little-known city accounts. And, he is facing criticism for the handling of his mayoral records.
Clinton, the Democratic New York senator and former first lady, is taking heat over locked-away correspondence between President Clinton and her during their White House years. She often cites her experience in her campaign, and rivals argue she should expedite the opening of those records to allow her experience to be evaluated, particularly on health care policy.
She says the National Archives, which has custody of the records, ``is moving as rapidly as the Archives moves.'' Her husband said last week: ``I'm not trying to cover anything up.''
A direct comparison between the Giuliani and Clinton situations is difficult.
``There's a concern on the part of Giuliani about his behavior, a man known relatively little to the public except in flashes of post-9/11 take charge,'' said Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. ``There are real questions about his probity, his choice of associates and potential conflicts of interest given the extraordinary amount of business he's done since leaving office and that touches on government policies.''
``With Clinton, it's a bit of a muddle,'' Mann said. ``It's appropriate that presidential documents be released and made public as soon as possible. It's a reasonable question to be raised,'' he said. But, he added: ``It's not like there's necessarily some crucial information in there that's not being revealed.''
Still, both candidates face lack-of-disclosure questions in a campaign marked by public concern about honesty and ethics.
A recent national survey by The Associated Press and Yahoo News found that both Democrats and Republicans rated those two issues as very important or extremely important qualities in a presidential candidate more often than any other trait measured.
Neither Clinton nor Giuliani was seen as particularly honest or ethical. Just 38 percent viewed Clinton as honest, while just 40 percent called her ethical. Forty-two percent called Giuliani honest, 40 percent ethical.
Secrecy questions about them could give voters pause - particularly after seven years of Bush's behind-the-curtain approach that included covert CIA prisons, warrantless wiretapping and classified memos on interrogation techniques.
Generally, a president prone to secrecy can have long-term implications for a democracy.
``The effect is sort of an imperialistic presidency that's unchecked,'' said Anne Weismann, chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. With Bush, she said: ``We're pretty far down that road, but I don't think we're there yet.'' However, she added, given the outcry over Bush's actions, ``It's hard to imagine a president that will follow in that same course.''
Giuliani laughed, then grew agitated, when the AP asked recently whether he would ever outline his role with his firm or release a thorough client list. ``Everything I did at Giuliani Partners was totally legal, totally ethical,'' he said. ``There's nothing for me to explain about. We acted honorably, decently.''
The media have unearthed some client names that show his firm represents or has represented airlines, energy companies and communications businesses. One client, Purdue Pharma L.P., makes the controversial painkiller OxyContin.
Separately, Giuliani has called reports that he charged security expenses to obscure city offices as his affair began ``a typical political hit job with only half the story told.'' He also has dismissed criticism over the 2,000 boxes of his mayoral documents temporarily going to a private foundation his supporters ran and financed to be copied and archived.
Clinton, for her part, rejects charges that she's been secretive about her own documents. This month in Iowa, she said: ``My husband has not withheld a single document.''
But, like some of his predecessors, Bill Clinton had the power to limit what records the National Archives could immediately make public. In a 2002 letter, he asked that the archives consider withholding certain categories of information, including personal correspondence between himself and his wife.
``We're not trying to hold up anything,'' he told C-SPAN last week. ``We're getting this stuff out as soon as we can.''
^---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Liz Sidoti covers presidential politics for The Associated Press.
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/11/10/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_33.php

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Has Found His Voice: Reclaiming The American Dream

EsquireUK — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:04:11 EST

Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter!
The latest news from Iowa is exciting. The Des Moines Register shows that Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com has pulled ahead of Mrs. Clinton and is now leading in Iowa. He is even leading among women by five points! This is superb!
The polls in Iowa show that Mrs. Clinton is running the most negative campaign of any presidential candidate. Today we need to respond to any attacks which Mrs. Clinton may direct at Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. We need to ensure that he has the resources to go from strength to strength. We need to put him firmly on a victorious path to the 2008 Presidential General Election!
We have an immediate challenge: In the next 48 hours, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama needs 10,000 people to donate.
https://donate.barackobama.com/costofnegativity
This response will show Mrs. Clinton and other opponents that our resolve to reclaim the American dream is real. The Countdown to Change movement is in full force. The momentum is starting to build.
Thank you very much,

Raphael Holoman-Franklin
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter

Op-Ed Columnist
Who’s Afraid of Barack Obama? By FRANK RICHPublished: 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.
Skip to next paragraph Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Frank Rich
Go to Columnist Page » Enlarge This Image Barry Blitt

By telling an Iowa audience on Tuesday night that he had opposed the Iraq war “from the beginning,” Bill Clinton committed a double pratfall. Not only did he refocus attention on his wife’s most hazardous issue, Iraq, just as it was receding as the nation’s Topic A, but he also revived unhappy memories of the truth-dodging nadirs of the Clinton White House.
Whatever his caveats, Mr. Clinton did not explicitly oppose the Iraq war from the beginning. But Al Gore did unequivocally and loudly in a public speech before the beginning, as did an obscure Illinois state senator named Barack Obama www.barackobama.com . What if Mrs. Clinton had led an insurrection against the war authorization in the Senate? Might she have helped impede America’s rush into one of the greatest fiascos in our history?
That history cannot be rewritten in any case, by Bill Clinton or anyone else. But future history is yet to be made. In the year to come, it will be written by the candidates and the voters, not by those journalists who, as the old saw has it, lay down history’s first draft.
Election year isn’t even here yet, and already most of the first drafts penned by the political press have proved instantly disposable, from Fred Thompson’s irresistible Reaganesque star power to the Family Research Council’s ability to abort the rise of Rudy Giuliani. The biggest Beltway myth so far — that the Clinton campaign is “textbook perfect” and “tightly disciplined” — was surely buried for good by the undisciplined former president’s seemingly panic-driven blunder last week.
The Washington wisdom about Mr. Obama has often been just as wrong as that about Mrs. Clinton. We kept being told he was making rookie mistakes and offering voters wispy idealistic sentiments rather than the real beef of policy. But what the Beltway mistook for gaffes often was the policy.
Mr. Obama’s much-derided readiness to talk promptly and directly to the leaders of Iran and Syria, for instance, was a clear alternative, agree with it or not, to Mrs. Clinton’s same-old Foggy Bottom platitudes on the subject. His supposedly reckless pledge to chase down Osama bin Laden and his gang in Pakistan, without Pakistani permission if necessary, was a pointed rebuke of both Mrs. Clinton’s and President Bush’s misplaced fealty to our terrorist-enabling “ally,” Pervez Musharraf. Like Mr. Obama’s prescient Iraq speech of 2002, his open acknowledgment of the Pakistan president’s slipperiness turned out to be ahead of the curve.
Now that the Beltway establishment, jolted by the Iowa polls, is frantically revising its premature blueprints for a Clinton coronation and declaring, as Time’s inevitable cliché would have it, that Mr. Obama has “found his voice,” it’s worth looking at some campaign story lines that have been ignored so far. They tell us more than the hyped scenarios that have fallen apart. Indeed, they flip the standard narrative of Campaign 2008 on its head: Were Mr. Obama to best Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic nomination, he may prove harder for the Republicans to rally against and defeat than the all-powerful, battle-tested Clinton machine.
The unspoken truth is that the Clinton machine is not being battle-tested at all by the Democratic primary process. When Mrs. Clinton accused John Edwards of “throwing mud” and “personally” attacking her in a sharp policy exchange in one debate, the press didn’t challenge the absurd hyperbole of her claim. In reality, neither Mr. Edwards nor any other Democratic competitor will ever hit her with the real, personal mud being stockpiled by the right. But if she’s getting a bye now, she will not from the Republican standard-bearer, whoever he may be. Clinton-bashing is the last shared article of faith (and last area of indisputable G.O.P. competence) that could yet unite the fractured and dispirited conservative electorate.
The Republicans know this and are so psychologically invested in refighting the Clinton wars that they’re giddy. Karl Rove’s first column for Newsweek last week, “How to Beat Hillary (Next) November,” proceeded from the premise that her nomination was a done deal. In the G.O.P. debates through last Thursday, the candidates mentioned the Clintons some 65 times. Barack Obama’s name has not been said once.
But much like the Clinton campaign itself, the Republicans have fallen into a trap by continuing to cling to the Hillary-is-inevitable trope. They have not allowed themselves to think the unthinkable — that they might need a Plan B to go up against a candidate who is not she. It’s far from clear that they would remotely know how to construct a Plan B to counter Mr. Obama. The repeated attempts to fan “rumors” that he is a madrassa-indoctrinated Muslim — whether on Fox News or in The Washington Post, where they resurfaced scurrilously on the front page on Thursday — are too demonstrably false to survive endless reruns even in the Swift-boating era.
Part of the Republicans’ difficulty in countering Mr. Obama, should they have to, is their own cynical racial politics. For the most part, race has been the dog that hasn’t barked in this campaign despite the (largely) white press’s endless fretting about whether the Illinois senator is too white for black voters and too black for white voters. Most Americans aren’t racist, most Republicans included. (Those who are won’t vote for the Democratic presidential candidate even if it’s not Mr. Obama.) But the G.O.P., by its own doing, is nonetheless saddled with a history that most recently includes “macaca” and Katrina, Mr. Bush’s appearance at Bob Jones University in 2000 and the nonexistent black population of its Congressional delegation.
As the Republican leadership knows, this record is an albatross, driving away not just black voters but crucial white swing voters, too. Ken Mehlman, the former G.O.P. chairman, and Mr. Rove, as recently as in that Newsweek column, have implored their party to reach out to minorities. So have Newt Gingrich and Jack Kemp. But not even conservative leaders of this stature could persuade their party’s top 2008 presidential contenders to show up for a September debate moderated by Tavis Smiley for PBS at the historically black Morgan State University.
It’s not because those no-shows are racists; it’s because they are defensive and out of touch. With the notable exception of Mike Huckabee, most of the party’s candidates have barricaded themselves from African-Americans for so long that they don’t know how to speak to or about them. As sure-footed as these Republicans are in attacking the Clintons and Streisand — or in exchanging fire with Al Sharpton and hip-hop moguls — they are strangers to the mainstream multiracial and multicultural America exemplified by an Obama or an Oprah.
An Obama candidacy would force them to engage. Or try to. A matchup between Mr. Obama and Mr. Giuliani, who was forged in the racial crucible of New York’s police brutality nightmares of the 1990s, or between Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney, who was shaped by a religion that didn’t give blacks equal membership until 1978, would be less a clash of races than of centuries.
But there’s another, even more fascinating hidden story line in the 2008 campaign that speaks to the potential prowess of an Obama candidacy. Despite the thuggish name-calling of a few right-wing die-hards (e.g., Rush Limbaugh mocking “Barack Hussein Odumbo”), the dirty secret of a number of conservatives is that they are disarmed by Mr. Obama even though they know his record is more liberal than Mrs. Clinton’s.
The drumbeat of approval has been remarkably steady. Last year Mark McKinnon, a top adviser to both the 2000 and 2004 Bush campaigns, admiringly called Mr. Obama “a walking, talking hope machine” who “may reshape American politics.” Andrew Ferguson devoted pages in The Weekly Standard to raving about “Dreams From My Father,” Mr. Obama’s memoir, before dismissing its political sequel, “The Audacity of Hope.” Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, keeps trying to write anti-Obama articles but they’re so mild that they never really contradict his judgment of a year ago that the senator from Illinois “is the only presidential candidate from either party about whom there is a palpable excitement.” Even Tom Tancredo, the most virulent immigration demagogue of the G.O.P. presidential field, has spoken warmly of Mr. Obama.
Perhaps most striking is the case of Shelby Steele, the archconservative scholar who shares Mr. Obama’s mixed-race heritage. Though he has just written an entire book, “A Bound Man,” to argue (unpersuasively, in my view) that Mr. Obama “can’t win,” he can’t stop himself from admiring the guy throughout. Peggy Noonan wasn’t being tongue-in-cheek when she wondered in The Wall Street Journal last month whether Mr. Obama “understands the kind of quiet cheering he is beginning to garner from some Republicans.” In her view “they see him as a Democrat who could cure the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton sickness.”
Or at least they do in the abstract. Should Mr. Obama upend the Beltway story line by taking Iowa, the Republicans will have every reason to be as fearful as the Clinton camp is now.

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: The Momentum Is Starting To Build

EsquireUK — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:36:05 EST
Community Blogs Login | Register | Search Blogs Post from Obama HQ: New Des Moines Register Poll: Obama leading in IowaBy Sam Graham-Felsen - Dec 1st, 2007 at 10:09 pm EST Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content Tags: Iowa Bad? Brilliant?
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Barack Obama has pulled ahead in the race for Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses, while the party's national frontrunner Hillary Clinton has slipped to second in the leadoff nominating state, according to The Des Moines Register's new Iowa Poll...
Obama spent weeks in October and November attacking Clinton's support for a measure that allowed President Bush to declare the Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, a move Obama said was a step toward war. Clinton said the measure enhanced U.S. negotiating strength with Iran.

"An Iran war terrifies me," said Browne, a 30-year-old University of Iowa student.

Browne said she feels Obama is a more inspirational candidate than Clinton, despite the intensifying crossfire between them.

"I just think that Obama is more of a positive candidate overall," she said...
On women voters...
In the new poll, Obama leads with support from 31 percent of women likely attend the caucuses, compared to 26 percent for Clinton. In October, Clinton was the preferred candidate of 34 percent of women caucusgoers, compared to 21 percent for Obama.
On younger voters...
Obama also dominates among younger caucusgoers, with support from 48 percent from those younger than 35. Clinton was the choice of 19 percent in that group and Edwards of 17 percent.
The momentum is just starting to build www.barackobama.com .
Obama Hit Stride and Leads Clinton In New Iowa PollThe Washington Post - The Fix | December 02, 2007
By Chris Cillizza
DES MOINES, Iowa -- As The Fix trekked back and forth on ice-slicked roads to a series of Democratic presidential forums today one thing became very clear: Barack Obama is hitting his stride.
At both the Heartland Forum Saturday afternoon and the Brown and Black debate later in the day, Obama displayed a deft political touch that was largely absent from his campaign in its early days.
(His Iowa campaign also got a very nice boost late Saturday when the new Des Moines Register poll put him at 28 percent as compared to 25 percent for Clinton and 23 percent for former Sen. John Edwards. The new poll also showed that Obama was doing better than Clinton among women likely to attend the Iowa caucuses next month, 31 percent to 26 percent. Women represent roughly six in 10 Democratic caucus goers, according to the new poll. )
At the Heartland Forum, a mother told Obama of her daughter's rare eye ailment and how the SCHIP legislation had allowed her to get the care she needed before asking about his plans to provide health insurance for all Americans -- a major (and growing) point of contention between himself and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).
Before the candidate answered, the girl -- age 10 or so -- crossed the stage to "meet" Obama. He bent down and chatted for ten seconds or so with the girl before sending her back to her mom and answering the question. It was a compelling moment in what was generally a lackluster gathering.
It was a moment that even a few months ago Obama would not likely have capitalized on. Obama -- still new to the political game -- had shown an awkwardness earlier in the campaign when confronted with moments just like the one today; at an MTV/MySpace forum in Iowa in late October a young woman spoke very personally of the deportation of her father. Nearly in tears, she asked Obama what he would do to prevent situations like hers being repeated. Obama's answer was entirely sound but carried no real emotion and felt like a missed opportunity in retrospect.
Obama carried his strong showing into Saturday night as he -- as well as all the other Democratic candidates except former Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska) -- participated in a debate (of sorts) focused on issues of import to African American and Latino voters.
Asked what he made of the fact that Clinton was leading him among black voters in national polling, Obama showed his improved ability to stay on message. He argued that African American voters were like any other voters in that until they get to know you and your track record they're going to be asking questions" before pivoting to the message at the heart of his campaign: "I believe I can bring the country together [and] overcome the special interests," he said.
Time and again, he touched on his unique ability to bring people together and break out of the political status quo -- closing his remarks at the debate by citing Martin Luther King Jr's declaration of "the fierce urgency of now."
It's worth noting that in both gatherings Obama was playing to friendly crowds. At the Heartland Forum there was a huge (and hugely vocal) group of activists from Illinois that hung on Obama's every word; at the Brown and Black debate, he benefited not only from an audience seemingly predisposed to his message but also a group of questions that played to his strengths.

Read the full article from The Washington Post

World Aids Day: Breaking The Silence

EsquireUK — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 09:10:43 EST
Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter!
More than 33 million people are living with HIV around the world today. World Aids Day was launched by the United Nations in 1988 to raise awareness of HIV/Aids, to urge leaders to help relieve suffering for those afflicted and to increase efforts to prevent HIV transmission.
On December 1, World Aids Day 2007 will highlight the importance of using open communication to break down the silence and stigma surrounding HIV and Aids and to get people talking to increase their understanding of the virus.
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama www.barackobama.com has a genuine understanding of the urgent need to break down the silence and stigma surrounding HIV and Aids. We can count on him to support and promote a brighter future of real hope for the millions living with HIV in America and around the world.
Raphael Holoman-Franklin
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: A Healthy America For All

EsquireUK — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 07:52:21 EST

Quality Affordable Health Care for All
by the End of Barack Obama's First Term in OfficeObama's Plan for a Healthy America

David Cutler Describes Obama Health Plan
"I...believe that every American has the right to affordable health care. I believe that the millions of Americans who can't take their children to a doctor when they get sick have that right...We now face an opportunity - and an obligation - to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates. It's time to bring together businesses, the medical community, and members of both parties around a comprehensive solution to this crisis, and it's time to let the drug and insurance industries know that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair."
-Barack Obama, Speech in Iowa City, IA, 5/27/07
THE PROBLEM
The U.S. spends $2 trillion on health care every year, and offers the best medical technology and scientific research in the world. Yet, the benefits of the American health care system come at a price that an increasing number of individuals and families, employers and employees, and public and private providers cannot afford.
Barack Obama discusses healthcare, and the personal story of one of his supporters in Iowa City on May 29, 2007.; Barack; Healthcare; Obama; iowa; http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid960399001 http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=353512430
47 million Americans - including nearly 9 million children - lack health insurance.
Health care costs are skyrocketing. Health insurance premiums have risen four times faster than wages over the past six years. Lack of affordable health care is compounded by serious flaws in our health care delivery system. About 100,000 Americans die from medical errors in hospitals every year.
Too little is spent on prevention and public health. The nation faces epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases as well as new threats of pandemic flu and bioterrorism. Yet, despite all of this, less than four cents of every health care dollar is spent on prevention and public health.
Barack Obama's Plan for a Healthy America: OverviewLowering health care costs and ensuring affordable, high-quality health care for all
Pauline Taylor, 55, a nurse who lives in Iowa City and is a member of SEIU Local 199, a health care workers' union, [said], "He touched on all the highlight"s...(Obama's plan) is wonderful." Taylor said she liked the emphasis on preventative care and getting more generic medications on the market. A nurse for 33 years, Taylor said she has seen what happens when medical conditions go unchecked for years. "People will not put off going to the doctor for so long," she said.
-Iowa City Press Citizen 5/30/07
Barack Obama believes we live in the greatest country in the world and that when it comes to health care, America can and must do better. The Obama plan will save a typical American family up to $2,500 every year on premiums by:
Providing affordable, comprehensive and portable health coverage for every American;
Modernizing the U.S. health care system to contain spiraling health care costs and improve the quality of patient care; and
Promoting prevention and strengthening public health to prevent disease and protect against natural and man-made disasters.
Quality, Affordable & Portable Health Coverage for All
Douglas Davis, an emergency room technician for the University of Iowa hospitals, said he believes Obama's plan gives hope to families. "I believe it's achievable but the most important thing I'm taking from the plan is the security for families," Davis said. "We can't idly sit by and let families take the burden when you have corporations making" billions of dollars.
-Des Moines Register (as reprinted on USAToday.com), 5/29/07
The Obama plan both builds upon and improves our current insurance system, upon which most Americans continue to rely, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans.
1. Obama's Plan to Cover the Uninsured. Obama will create a new national health plan to allow individuals without access to affordable insurance coverage to buy coverage similar to that available to members of Congress. The Obama plan will have the following features:
Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.
Comprehensive benefits. The benefit package will be similar to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), and cover all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care.
Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
Subsidies. Individuals who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP but still need assistance will receive an income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or purchase a private health care plan.
Simplifying paperwork and reining in health costs.
Easy enrollment. The new public plan will be simple to enroll in and provide ready access to coverage.
Portability and choice. Participants in the new public plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange (see below) will be able to move from job to job without changing their health care coverage.
Quality and efficiency. Participating insurance companies will be required to collect and report data to ensure that standards for quality, health information technology and administration are being met.

2. National Health Insurance Exchange. Obama will create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals who wish to purchase private insurance. The Exchange will act as a watchdog group and help reform the private insurance market by creating rules and standards for participating insurance plans to ensure fairness and to make individual coverage more affordable and accessible. Insurers would have to issue every applicant a policy, and charge fair and stable premiums. The Exchange will require benefits comparable to those offered in the new public plan. Insurers would be required to justify an above-average premium increase. The Exchange would evaluate plans and provide information about differences between them.
3. Employer Contribution. Employers that do not offer or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small employers that meet certain revenue thresholds will be exempt.
4. Mandatory Coverage of Children. Obama will require that all children have health care coverage. Obama will expand the number of options for young adults to get coverage, including by allowing young people up to age 25 to continue coverage through their parents' plans.
5. Expansion of Medicaid and SCHIP. Obama will expand eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Obama will expand eligibility for the medicaid and schip programs and ensure that these programs continue to serve their critical safety net function.
6. Flexibility for State Plans. Obama's plan allows states to continue innovating on health care reform. Due to federal inaction, some states have taken the lead in health care reform. The obama plan builds on these efforts and does not replace what states are doing. States can continue to experiment, provided they meet the minimum standards of the national plan.
Modernizing the U.S. Health Care System to Lower Costs and Improve Quality
Achieving universal coverage has long been a goal of Democratic presidential hopefuls. But Obama's emphasis on cost savings is bound to appeal to people who have insurance but still have seen their costs skyrocket... If Obama's plan helped a little it would mean a lot to her family and many others, Amy . . . said. "There are lots of factors that play into our success or failure, but in our case, the high cost of health insurance premiums is really dragging our family down," said [Amy]... "The month-to-month cost of the premiums is out of balance with the reality of our income. If we could have just a little help, if it could be reduced just a little, it would really help."
-Quad City Times, 5/29/07
On Tuesday in iowa city, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of illinois, a democrat, announced his [health care plan] . . . One aspect is particularly noteworthy: it includes limits on the profits of private-sector health-care businesses. He believes that's the right move for consumers, but it risks offending some powerful interests. He did it anyway. That tells voters something important about him.
- Editorial, Des Moines Register, 6/1/07
The Obama plan will lower costs and improve efficiency in the health care system by: (1) offering federal reinsurance to employers to help ensure that unexpected or catastrophic illnesses do not make health insurance unaffordable or out of reach for businesses and their employees; (2) ensuring that patients receive and providers deliver the best possible care; (3) adopting state-of-the-art health information technology systems; (4) reforming our market structure to ensure fairness and increase competition.
1. Reducing Costs of Catastrophic Illnesses for Employers and their Employees. Catastrophic health expenditures account for a high percentage of medical expenses for private insurers. The Obama plan would reimburse employer health plans for a portion of the catastrophic costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee such savings are used to reduce the cost of workers' premiums.
2. Lowering Costs by Ensuring Patients Receive and Providers Deliver Quality Care.
Helping Patients
Support disease management programs. Seventy five percent of total health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Obama will require that providers that participate in the new public plan, Medicare or the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) utilize proven disease management programs. This will improve quality of care, give doctors better information and lower costs.
Coordinate and integrate care. Over 133 million Americans have at least one chronic disease and these chronic conditions cost a staggering $1.7 trillion yearly. More than half of Americans with serious chronic conditions have 3 or more different physicians, leading to duplicate testing, conflicting treatment advice and prescription drugs that may be contraindicated. Obama will support implementation of programs and encourage team care that will improve coordination and integration of care of those with chronic conditions.
Require full transparency about quality and costs and promote patient safety. More than half of Americans with serious chronic conditions have 3 or more different physicians, leading to duplicate testing, conflicting treatment advice and prescription drugs that may be contraindicated. Obama will support implementation of programs and encourage team care that will improve coordination and integration of care of those with chronic conditions.

Align incentives for excellence. Both public and private insurers tend to pay providers based on the volume of services provided, rather than the quality or effectiveness of care. Providers who see patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National Health Insurance Exchange, Medicare and FEHBP will be rewarded for achieving performance thresholds on outcome measures.
Support comparative effectiveness research. The U.S. provides some of the best health care and most sophisticated medical technologies in the world, but at a cost that is making the effort to expand access to care ever more difficult. Obama will establish an independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative effectiveness, so that Americans and their doctors will have the accurate and objective information they need to make the best decisions for their health and well-being.
Tackle disparities in health care. Obama will tackle the root causes of health disparities by addressing differences in access to health coverage and promoting prevention and public health, both of which play a major role in addressing disparities. He will also challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care through quality measurement and reporting, implementation of effective interventions such as patient navigation programs, and diversification of the health workforce.
Reform medical malpractice. Obama will strengthen antitrust laws to prevent insurers from overcharging physicians for their malpractice insurance, and will promote new models for addressing physician errors that improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, and reduce the need for malpractice suits.

3. Lowering Costs through Investment in Electronic Health Information Technology Systems. Most medical records are still stored on paper, which makes it hard to coordinate care, measure quality, or reduce medical errors and which costs twice as much as electronic claims. Obama will invest $10 billion over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records and will phase in requirements for full implementation of health it. Obama will ensure that patients' privacy is protected.
4. Lowering Costs by Increasing Competition in the Insurance and Drug Markets.
Increasing competition. The insurance business today is dominated by a small group of large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals. There have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years, and just two companies dominate a full third of the national market. These changes were supposed to make the industry more efficient, but instead premiums have skyrocketed, increasing over 87 percent. Obama will prevent companies from abusing their monopoly power through unjustified price increases. His plan will force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and administration. His new national health insurance exchange will help increase competition by insurers.
Lowering prescription drug costs. The second-fastest growing type of health expenses is prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging Americans more than double the price. Obama will allow Americans to buy cheaper medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe. Obama will also repeal the ban that prevents the government from negotiating with drug companies for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, which could result in savings as high as $30 billion. Finally, Obama will work to increase the use of generic drugs in federal benefits programs and prohibit drug companies from keeping generics out of markets.

Promoting Prevention and Strengthening Public Health
Obama's emphasis on reducing waste and inefficiencies and increasing spending on prevention appealed to Dr. George Weiner, director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at UI. The cost of providing health care to those without insurance often is more expensive than prevention would have been, he said. "I'm excited about his plan and others," Weiner said. "The time is right for universal health care."
-Cedar Rapids Gazette, 5/29/07
Obama believes that protecting and promoting health and wellness in this nation is a shared responsibility among individuals and families, school systems, employers, the medical and public health workforce, and federal and state and local governments. Each must do their part, as well as collaborate with one another, to create the conditions and opportunities that will allow and encourage Americans to adopt healthy lifestyles.
1. Employers. An increasing number of employers are offering worksite health promotion programs and many employers choose insurance plans that cover preventive services for their employees. Obama believes that worksite interventions hold tremendous potential to influence health and will expand and reward these efforts.
2. School Systems. Obama will work with schools to create more healthful environments for children. He will work to get junk food out of vending machines in schools and improve nutritional content of lunches through financial incentives, increase grant support for physical education, expand federal reimbursement for school-based health services, and provide grants for health educational programs for students.
3. Workforce. Obama will expand funding - including loan repayment, adequate reimbursement, grants for training curricula, and infrastructure support to improve working conditions - to ensure a strong workforce that will champion prevention and public health activities.
4. Individuals and Families. The way Americans live, eat, work, and play have real implications for their health and wellness. The Obama health plan will require coverage of essential clinical preventive services such as cancer screenings and smoking cessation programs in all federally supported health plans including Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and the new public plan. In addition, Obama will increase funding to expand community based preventive interventions to help Americans make better choices that can help ward off chronic and preventable diseases and improve their health.
5. Federal, State and Local Governments. . The federal government and state and local governments play critical roles in disease prevention and health promotion activities. First, working together, governments at all levels should develop a national and regional strategy for public health that includes funding mechanisms for implementation. Second, the field of public health would benefit from greater research to optimize organization of the 3,000 health departments in this nation, collaborative arrangements between levels of government and its private partners, performance and accountability indicators, integrated and interoperable communication networks, and disaster preparedness and response. Third, the government must invest in workforce recruitment as well as modernizing our physical structures. And finally, the government must examine its own policies, including agricultural, educational, environmental and health policies, to assess and improve their effect on public health in this nation.
As president, Barack Obama will prioritize these activities to strengthen prevention and public health, as well as fight for the following initiatives:
Advance the Biomedical Research Field: As a result of biomedical research the prevention, early detection and treatment of diseases such as cancer and heart disease is better today than any other time in history. Barack Obama has consistently supported funding for the national institutes of health and the national science foundation. Obama strongly supports investments in biomedical research, as well as medical education and training in health-related fields, because it provides the foundation for new therapies and diagnostics. Obama has been a champion of research in cancer, mental health, health disparities, global health, women and children's health, and veterans' health. As president, Obama will strengthen funding for biomedical research, and better improve the efficiency of that research by improving coordination both within government and across government/private/non-profit partnerships. An Obama administration will ensure that we translate scientific progress into improved approaches to disease prevention, early detection and therapy that is available for all Americans.
Fight AIDS Worldwide. There are 40 million people across the planet infected with HIV/AIDS. As president, Obama will continue to be a global leader in the fight against AIDS. Obama believes in working across party lines to combat this epidemic and recently joined Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) at a large California evangelical church to promote greater investment in the global AIDS battle.
Support Americans with Disabilities: As a former civil rights lawyer, Barack Obama knows firsthand the importance of strong protections for minority communities in our society. Obama is committed to strengthening and better enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) so that future generations of Americans with disabilities have equal rights and opportunities. Obama believes we must restore the original legislative intent of the ADA in the wake of court decisions that have restricted the interpretation of this landmark legislation.

Barack Obama is also committed to ensuring that disabled Americans receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits in a low-cost, effective and timely manner. Recognizing that many individuals with disabilities rely on Medicare, Obama worked with Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) to urge the department of health and human services to provide clear and reliable information on the Medicare prescription drug benefit and to ensure that the Medicare recipients were protected from fraudulent claims by marketers and drug plan agents.
Improve Mental Health Care. Mental illness affects approximately one in five American families. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that untreated mental illnesses cost the U.S. more than $100 billion per year. As president, Obama will support mental health parity so that coverage for serious mental illnesses are provided on the same terms and conditions as other illnesses and diseases.
Protect Our Children from Lead Poisoning. More than 430,000 American children have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood. Lead can cause irreversible brain damage, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and death. As president, Obama will protect children from lead poisoning by requiring that child care facilities be lead-safe within five years.
Reduce Risks of Mercury Pollution. More than five million women of childbearing age have high levels of toxic mercury in their blood, and approximately 630,000 newborns are born at risk every year. Barack Obama has a plan to significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is deposited in oceans, lakes, and rivers, which in turn would reduce the amount of mercury in fish.
Support Americans with Autism. More than one million Americans have autism, a complex neurobiological condition that has a range of impacts on thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to others. As diagnostic criteria broaden and awareness increases, more cases of autism have been recognized across the country. Barack Obama believes that we can do more to help autistic Americans and their families understand and live with autism. He has been a strong supporter of more than $1 billion in federal funding for autism research on the root causes and treatments, and he believes that we should increase funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to truly ensure that no child is left behind.

More than anything, autism remains a profound mystery with a broad spectrum of effects on autistic individuals, their families, loved ones, the community, and education and health care systems. Obama believes that the government and our communities should work together to provide a helping hand to autistic individuals and their families.

Increase Transparency in the Health Care Industry
"if we really want a health care system that works for the American people, we need to make it more transparent by putting it back in the hands of the American people. . . . No decisions are more important than the ones we make about our health. And you should have all the information you need to ensure that the decisions you make are the right ones."
- Barack Obama, speech in Storm Lake, Iowa, 9/5/2007
Health care quality and costs vary tremendously among hospitals and providers, but patients have limited access to this information. American health care consumers are not armed with the cost and quality information they need to make good decisions about their care. Obama believes all Americans should have access to information that provides them with what works and what does not work in our health care system. As President, Obama will work to implement important proposals that empower individuals, including:
Providing easy-to-understand comparisons of the medicare prescription drug plans. Since the creation of the medicare prescription drug benefit, seniors have been deluged with massive amounts of information about the various plans, but have received little guidance about which plans actually suit their unique needs. As a result, a significant number of seniors are enrolled in plans that are actually more expensive for them than other available medicare prescription drug plans. Obama will ensure seniors are provided with information about the best prescription drug plans for them every year.
Requiring full transparency about quality and costs. Under Obama's health care plan, hospitals and providers will be required to collect and publicly report measures of health care costs and quality, including data on preventable medical errors, nurse-staffing ratios, infections acquired while patients are in a hospital, disparities in care, and costs. Health plans will also be required to disclose the percentage of premiums that actually goes to paying for patient care as opposed to administrative costs.
Promoting patient safety through full disclosure. Obama will require providers to report preventable medical errors, and support hospital and physician practice improvement to prevent future occurrences.
Figuring out what works. The United States provides some of the most sophisticated medical care in the world, but there is no good system in place to figure out which treatments and procedures work the best. As president, Obama will establish an independent institute dedicated to guiding research into what drugs, devices and procedures work the best. This will help patients and their doctors make the best decisions for their health and well-being.

Barack Obama Wants to Hear Your Ideas on Health Care
Share your voice on these issues by using our MyPolicy tools. With the help of your insight, Barack will further develop his health care plan to take into account our common experiences and build the political momentum to enact real reform.

This blog is devoted to fostering an open, meaningful discussion of health care policy issues and your health care stories. It is provided to help you collaborate with others across the nation to define and refine the best ideas for the future of health care policy. Your ideas will help shape the debate and our vision.

This discussion represents YOUR views and is not an expression of the positions of Barack Obama or the campaign. All are welcome to participate. We ask only that participants show consideration and respect for each other.

Across our country, everyday people like you have experiences and ideas that haven't previously been heard. This is your chance to speak your mind and help set the policies that will guide this campaign and change the country. Step 1: Present Your Ideas Submit your idea
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On: Foreign Policy The Iraq War Ethics Energy Veterans Education Healthcare Immigration Security Family Elections Faith Go Step 2: Collaborate & DebateIn the coming months we will be helping you collaborate with others across the nation to define and refine the best ideas and incorporate them into our vision for the future. We'll make it possible for other people to weigh your ideas and give their own thoughts on the issues. Paid for by Obama for America
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Write a letter to the editor of the Washington Post and you local paper

Tom Hayes, working for change — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:02:01 EST

Here's an easy link

Tom Toles gets it:
If not now, when?

Oprah To Campaign For Presidential Candidate Barack Obama

EsquireUK — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:53:07 EST
Oprah to campaign for Obama Rate the Story SMS NDTV For latest headlines SMS NEWS to 56388 (in India) 6388 (in UAE), to 63880(in UK)
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I am the best candidate: Hillary
First US presidential primary on Jan 8
ForumsUser NamePasswordNew User ? Sign In Sarah JacobThursday, November 29, 2007 (New York)When three years ago, Oprah Winfrey chose Tolstoy's Anna Karenina as the pick of the month in her book club, the epic shot to the top of America's bestseller list.

Now, presidential hopeful Barack Obama www.barackobama.com is hoping Oprah's magic touch will work for him too.

The Obama campaign has announced that the talk-show host and media icon will campaign with the presidential hopeful in the all important primary elections in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina next month.

But while increasing the sales of a book might be easy, the verdict is not out on whether Oprah's magic touch extends to politics. ''It is not going to affect my vote. I love Oprah but it is not going to affect my vote,'' says a resident of the Lower East Side in Manhattan. However, other New Yorkers disagree.

According to a resident of Queens ''A lot of people listen to Oprah and they listen to her opinions so it is very possibly that she could sway women voters away from Hillary''.

The media mogul has twice topped Forbes's annual most powerful celebrity list. The Oprah Winfrey Show reaches almost 9 million Americans everyday and is syndicated to 135 foreign countries. Then there's O, her magazine, her website and her philanthropy that has made her one of the few persons in America who is recogonised by just one name.

In September, Oprah hosted a star-studded fundraiser for Obama, which raised about $3 million for the White House hopeful.

According to a poll by the Pew research centre taken shortly after, 69 per cent of respondents said they would not be influenced by Winfrey's endorsement of a political candidate but 60 per cent believed her support would help Senator Obama.

Much of Oprah's influence is with women viewers. Women voters are especially crucial in this presidential election, which for the first time has a woman candidate in the race for the White House.

According to Michelle Materre, a professor of Film and Media Studies at the New School in New York ''The gender issue is a big issue for Hillary Clinton. Having Oprah support a male is not going to look favorable for Hillary. People connect to Oprah because she has the ability to talk to you as if there is no body else in the room and that connection is going to be the difference in what she can state from the gender aspect than what Hillary Clinton can.''

When Oprah endorses people listen. But whether she can do for Obama what she did for Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is still unclear. One thing is for certain that if one is running for President in America

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: The Road To The White House...Hope Still Holds Sway

EsquireUK — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:35:16 EST
Obama Finds His Moment Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 By KAREN TUMULTY Download | Subscribe at iTunesU.S. Senator and Presidential candidate Barack Obama holds a town hall meeting in Muscatine, Iowa.Callie Shell / Aurora for TIMEBarack Obama's Iowa head-quarters near the State Capitol in downtown Des Moines has the unmistakable décor of an insurgent operation: thinning, mildewed carpet; litter from sign-painting parties; recycling boxes full of canvassing tally sheets and empty Miller Lite cartons. But the deepening clutter hasn't covered up all the traces of what the building used to be: a hockey rink, which could hardly be a more fitting metaphor for a political contest that is suddenly getting a lot rougher. The old Dr Pepper scoreboard is still on the wall, but the largely twentysomething crew at Obama Central has another way of measuring the team's progress. Staffers ring a silver bellhop bell whenever an organizer signs up a new precinct captain who has agreed to stand up and argue the candidate's case before friends and neighbors at one of the 1,784 caucuses that will be held across Iowa on Jan. 3. Since Obama's speech at the Iowa Democratic Party's Nov. 10 Jefferson-Jackson dinner — his most acclaimed performance since the 2004 National Convention address that made him a celebrity — the bell has dinged more than 233 times. Related ArticlesQ
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As the contest for the Democratic nomination moves into the last weeks of exhibition season, it appears that Obama is turning this into a race. "This summer he seemed to still be finding himself," says John Norris, an Obama adviser who ran John Kerry's Iowa operation in 2004. "But he turned the corner and realized, 'This is going to work out if I make it work out.'"
For months — which can be several life-cycles on the campaign trail — it looked as if that turning point might not happen. Despite the record amounts of money he had raised, the organization he had built and the crowds he had drawn, the freshman Senator from Illinois with a message of conciliation and righteousness had seemed for most of the year to be unable — unwilling, actually — to put much of a dent in Hillary Clinton's trajectory of preordination and inevitability. He appeared destined for the same fate that had met a long line of Democratic insurgents — Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas, Bill Bradley and Howard Dean among them — whose promises of a new kind of politics had briefly enjoyed a vogue, only to be crushed into dust by a front runner who was using the standard playbook.
Some of the candidate's supporters and advisers found his genteel approach to campaigning admirable — and maddening. "There was a panic, particularly in the campaign fund-raising machinery, this summer," recalls Bill Daley, a top Obama adviser and presidential-campaign veteran who tried to tamp down the worriers. "They said, 'He's gotta punch harder; he's gotta engage.'"
The campaign had not lived up to the promise of Obama's February announcement on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., a black man standing in front of the building where Lincoln had delivered his famous "House Divided" speech against slavery in 1858 and decrying "the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics." Crowds turned out by the thousands to hear him almost everywhere he went, but they often left feeling oddly underwhelmed.
Like a concert audience that wants to hear only the greatest hits, they didn't know what to make of Obama's unfamiliar material as he honed his message and started spelling out his policies. The candidate was confused as well. "The expectations," he tells TIME, "are elevated to this odd level. Even when we do the spectacular, people discount it. If we have a crowd of 23,000 people in a red state in the spring, people sort of say, 'Ho hum.' We've raised more money from small donors than all the other Democratic candidates combined, and from a standing start, we are competing with the dominant political organization in American politics that was built over the course of two decades by a two-term ex-President. That's pretty good."
But it wasn't good enough. Nowhere had Obama, with his almost cantankerous disdain for sound bites, been so frustrated as in the unending series of candidate debates that have punctuated the campaign season. In the first outing, he stumbled over a question about how he would react to a terrorist attack, sounding more like a candidate to head the volunteer fire department as he focused on disaster preparedness. Clinton, seeing her opening, spoke as a Commander in Chief: "I think a President must move as swiftly as is prudent to retaliate."
On the rare occasions when Obama's campaign decided to engage the Clinton campaign, such as when it was caught leaking opposition research done against Hillary to the media, it was deftly outmaneuvered. Her spokespeople were quick to characterize any engagement as a violation of Obama's pledge to practice a new kind of politics. In a series of meetings in Des Moines over the course of two days in early October, Obama's dismayed fund raisers made another run at him and his strategists, begging Obama to come down off his mountaintop and take her on. That's the old kind of politics, he told them. "That's not who I am."
Daniel Nasaw in Des Moines, Iowa
Tuesday November 13, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Barack Obama hugs his wife, Michelle, before he speaks at a rally prior to the Jefferson Jackson dinner in Des Moines, Iowa. Photograph: Yana Paskova/Getty

According to the experts, Barack Obama's www.barackobama.com current resurgence in the polls is down to his recent willingness to attack Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
On cable television for example, an oft-repeated line from Obama's speech at last Saturday's Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Iowa is: "I am sick and tired of Democrats thinking that the only way to look tough on national security is by talking and acting and voting like George Bush Republicans."
Certainly, the Illinois senator has stepped up his criticisms of Clinton, and the Beltway audience has taken note. But interviews with more than 30 committed and undecided Iowa voters last week suggest that his criticisms are less important outside the Beltway than his uplifting rhetoric and personal magnetism. It is this, rather than his renewed aggression, that vaulted him to national prominence in 2004.
Indeed, some voters who were interviewed as Obama swung through the eastern portions of Iowa last week even said they were glad that he was not being as negative toward Clinton as John Edwards was.
"It's an advantage that he doesn't have the ferocious attack mentality," said Jay Mattsson, a Fairfield, Iowa casting director and Obama precinct captain. "Voters, especially in Iowa, don't care for that."
Viewed as a whole, the interviews suggested that while Obama's message of unity and freshness is often mocked in Washington as naive, it's still the central factor in his appeal to voters. Instead of longing for Obama to bare his knuckles and fight, Iowa voters last week spoke of an honesty they saw in him that they didn't see in other candidates.
That's a quality that Clinton's formidable campaign machine will be hard-pressed to counter. Her strategists can pillory what they say is the 46-year-old senator's naiveté and lack of experience, but they will find that argument plays better in Washington than around the country, where those who've seen Obama speak recognise his charisma and air of authenticity.
"He's one of the few that sounds like he's telling the truth," said Jack Cavenee, a 75-year-old former Fairfield, Iowa, fire chief, before a campaign rally on Thursday. "He seems sincere."
The rallies last week typically began with a campaign aide warming up the crowd, discussing Obama's biography or the complicated caucus process. The aides - fresh-faced, bouncy twenty and thirtysomethings - at times came across as patronising (a young woman in Chariton praised the audience's intelligence when they correctly answered trivia questions on Obama's background, for example).
When the meeting halls had filled to capacity, Obama would take the stage to often-raucous cheers. Dressed casually in dark slacks and an open shirt - never wearing a tie - Obama would grab the microphone and deliver a speech that included a blend of stand-up comedy, a plea for support and gentle jabs at Clinton. (Typically, he'll describe a "disagreement" with the New York senator, for example on her Senate vote for a nonbinding resolution calling for economic sanctions against Iran.)
Whether addressing elderly rural voters in a manure-scented barn in Fort Madison, Iowa, or a concert hall full of screaming college students in Des Moines, Obama's jokes hit the spot day after day, and his energy at the microphone never seems to languish.
Obama's stump message boils down to this: under the Bush administration, federal policy has come under the control of lobbyists, and pharmaceutical and energy companies, and the best presidential candidates can stand up to those interests for the little guy. With fewer than three years in Washington, Obama says he isn't beholden to the status quo.
"We have a special interest-driven Washington, not an American people-driven Washington," he declared in a typical refrain last week. "I am running for president of the United States to change that."
Obama pledges to undo Bush policies he says have damaged the nation's world standing, and rails against a Washington establishment that has long talked about energy independence and healthcare reform without making any changes.
He criticises administration "sabre rattling" on Iran, pledges to "restore habeas corpus" and says he'll close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "We will not torture in an Obama administration," he says. Pleading guilty to the charge that he's a "hope-monger," Obama ridicules the criticism advanced by the Clinton campaign that he's inexperienced.
"They say, oh yeah, Obama, he can talk good, he's done some good things, but he hasn't been in Washington long enough. They want me to stew in Washington a little longer so they can boil the hope out of me," he says to laughter. "Then I'll be ready."
The stump speech typically lasted about 25 minutes, after which the senator would take 15 - 20 minutes of questions from the audience. Audience members generally asked about immigration and other issues he didn't touch on in the speech. (Obama favours extending citizenship to otherwise law-abiding illegal aliens who've learned English, paid a fine and gone to the back of the line.
Obama finishes by leading the audience in his signature cheer: "Fired Up! Ready to go!" He then spends several minutes shaking hands, posing for pictures and talking with voters on the way out of the hall. Within about an hour of his entrance, he's back on the campaign bus.
In staging the events, the campaign seems to have taken a page from the old Michael Deaver media playbook: on a chilly evening at the Port of Burlington, for instance, the campaign opened enormous garage doors behind the speaking platform so the Mississippi River would appear unobstructed behind Obama.
Later that night, in a barn at the rodeo fairgrounds in Fort Madison, Obama paced, microphone in hand, before artfully piled bales of hay and dry corn stalks. The rally-goers typically file out with serious expressions, but in interviews afterwards, they admit to being fired-up.
After the last event of a long day, where Obama addressed several hundred voters at a roller-skating rink in Knoxville, Iowa, Pat Bennett, a 62-year-old hospital worker from Pleasantville, said that Obama had impressed her at a July event, but she nevertheless entered the skating rink undecided.
"He just relates a lot to what I care about," Bennett said after the event. Pressed to explain, she contrasted him with Edwards, whom she said "just didn't have it like [Obama] does".
Voters generally weren't able to say what it was about Obama they find appealing. "It's one of those gut feelings that you have on a person," said Chad Hamilton, a 35-year-old Iowa national guardsman and Afghanistan veteran, after a rally in Chariton last week. "It just sounds, to me, like he's telling the truth."
Terri Jones, whose 23-year-old son Jason Cooper killed himself four months after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq, said: "You can just tell he is genuinely caring about our soldiers and the care they need when they get home." But how, exactly, can she tell?"
"From the way I was raised," was the best the 43-year-old T-shirt printer from Russell, Iowa, could offer. "You can't really put your finger on it, but he's got it."
Leading up to the Democratic debate in Philadelphia on October 30, Washington conventional wisdom held that Obama had to go on the offensive against Clinton. NBC's Chris Matthews, for example, declared Obama foolish for refusing to "kneecap" her. The debate moderators that night offered Obama two quick opportunities, but he declined to strike hard, instead leaving Edwards to do so.
But in Iowa last week, many voters applauded Obama for refusing to engage in negative campaigning, saying that was part of his appeal. "He's not an attack dog, but he's bold," said Susan Conroy, a 60-year-old retired teacher from Sigourney, Iowa. "You want the fire in the belly. He puts it in mine."
It's unsurprising Obama's rhetorical skill and stage presence rouses supporters. That's what first brought him national attention in 2004, when he gave the keynote address to the Democratic national convention as a candidate for the US Senate in Illinois. Then a state senator, he called for a bridging of the gap between liberal and conservative America - a point he repeats now on the campaign trail.
But after a series of dreary debate performances over the summer, Obama had appeared to lose a lot of the momentum that drove the formal announcement of his candidacy in February. Many observers began to wonder if the magnetism that was on such ample display in that 2004 speech had evaporated.
"Having come onto the scene nationally in that convention, people maybe think that every time I speak I'm going to make them cry," he told reporters in Des Moines last week, deflecting suggestions he'd lost some of his early shine. "But that's not the nature of an ongoing campaign. We've got different forums. If I'm in a room with 20 people, I'm not going to be delivering some stem-winder."
It may be that Obama's brand of charisma doesn't come across well in the soundbite-friendly, 30-second ripostes that televised debates demand. In Iowa last week, in a hall packed with hundreds of friendly Democrats - and a few Republicans - he showed that he can rouse passion in person.
Eric Hanks, a 41-year-old chiropractor from Burlington, Iowa, summed up the appeal in a manner the Obama camp would love. After hearing Obama debate in his home town, Hanks said: "They say that in antiquity there were two kinds of speakers: one who when he spoke you clapped, the other when he spoke you were ready to march.
"When he speaks, I'm ready to march."

"With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else matters," write Warren Bennis and Noel Tichy, distinguished professors of business at the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan, in today's Wall Street Journal (subscribers only). Here are some excerpts from their article, "Judgment Trumps Experience":

...First, let us cite Ted Sorenson, one of John F. Kennedy's closest advisers and speechwriters. When asked about his former boss's judgment, Mr. Sorenson responded, "I cannot emphasize how important that elusive quality is; far more important than organization, structure, procedures and machinery. These are all important, yes, but nothing compared to judgment."
After a five-year study of leadership covering virtually all sectors of American life, we came to the inescapable conclusion that judgment regularly trumps experience. Our central finding is that judgment is the core, the nucleus of exemplary leadership. With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else matters.
...Leadership is, at its marrow, the chronicle of judgment calls. These will inevitably write the leader's legacy...
...Wisely processed experience, reflection, valid sources of timely information, an openness to the unbidden and character are critical components of judgment as well. As David McCullough reminds us over and over again, "Character counts in the presidency more than any other single quality."
...judgment, fed by solid character, should determine the choice of our next president.
Dear Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter!
You should know that you are supporting the strongest U.S. Presidential General Election candidate. While the stakes are so clear, think about how important a Presidential Candidate Barack Obama victory in 2008 is to you, and help us get there. We'll make them feel the pain for this at the ballot box, but we have work to do.
While the Republican Party is coming apart, our Party is investing in infrastructure and grassroots development. We're not going to miss a single chance to cement a strong position and reach areas that Democrats ignored for decades.
I am confident that our Countdown To Change volunteers and grassroot supporters across America will give Presidential Candidate Barack Obama`s organizers on the ground the tools they need to target key areas and get out the vote on Election Day.
Come Election Day, we cannot leave anything out there on the field. Step up and do your part by donating $15, $25, $50 or more:
contribute today to: www.barackobama.com
We're building an amazing and effective movement, and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama needs your help. Countdown To Change is reaching more and more Americans who are ready to fight -- and vote -- for something better.
Please do what you can to help Presidential Candidate Barack Obama today. Remember, you are supporting the strongest U.S. Presidential General Election candidate www.barackobama.com
Thank you very much!
Raphael Holoman-Franklin
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Supporter

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: Mrs. Clinton Voted For The Iraq War

EsquireUK — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:24:53 EST
Bill's gaffe
Published: November 29 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 29 2007 02:00
Bill Clinton's gifts as a politician are hard to deny. He is a tireless campaigner who can deliver a rousing speech, and he is a master political manoeuvrer.
So it is strange to see him making a political blunder that could cause headaches for his wife, Hillary, who faces a tight contest in the forthcoming Iowa caucus, which marks the start of the 2008 US presidential nomination process.
Clinton, campaigning for his wife in Iowa on Tuesday, commented that he opposed the war in Iraq "from the beginning". There does not appear to be anything wrong with this factually. But the comment is sure to reopen discussions about Mrs Clinton's vote in 2002 to authorise military action on Iraq. Since then, Mrs Clinton has said that President George W. Bush lied in making the case for the war.
But her opponents are likely to seize on the comment as proof that the Clintons are trying to blur impressions of Mrs Clinton's Iraq vote. For evidence of how hard it can be to explain "I voted for the Iraq war before I opposed it", just ask John Kerry.
John Edwards, who is running hard against Mrs Clinton in Iowa as candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, may not be able to make too much out of this, since he voted to authorise the Iraq strikes too. (He later said the vote was a mistake.)
But Barack Obama www.barackobama.com should be able to take it and run. Obama has absorbed plenty of criticism from Mrs Clinton on his lack of foreign policy experience. Obama was not serving in the US Senate at the time of the Iraq vote, but he was vocal in his opposition to the war at the time.
Having Bill Clinton as a political adviser is certainly an asset. But with only five weeks to go until the Iowa caucus, he may need to shape up his game. He was known as "the Comeback Kid", but it is unlikely that his wife relishes the idea of having to run from behind.
observer@ft.com

Obama outlines diplomatic path
The Concord Monitor | November 28, 2007
By SHIRA SCHOENBERG

To prosper in a global community, the United States needs economic and diplomatic expertise, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told voters yesterday in Portsmouth.
In a three-hour forum on foreign policy, the Illinois senator and his top foreign policy advisers stressed diplomacy and economics, rather than military reliance, and criticized the Republican party for doing otherwise.
"We know what we're going to get from the Republican nominee - more Bush-Cheney foreign policy," Obama said. "More support for open-ended war in Iraq. More saber-rattling toward Iran. More refusing to talk to countries we don't like. More exceptions for torture."

Read the full article from The Concord Monitor

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: Winning Iowa...Yes We Can!

EsquireUK — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:43:07 EST
Clinton and Obama switch roles in IowaPolitico | November 26, 2007
By Mike Allen and Carrie Budoff Brown
In a reversal of fortune, Sen. Barack Obama www.barackobama.com (D-Ill.) is barnstorming Iowa with a front-runner's swagger while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) scrambles like an underdog.
In ways big and small over the weekend, the two campaigns exuded a sense of switched identities - a dynamic driven by poll-driven perceptions that Clinton's sense of inevitability is slipping and Obama is riding a bit of a wave amid the Midwestern seas of grain.

Read the full article from Politico

Michelle Obama Co Hosts on The View!

vette58 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:16:30 EST

Mark your calendars to watch our next First Lady Michelle Obama on The View, December 5th (channel 13 in Las Vegas). For more information go to
http://blackvoices.aol.com/blogs/2007/11/23/michelle-obama-joining-whoopi-and-sherri-on-the-view/

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Participated In Iowa Health Care Roundtable

EsquireUK — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:40:46 EST
Post from Obama HQ: Health Care Roundtable in Des MoinesBy Jaime Mulligan - Nov 25th, 2007 at 3:12 pm EST
At Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines this morning, Barack www.barackobama.com participated in a health care round table with six Iowans. From various backgrounds and experiences, all the attendees had a common link: an observation that the health care system is not working for average Americans.
We had:
A pediatrician who encounters children whose insurance has fallen through the cracks because of paperwork mix ups or whose insurance won't cover the preventative care that would improve their health and reduce long-term costs to the health care system.
A student with diabetes who discovered that her $275/month COBRA coverage runs out next April and a new insurance policy will cost at least $300 a month and will not include prescription drug coverage - and she has medications that cost $450/month.
A cosmetologist and her husband who bounce between different insurers and find that their employers either cannot or do not offer coverage - or the coverage that does exist is too restrictive and doesn't allow for preventative care.
A teacher who holds down three part time jobs and, as a breast cancer survivor, struggles to find affordable coverage that reimburses for all the necessary follow-up visits.
A director of a federally-qualified health clinic who said that "health care...is becoming more and more difficult to obtain."
The health care system forces Americans to choose between taking care of their health and paying for rent and food - and all too often puts hard-working people, whose only mistake was getting sick, close to or into bankruptcy.
Half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are related to medical costs, and many of those who go bankrupt had insurance at the time of their diagnosis.
Barack has a comprehensive health care plan that focuses on making coverage affordable and accessible to average Americans. But, as Barack often says, the real issue with health care reform has not been a lack of plans over the years, but a lack of leadership in Washington, DC.
No one has been able to put together a transparent, comprehensive process that allows for the voice of the American people to triumph over special interests and partisan fights.
Barack's ability to unite and listen to Americans is what has been missing in our government, and would be the key to actually solving difficult problems like the health care crisis.
Check out this short video from the event. It features a conversation between Dr. Jennifer Groos, the pediatrician who participated in the forum, and Barack.

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: Winning Iowa...Winning U.S. Presidential Election

EsquireUK — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 20:25:40 EST
Obama the comeback kid learns to talk tough

Clinton now has a fight on her hands as her rival's gloves-off relaunch puts him ahead in Iowa

Paul Harris in New York
Sunday November 25, 2007
The Observer

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama www.barackobama.com once electrified America by preaching a 'politics of hope' that would eschew negative adverts and attract voters put off by the divisive rhetoric of the campaign trail.
Unfortunately Obama then found himself outsmarted and outfought by his chief rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, and languished in the polls. Now Obama has, in effect, relaunched his campaign, coming out fighting against Clinton and slamming her record on everything from Iraq and Iran to education and trade.
It is working. Obama's support in the key state of Iowa - which votes first in the Democratic presidential nomination race - has moved up strongly. Last week a poll for the Washington Post put Obama four points ahead of Clinton. The news rocked the political pundits who for months had assumed that Clinton's lead there was virtually unassailable.
America is waking up to the fact that Obama's shift in tactics, and some critical missteps by the Clinton campaign, have left the Democratic field open again. 'It is back to being Obama or Hillary. It has tightened up in the last few weeks,' said Professor Bruce Gronbeck, a political specialist at the University of Iowa.
The signs of Obama's new aggression were everywhere last week. He did not hesitate to attack Clinton and defended himself against criticism. In Austin, Texas, he slammed her for being too calculating and cynical to be President, echoing a feeling among many Democrats that the former First Lady has shifted her principles to secure the nomination. 'Triangulating and poll-testing positions ... just won't do,' he said, attacking Democrats '... who think and act and vote like George Bush Republicans'.
His aggressive new stance continued in Iowa and New Hampshire as he descended on those states for a bout of intensive campaigning to shore up his new poll lead. When Clinton criticised Obama for his perceived lack of foreign policy experience, he responded by pointing out Clinton's support for the Iraq invasion. 'I was wondering which world leader told her that we needed to invade Iraq, because that is the sort of conventional thinking that we're going to have to break,' he said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, which votes a few days after Iowa.
The outbreak of war in the Democratic race was kicked off by a bizarre newspaper column last weekend by conservative journalist Robert Novak. He alleged that Clinton's camp had gathered scandalous information on Obama but had decided not to use it. Obama responded furiously by comparing Clinton's tactics to the controversial 'Swift Boat' dirty tricks campaign that helped derail John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid by questioning his Vietnam record. 'She, of all people, having complained so often about the politics of personal destruction, should move quickly to either stand by or renounce these tactics,' Obama said in a rare official statement that he personally signed. Clinton's camp quickly denied the allegations and accused Obama of naively falling for a Republican trick. He then unexpectedly spoke openly about his use of drugs as a teenager to a group of New Hampshire school pupils, admitting he had made some 'bad decisions'. Obama's hair-trigger response showed that his campaign is now trying to win the race by using naked aggression against rivals as much as simple persuasion of voters.
It has also revealed a deep unease within a previously confident Clinton camp. In recent weeks Clinton has boosted her staffing levels and opened new offices in Iowa, where previously she had looked a runaway winner. The Clinton campaign has also launched a new series of adverts explicitly addressing her rival Democrats' attacks. They have taken on the allegations that she is untrustworthy or unprincipled and portrayed her as the one candidate that the Republican party fears most.
One advert features a man whose child received medical care after Clinton personally intervened. The man says in the advert: 'Her opponents are saying that Hillary can't be trusted. I trusted this woman to save my son's life and she did.' Such tough tactics are now the norm in the race as voting looms six weeks away. However, they are potentially dangerous for Clinton, Obama and John Edwards, who has also adopted an aggressive approach in Iowa. Iowa's voters traditionally regard overly negative tactics as distasteful. In 2004 John Kerry's remarkable last-minute win against the then Democrat frontrunner, Howard Dean, was attributed in part to his refusal to be as negative as Dean. That means, some experts warn, that Obama's tactics may win him some short-term relief in the polls but could backfire when it comes down to casting ballots. 'Iowa is a civil state. Negative campaigning has never played that well here. But we are at a stage of the race where it is time to take some risks. Those risks are only going to get bigger as the election date gets nearer,' said Gronberg.
However, Obama unveiled a tactic last week that could prove just as effective against his rivals as any attack advert. Oprah Winfrey, the queen of US daytime television who is beloved by Americans of every political stripe, has agreed to go on the stump to support him. Her first campaign stop is scheduled to be Iowa.

World-Class Education for Everyone

Matthea Little Smith — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:39:53 EST

      Senator Barack Obama believes this is a defining moment for education in this country. In this global economy, countries who out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow. That’s why Obama has introduced a plan to make college affordable by creating a $4,000 per year refundable tax credit and why he unveiled a proposal to strengthen our community colleges. Yesterday, in Manchester, New Hampshire, Obama spoke about his plan to prepare every student to succeed in college – preparation that begins at birth and continues with world-class schools, outstanding teachers, and transformative principals.
     The first part of his plan focuses on providing quality, affordable early childhood education to every American child. The second part of his education plan is to recruit, support, and reward teachers and principals to ensure that every school in America is filled with outstanding educators. The third part of his plan is to work with our nation’s governors and educators to create and use assessments that can improve achievement in school districts all across America by including the kinds of research, scientific investigation, and problem-solving that our children will need to compete in a 21st century knowledge economy. Finally, Obama understands that government alone cannot solve the problems in our education system and that parents have to meet their own responsibilities and get involved in their children’s education.
Obama believes our commitment to education has to be real and not just rhetorical. He often says the problem with No Child Left Behind is that George Bush left the money behind. But it wasn’t just Bush. It’s pretty popular to bash No Child Left Behind out on the campaign trail, but when it was being debated in Congress four years ago, Obama’s colleague Dick Durbin offered everyone a chance to vote so that the law couldn’t be enforced unless it was fully funded. Senator Edwards and Senator Clinton passed on that chance. Obama believes that was a serious mistake. As President, he will reform No Child Left Behind.

Haven't we had enough? Democrats '08

Tom Hayes, working for change — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:58:47 EST

A great article at the Huffington Post, on Ms. Huffington's conversation with ad exec Rich Silverstein: A HuffPost Project: Posterizing the Modern GOP.
...I thought he might have some ideas on how to help the Democrats, who continue to struggle with framing an election where they are holding all the cards. He did. When I suggested that he blog about his ideas, he said that since he usually expresses himself best in visual terms, he wanted to see if he could "blog visually."
The images are too large to include here, but you can click these links:
slogans
events
names

Unofficial artwork, modestly offered

Tom Hayes, working for change — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:51:48 EST

A small, inexpertly rendered collection of alternative artwork you are free to use in blog posts or email, etc., can be found in my No Drama '08 Photobucket Album. As of this writing there are only four images, one of which is specific to the Grassroots Finance Committee.
A jazzed up logo:

An agent of change banner: (scaled down here)

A GFC banner: (scaled down here)

The man:

The Nevada Obama Staff Deserve A Round of Applause!

vette58 — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 05:21:19 EST

Wow! What an incredible event. The Nevada Obama staff planned and executed an award winning event yesterday. The rally featured volunteers wearing "fire it up... he's ready to go" t-shirts, with signage (large and small), mega phones, and fired up supporters that you would have thought were on steroids. The energy level was as high as the biggest fans at the superbowl. The Obama team definately stole the show prior to the debate. And if that wasn't good enough, the team moved to the JJ Dinner at the Paris Resort and ended the night with another "tremendous" show. More on this event later.
So on behalf of Obama supporters and volunteers, CONGRATULATIONS Nevada Obama Staff on an awesome job during the CNN Las Vegas Debate. We are very proud and excited about the temendous impact the activites made and feel confident many votes were wonyesterday. A BIG HIGH FIVE. To see live footage of the Pre-debate and JJ Dinner Rally go to http://nevada.barackobama.com/page/content/nvhome

MN Office Open House Huge Success

Matthea Little Smith — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:00:03 EST

This past weekend the Minnesota Staff opened their doors to Obama supporters from all across the state to visit the St Paul office. The Open House was a huge a success with over 150 supporters in attendance throughout the day. Volunteers got the opportunity to connect with each other over the bbq and talk about the experiences. Many special guests came out to show their support for Barack along with the the hardworking staff members and volunteers who have contributed to the campaign. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak reminded everyone of the importance of organizing neighborhoods to go caucus on February 5th. Both Kim Ellison and newly elected St Paul City Council Member Melvin Carter emphasized the profound impact one volunteer can make in this campaign.
Check back later this week for pictures of the event!

Funeral for a friend

Tom Hayes, working for change — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:35:49 EST

Yesterday I went to the memorial service for an old friend at Carleton College's Skinner Chapel in Northfield, MN. Warren Ringlien was a renaissance man, born in the 1930s. He had built everything from ski-jumps to pitching machines to telescope mounts. Warren put solar cells on his home, built an electric car, and still had time to string tennis rackets and bowl with the guys, play with his grandchildren, and go dancing with his wife. There was nothing he couldn't fix, or improve; he was the go-to guy for everybody who knew him, never passing up an opportunity to teach and empower those he helped. Warren might sound gruff when you brought him your problem, but his mind was already taking a shot at the challenge. You always sensed that both you and he had gained information - and competency - although in the way of such exchanges one knew clearly who had been less than adequate to frame the examination properly. The outcomes were more valuable and elegant than the needy could initially imagine.
Warren's creative 'streak' knew no limits. His vision, the vision that led to his glorious solutions, wasn't constrained by the thinking of the people asking for his help. His desire wasn't just to solve the problem, but to enable others to do so, too - to see beyond the immediate challenge, and to spur others to look at the bigger picture with him.
This morning, as the sundry eulogies I'd heard yesterday intersected with my reading about matters more political than physical, I had an epiphany. Senator Barack Obama brings his own fearless, boundless creativity to the political and social challenges which define our global culture, and so dominate our national dialog.
We all know the stereotypes of established politicians, from being part of some mysterious culture filled with back-room deals to making carefully scripted, risk-aversive non-answers when asked a direct question while implying informed expertise as they espouse expedient fixes that patch whatever problem the media wants to report on this week: offend nobody, look smart, preserve your power.
Yet Senator Obama defies that conventional wisdom; Obama's not scripted, not a slave to managing an oracular appearance. He's willing to take responsibility for his actions and positions today while taking a long view and seeking more information all the while. Not confirmation, not validation, this is a person who constantly owns his decisions while at the same time clearly yearning to do more than hand off solutions: Barack wants to teach and empower you, and me, and the world to seek and create something better than we have yet imagined.
That determination is what I'll miss about Warren Ringlien.
That same approach informs my abiding faith in Barack Obama's fitness to be our next President.

620KPOJ Poll Smells Like Bad Fish!

vette58 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:53:35 EST

I know we're all very busy gearing up for our final push to the early states caucus and have much better things to do with our time than these on-line polls, but many of us do take a quick minute to cast our vote if for no other reason than for the fun of it. And I must admit, I hate to lose so I feel a vote or two doesn't hurt.
Recently there were emails regarding the radio station 620KPOJ straw poll. When you selected Senator Obama as your choice the number would actually decrease rather than increase. It smelled fishy to many of us. One of our supporters offered his thoughts on how easy it is to hack into the programing used by this particular radio station. Others voiced this was the reason they don't take the time to participate in on-line polls because they are not accurate. Well, I had to let the radio station know what was going on in hopes they would fix the problem. No luck... My comments weren't taken seriously and although I already understood his position, it would have went much further had he at least offered to check into my concerns.   Don't waste your time with this poll. It smells like bad fish... For those interested, here is the General Managers response.
"Yvette, Thanks for the feedback and thanks for listening to AM 620 KPOJ!
There are many people voting all at the same time. If more folks are voting for Kucinich while you are voting for Obama, it is very possible that your percentage could go down even though you cast a vote for Obama. You are looking at percentages, not vote totals.
Mike Dirkx
Operations Manager
AM 620 KPOJ
4949 SW Macadam Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97239

Momentum builds: An Iowa Republican's story of becoming an Obama supporter

Tom Hayes, working for change — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:18:42 EST

Diamond Ebs brought this to the attention of the Obama Rapid Responders email list. Read it, then send it to every Republican or fence-sitting Democrat you know. An Iowa Republican's description of her conversion, not just to being an Obama supporter, but being enthused about politics for the first time.

Many of Obama's rivals take similar positions on Iraq, health care, and bringing the country together, and other things. Why is he the one that grabbed your interest?
"I think other candidates polarize on issues. I don't think he does that. I have a lot of friends and family who are Republicans. Some of them are saying, ‘well I still have to vote Republican, but if we have a Democratic president, I sure hope it's Obama.' And I went, ‘ok, keep going with that thought...'"
So, this has appeared in several blogs already, but it's too good not to pass around a bit more. This is one encouraging interview, to say the least.

All fired up?

Michelle Obama!

Jennifer — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:19:01 EST
I attended a fundraiser yesterday featuring Michelle Obama. It was held at the Hilton downtown Minneapolis and they packed it! Michelle is a fabulous speaker and will make an amazing First Lady! She gave her typical stump speech but also added a little humor and a few other tidbits I hadn't heard before. I got to meet her afterword and she's taller than I expected! But VERY nice. Anyways, yesterday was also my birthday and it was a GREAT way to spend my birthday! If anyone gets a chance to see her speak - TAKE IT! She's amazing!

Barack Top Ten - 11-7-07 - Victory2008.net

Barack Daily Buzz - Victory2008.net — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:02:52 EST
Barack Top Ten - 11-7-07

(1) Obama Opens Campaign Swing in Iowa
Mike Glover - Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOFwdbq0tsqatW6vJpkDRTI1gMgD8SONPQG0

(2) Obama Unveils Middle Class Plan of Tax Cuts and Bankruptcy Reform
Des Moines Register
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071107/NEWS/71107003/1001/NEWS

(3) Obama Promises Judgment, Character and Impatience
Adam Belz - The Gazette - Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Eastern Iowa
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071107/NEWS/711070014/1011/IOWACAUCUS

(4) After the "JJ" Dinner Pitch to 9000 Iowan Activists, Obama will "Meet the Press" on Sunday
Lynn Sweet - Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/638110,CST-NWS-sweet07.article

(5) Obama Opposes Federal Mining Reform Bill
Scott Sonner - Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ioUhzAHHKp2H_5Uys87YBdfauzwAD8SOIK8O0

(6) Obama Stunned by Bill Clinton's Swift Boat Comparison
Mark Murray - NBC News - First Read
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/06/451346.aspx

(7) Obama and Clinton Oppose Emergency Rule in Pakistan
Khalid Hasan - Daily Times - New Voice for a New Pakistan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C11%5C07%5Cstory_7-11-2007_pg7_11

(8) Obama Talks of Life Without His Father in New South Carolina Radio Ad
Meg Kinnard - Associated Press
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071106/APP/711060831&template=apart

(8) Obama Hits Clinton on a Sacred Topic - Ethanol
John McCormick - Chicago Tribune - The Swamp
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/obama_hits_clinton_on_a_sacred.html

(10) Obama, Clinton and Edwards Support the Writers Guild of America
United Press International
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Entertainment/2007/11/06/clinton_obama_edwards_support_wga/9788/

Regaining respect for America

R from Minneapolis, MN — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:36:31 EST

There is a fascinating story in the New York Times magazine today that tells a lot about the choice we have right now with this country. (Link at bottom of post).   It's about the way Barack Obama views the world.   It says he sees the world in a broader way and can bridge some of the world's divides because he's lived in another country, has a grandmother living in a village in Africa, family members who like him have parents from different continents. That's why most leading Democratic foreign polity thinkers now support him. I felt the same way when I read about his view that we have gotten into these messes around the world because we ignore those we don't agree with, or don't understand. I love my country, and hate what has happened to our reputation as people who can help other countries....and that's one of the reasons why I'm for Barack.   Here's the link to the story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/magazine/04obama-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"...that bridge to the 21st century that Bill Clinton told us about. Its name is Obama."

Tom Hayes, working for change — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 21:28:09 EDT

A fascinating read from Andrew Sullivan on the current election cycle, and Obama's candidacy in particular, can be found online at The Atlantic.
A few excerpts:
...we are not talking about routine rancor. And we are not talking about normal times. We are talking about a world in which Islamist terror, combined with increasingly available destructive technology, has already murdered thousands of Americans, and tens of thousands of Muslims, and could pose an existential danger to the West. The terrible failures of the Iraq occupation, the resurgence of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, the progress of Iran toward nuclear capability, and the collapse of America’s prestige and moral reputation, especially among those millions of Muslims too young to have known any American president but Bush, heighten the stakes dramatically.
...Obama’s reach outside his own ranks remains striking. Why? It’s a good question: How has a black, urban liberal gained far stronger support among Republicans than the made-over moderate Clinton or the southern charmer Edwards? Perhaps because the Republicans and independents who are open to an Obama candidacy see his primary advantage in prosecuting the war on Islamist terrorism. It isn’t about his policies as such; it is about his person. They are prepared to set their own ideological preferences to one side in favor of what Obama offers America in a critical moment in our dealings with the rest of the world. The war today matters enormously. The war of the last generation? Not so much. If you are an American who yearns to finally get beyond the symbolic battles of the Boomer generation and face today’s actual problems, Obama may be your man.
...picking the next president will be in some ways a statement of America’s view of Iraq. Clinton is running as a centrist Democrat—voting for war, accepting the need for an occupation at least through her first term, while attempting to do triage as practically as possible. Obama is running as the clearer antiwar candidate. At the same time, Obama’s candidacy cannot fairly be cast as a McGovernite revival in tone or substance. He is not opposed to war as such. He is not opposed to the use of unilateral force, either—as demonstrated by his willingness to target al-Qaeda in Pakistan over the objections of the Pakistani government. He does not oppose the idea of democratization in the Muslim world as a general principle or the concept of nation building as such. He is not an isolationist, as his support for the campaign in Afghanistan proves.
To be black and white, to have belonged to a nonreligious home and a Christian church, to have attended a majority-Muslim school in Indonesia and a black church in urban Chicago, to be more than one thing and sometimes not fully anything—this is an increasingly common experience for Americans, including many racial minorities. Obama expresses such a conflicted but resilient identity before he even utters a word. And this complexity, with its internal tensions, contradictions, and moods, may increasingly be the main thing all Americans have in common.
Let's elect him to the Presidency.

Hill is not Bill...

vette58 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:06:04 EDT
I just ran across an interesting article by Joseph Leonardi, a conservative republican titled "How to Halt Hillary". It was a very interesting artcle comparing Hillary to Bill and thought the slogan Joseph came up with was clever, he states "Again, I advise all the participants in the democratic primary, if you want to rally the base and win the nomination, shout it loud and clear Hillary Clinton is no Bill Clinton. Make your slogan — A vote for Hil is not a vote for Bill".
To read the entire article go to http://joeleonardi.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/how-to-halt-hillary/#comment-1003
If you haven't viewed the MSNBC debate you can view it at http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=msnbc&tab=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18296908/&fg=&from=00&vid=74d330c5-a0a8-432b-84b7-c0d9843c823c&playlist=videoByTag:mk:us:vs:0:tag:Source_MSNBC:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A
Don't forget to vote for Senator Obama in the MSNBC Poll.

Come to Nevada and help us WIN the January 19th caucus for Obama!

vette58 — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:53:58 EDT

Campaign staff and grassroots groups in Nevada are working hard to win the Nevada Caucus for Senator Obama and could use help from our out of state supporters. If you're looking for the perfect excuse to visit Las Vegas, this is it!
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity... We're looking for out of state supporters to join us the week of January 13 - 19th and help walk our precincts, door knock, lit drop, and make phone calls to solidify Obama supporters for the Caucus on January 19th. If you're interested in being a part of winning this early state for Senator Obama, please join this very important group at http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/JoinGrassrootsVolunteersforNVCaucusRecru and provide your direct email address by sending an email to Nevadans4obama@gmail.com. More information will be forthcoming as we move closer to the date and work out the logistics of hotel discounts, etc.
On behalf of the thousands of Obama supporters in Nevada, thank you in advance for your support and consideration. We promise to make this event a memorable one.
Yvette Williams, Grassroots Group Administrator, Nevadans 4 Obama

Free trip to to Iowa on November 3!

Alexandra S. — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:38:56 EDT
Hi Minnesota,

Nationwide, on November 3, Obama activists will be going to Mason City and Sioux City, Iowa going door-to-door to canvass for Barack Obama. We will have vans coming out of every Congressional District in Minnesota. We are asking YOU to come with us. Check out Minnesota.BarackObama.com and look for the van leaving in your area!

Sincerely,

Alexandra R. Sova
Minnesota Field Team
ASova@BarackObama.com
612.741.7684
Minnesota.BarackObama.com

Not so fast, Earl.

Tom Hayes, working for change — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:33:13 EDT

In his column at the Huffington Post dated October 25, Earl O. Hutchinson dramatically asserts that:
"While Obama will publicly say and do the right thing in condemning homophobia through the front door, the temptation to cash in on it through the back door is evidently just too irresistible. It's crass, cynical, but it's politics baby pure and simple. And that's all the more reason to keep the heat on Obama to dump McClurkin."
Yet he goes on to say:
"When this writer called Obama out on his scheduled October 28 South Carolina gospel tour appearance with the Grammy winning, anti-gay morals crusader, Obama snapped back with a public statement hotly insisting that he's a staunch opponent of homophobia and that he vehemently disagreed with McClurkin's views."
It would be crass, calculating, even cunning politics if Barack Obama set the plan in motion with his solution already in mind. Ironically, the point made by Mr. Hutchinson better supports the contrary view that instead Barack Obama saw a rhetoric-laden situation with well-entrenched, passionate people casting aspersions across a sharp divide, then swiftly, creatively applied his diplomacy to craft a solution consistent with his vision of a United States of America.
Next time somebody asks if this Senator has enough experience (to insinuate to the contrary,) recall this thoughtful, timely solution to what many were calling a crisis. The scale is admittedly different, and so, too, in some ways are the stakes, from much of what our President deals with, yet the solution flows logically from the most able candidate for this office we have in the race. The outcome is wonderful, compelling evidence of the awareness, sensitivity, talent, and vision this man brings to his endeavors.
Barack H. Obama is going to make changes despite the naysayers; the only remaining question is which elected office he will be doing it from in 2008. The evidence continues to mount that the Senator deserves and would put to excellent use the platform of the White House.
Yes, you can see a strikingly similar response this morning at the Huffington Post. ;)

Can you get all fired up about a name?

Tom Hayes, working for change — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:30:47 EDT

Just a quick pointer to help you understand the meanings behind the name Barack Hussein Obama. Senator Obama handles questions about his name with the style and grace we all expect, but how do you react to the innuendos tied to "Hussein" when you hear them? It's a quick, informative read, and the author deserves kudos for his research. Familiarity and understanding work in our favor.
As long as I've got your attention: have you seen the latest additions to the Obama store? Check out the new offerings, show your support! The seasons are changing and it's time to update your wardrobe.

Vote here!!!

Katie in St. Paul — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:53:33 EDT

Please record your support for Barack at this website:

http://democracyforamerica.com/pulsepoll

Apparently, there is a lot of support for other candidates at this website and it would be good if they could be surprised by Obama supporters!!
Thank you!

Obama Reaching out to the Black vote

Jennifer — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:52:50 EDT

I saw part of Obama's interview on the Tavis Smiley show the other day and I thought it was amazing. I liked the fact that he recognized some of the reasons why he is not garnering the majority of the black vote, what I didn't hear him talk about was ways he could better do that. This article I think has some great suggestions - hopefully the campaign is listening! Does anyone else have any ideas on what needs to be done. I think the fact that people fear for his life or that they don't think "white folks will vote for him" are both obviously real concerns that need to be addressed, so I'm glad he's talking about them.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/18/roland.martin/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Obama is 3rd in DFA poll... We need your vote to move him to 1st place!

vette58 — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:44:51 EDT

Hey Friends,
I wanted to drop you a short note to ask for your help. DFA is holding a Presidential Primary Pulse Poll to decide which candidate deserves their support. I voted for Senator Barack Obama and I need help to move them from 3rd place in the poll.
Could you take just a minute to vote for Barack Obama right now? Here's the link:
http://DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteObama
Thanks for your help.

Urgent Message! Senator Obama needs our help blocking Hans von Spakovsky appointment to the FEC.

vette58 — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:01:58 EDT
Senators Barack Obama and Russ Feingold blocked Hans von Spakovsky deal. Please contact your Senators to help them.Hans von Spakovsky has made a career out of suppressing Black votes.

Now the Senate is about to confirm him for a six-year post to enforce election law.
Please tell your senators to vote NO on Hans von Spakovsky's confirmation:

For far too long, the Republican party has suppressed the votes of Black folks and other minorities, while the Democratic party has stood by and done nothing. Now, President Bush and his allies in the Senate want to give Hans von Spakovsky -- the architect of some of the worst voter-suppression schemes in the last decade -- a six-year appointment to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) . It's a slap in the face to Black voters and anyone who cares about democracy.
Please contact your senators and tell them to reject von Spakovsky's nomination.
Republicans have been fighting for months to get von Spakovsky confirmed, and, last week, Democrats in the Senate caved. They made a deal with the Republicans that would allow von Spakovsky's confirmation to be voted on as a part of a "package" with three other nominees, essentially guaranting his appointment. Thankfully, Senators Barack Obama and Russ Feingold stepped up and blocked it. 1,2 Now they need our support to convince their colleagues to do the right thing and take a stand against voter suppression.
Given von Spakovsky's history, it's sad they need any convincing at all.
A long history of undermining our vote
During his first term, Bush installed von Spakovsky in the Justice Department's (DOJ) voting rights section, which enforces the Voting Rights Act. There, von Spakovsky undermined the DOJ's historic mission of protecting minority voting rights and actually transformed the department into a tool to suppress the vote. Here are just a few examples:
When long-term, career attorneys at the Justice Department unanimously recommended rejecting Tom Delay's infamous Texas redistricting plan because it discriminated against minority voters, von Spakovsky led the charge to overrule these voting rights experts, and approved the plan. 3 The Supreme Court later ruled that the plan violated the Voting Rights Act.
Similarly, when career attorneys recommended rejecting a discriminatory Georgia voter ID law -- a law that even the Republican Governor said would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Georgians -- von Spakovsky overruled them to approve the law. 4 Again, the law was later struck down by the courts, with the ruling judge likening it to a Jim Crow-era poll tax.5
This summer, seven of von Spakovsky's former colleagues at the DOJ said that he blocked career attorneys from filing at least three lawsuits against local governments that had violated the voting rights of Black people and other minorities, and that he derailed at least two DOJ investigations into discriminatory election laws. 6
Von Spakovsky's career in suppression didn't start at the DOJ. In 1997, he set the stage for Florida's 2000 voter purge when he wrote an article that called for purging felons from voter rolls. Serving on the board of the "Voter Integrity Project" (VIP) he quickly put his ideas into action -- VIP met with the company that designed Florida's purge to disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters, most of whom were Black. 7,8 During the recount, von Spakovsky was in Florida as a volunteer for the Bush/Cheney campaign.
A key part of what has allowed von Spakovsky to push his suppression agenda is the myth that "voter fraud" -- individuals voting illegally, or voting twice -- is a real problem. Republican politicians invoke these concerns to justify stronger restrictions on voting and voter registration (like voter ID laws), as well as voter roll purges. But the problem simply doesn't exist. When the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) researched voter fraud, they found that it wasn't a problem. 9 But before the EAC went public with its report, von Spakovsky pressured them to change it.10 The final report said that there was "a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of [voter] fraud." 11
Does the Senate support voter suppression?
As shocking as these examples are, they only scratch the surface. Hans von Spakovsky has built a career solidifying Republican control by disenfranchising untold thousands and subverting our most fundamental democratic right.
Bush gave von Spakovsky a recess appointment to the FEC in 2005 (which doesn't require Senate confirmation). Now he has nominated him for a six-year term. It's been clear since von Spakovsky's arrival at the FEC that he is playing the same role he did at the DOJ -- scoffing at the spirit of campaign finance laws, thumbing his nose at the law as he seeks to help create routes of circumvention." 12
Republicans want von Spakovsky on the FEC so much that they threatened to block all FEC nominees unless the Democrats let von Spakovsky through.13 But last week, instead of fighting back, the Democratic leadership agreed to give the Republicans what they wanted -- a vote on all four FEC nominees as a package, which would have guaranteed von Spakovsky's appointment. By blocking that vote, Senators Obama and Feingold went against the leadership and thwarted its compromise with Republicans. 14 That gave us the fighting chance we need to defeat his nomination.
It's hard to know exactly why Senate Democrats have come so close to letting von Spakovsky through. Some say it's because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is afraid that if he blocks von Spakovsky, Republicans will retaliate by blocking another FEC nominee who's a friend of Reid's. 15 Some senators may just not care enough about protecting voting rights to make a real effort. Whatever the reason, it's part of a pattern that has existed for far too long -- Republicans trashing our right to vote and Democrats looking the other way.
A vote for von Spakovsky is a vote for voter suppression. Anything less than the strongest condemnation of his nomination sends the message that the Senate will turn a blind eye to Republican attacks on our voting rights. Let's demand that our senators send the opposite message -- that they will fight tooth and nail to defend the right to vote, and that their rejection of von Spakovsky's nomination is only the beginning of a much needed reckoning for his assault on voting rights over the last six and a half years.
References:
1. "Obama, Others Nix Deal on Voter Fraud Guru," TPMMuckraker, October 4, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004381.php
2. "Obama, Feingold: We Oppose von Spakovsky Nomination," October 4, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004389.php
3. "So exactly where were you, Hans von Spakovsky, on the nights in question?," Campaign Legal Center Blog, Feb. 20, 2007
http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-109.html
4. Ibid

5. "Efforts to stop 'voter fraud' may have curbed legitimate voting," McClatchy Newspapers, May 20, 2007
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/greg_gordon/story/16347.html
6. "Justice official accused of blocking suits into alleged violations of minorities' voting rights," McClatchy Newspapers, Jun. 18, 2007
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/reports/usattorneys/story/17102.html
7. "Poll position: Is the Justice Department poised to stop voter fraud-or to keep voters from voting?" New Yorker, September 20, 2004
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/09/20/040920fa_fact
8. Video: "American Blackout: Cynthia McKinney Confronts Choicepoint"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPOmOTyDm1w
9. "The EAC's Buried Report on 'Voter Fraud'," Brad Blog, Oct. 13, 2006
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3611
10. See reference 5
11. "Panel Said to Alter Finding on Voter Fraud," New York Times, April 11, 2007
http://www.ceimn.org/news/panel_said_alter_finding_voter_fraud
12. See reference 3
13. "Senate panel advances controversial FEC appointee," The Hill, September 27, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2stwz4
14. See references 1 and 2.
15. "Back-Scratching Across the Aisle," New York Times, October 3, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2xgs3x
Additional sources:
"Hans Across America," Digby's Hullabaloo, April 9, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/368jbt

"Keep Yer Vote Thievin' Hans Off the Federal Election Commission: Action Alert!" DailyKos, May 29, 2007
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/29/11751/0476

Hip-hop for Obama Fundraiser

Jennifer — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:24:41 EDT

I just wanted to thank those who have already signed up to come out and support Obama at my Novemeber 29th fundraiser. For those who haven't, please do so!!! This is going to be an amazing event! I went from worrying about whether I would get enough good talent willing to perform, to having to turn people down because we already have more than enough performers!!! So, I'm thinking we just may have to do another concert fundraiser this Spring for all those people who didn't get to lend their talents this time. And maybe next time more Obama supporters will lend their financial support (HINT, HINT) and we can have an even bigger and better one at a bigger venue!
Anyways, please find details and sign up in my events under Hip-hop for Obama fundraiser! Its inexpensive and will be more than worth it!!!   Also, I need just two or three people who can help out at the event helping people sign contribution forms and maybe even signing up to be volunteers - so let me know ahead of time if you'd be interested in doing so! And for those few people who said they'd be interested in chipping in financially during the planning stages, please let me know if you still can - because I'm BROKE! lol

Barack Top Ten - 10-19-07 - Victory2008.net

Barack Daily Buzz - Victory2008.net — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:21:26 EDT
#1 Would be "Students for Barack Obama" at Claflin University in South Carolina Coerced to Attend
Hillary Press Conference as "Part of Class" - FITSNews Exclusive
Students at Claflin University, a historically black college in Orangeburg, S.C., are accusing the school’s administration of prohibiting them from forming a “Students for Barack Obama” chapter, yet simultaneously compelling them to attend a press conference supporting for his rival Clinton.
http://fitsnews.com/2007/10/18/

#2 Obama Wins Missouri/Kansas Service Employees International Union Endorsements
John McCormick - Chicago Tribune - The Swamp
When it comes to endorsements outside of Iowa from the powerful SEIU, Obama's presidential campaign started in the east with endorsements from the Illinois and Indiana councils. Now it has covered Iowa's southern flank with the backing of the Missouri / Kansas State Council of the SEIU.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/by_john_mccormick_when_it.html

#3 Obama Touts Foreign Policy Record
Associated Press
Obama said his foreign policy record leaves him immune to Republican attacks likely to be lodged in a general election campaign. "My Republican opponent won't be able to say that we both supported the war in Iraq, because
I didn't," Obama told a crowd packed into a high school gym.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOFwdbq0tsqatW6vJpkDRTI1gMgD8SC49A80

#4 Obama Hires a Rapid Responder
Marc Ambinder - TheAtlantic.com
Obama's campaign has hired veteran Democratic strategist John Del Cecato to handle a newly created rapid response portfolio. Senior aide Dan Pfeiffer says that Del Cecato will work with press secretary Bill Burton and research director Devorah Adler to "help push back on attacks from the media and our friends in rival campaigns."
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/obama_hires_a_rapid_responder.php

#5 Obama's Black Wakeup Call
Roland S. Martin - CNN News
If the advisers around Obama want to continue to delude themselves into thinking they have lots of time for black voters to get around to figuring out their candidate's record on issues they care about, then the latest CNN poll surely must be the kind of slap in the face to bring them back to reality.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/18/roland.martin/

#6 Obama and Clinton Split Democratic Votes
Kenny Flowers - The A&T Register - North Carolina A&T State University
Obama and Clinton represent minorities in the race for the White House. Kevin Knight, a sophomore at A&T, believes it time for a black president. "Barack Obama. I like his views and agree with them and I think that a black president will do our country good. It"s time for a change."
http://media.www.ncatregister.com/media/storage/paper277/news/2007/10/17/Nationworld/Clinton.And.Obama.Split.Democratic.Votes-3039287.shtml

#7 Obama's Appeal
Matthew Rothschild - The Progressive
I saw Barack Obama speak in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 15 to a paying crowd of about 2,500. And the amazing thing is that about 1,500 of the people there were students who forked over $15 just to get in. Unlike
the other candidate in the race, Obama electrifies young people and his audiences are diverse.
http://www.progressive.org/mag_wx101707

#8 Obama Edges Clinton in 3rd Quarter Entertainment Industry Fundraising
Ted Johnson - Variety Business
Center for Responsive Politics reports Obama raised $580,000 from July 1-Sept. 30 from sources in the film,
TV and music industries. Clinton raised $530,589, followed by John Edwards with $96,052.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117974298.html?categoryid=18&cs=1

#9 Obama Works with Ethnic Social Sites to Remove Bad Ad Potential
Kate Kaye - The ClickZ Network
Obama would probably rather not have ads promoting "Asian Girl Photos" on his AsianAve.com profile. That's one reason his campaign worked directly with the Asian social network site's publisher to ensure a potential reputation damaging situation like that doesn't occur.
http://www.clickz.com/3627352

#10 Internet Smears Target Obama
Tim Harper - Toronto Star
She was a Republican backing Mitt Romney, but her frustration that late summer day in Iowa was spawned by
that "Muslim" running for the Democrats, Barack Obama.
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/268433

Northfield, 20 October

Tom Hayes, working for change — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:08:48 EDT

Another opportunity to get out in Northfield. meet people, show your support for Obama, and raise visibility in the community is coming this Saturday, October 20th. You can view the details and/or sign up via this link, but the short story is meet at Buntrock Commons on the campus of St. Olaf at 10 a.m. wearing comfortable shoes and a big smile.
We work from lists the campaign provides to target likely Obama supporters, so you're not walking up to the door without knowing who you'll be talking to. IWe're NOT out begginb for contributions, we're talking and leaving literature. It's fun, it's simple, and in 2-4 hours you make a huge difference identifying other folks who want to volunteer or participate.
If you'd like a chance to learn more, there's also an information session on Thursday night at 7 in Sayles-Hill on the Carleton campus that will talk about caucuses and canvassing, providing you a chance to ask questions and get a feel for what's up. See you there!

Senator Obama to Appear on Tonight Show Wed., Oct 17th

vette58 — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 03:01:02 EDT
Senator Barack Obama will be on NBC's Tonight Show on Wednesday, October 17th. Check your local time. Here in Las Vegas that would be Channel 3 at 11:35 p.m.
Enjoy!

Hope without boundaries

Tom Hayes, working for change — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:23:53 EDT

In reading another blog, I was struck by the simple observation:
When Barack Obama speaks to a crowd he lifts them with his voice. He gives measure to the worries of a nation divided and provides us all with optimism and hope.
He is the embodiment of the american dream. For too long we have had to choose between mediocure [sic] candidates who cared more about political gain than the people they were supposed to be working for. Obama is different. He is diverse, his roots extend to the heart of America and they provide a tool for mending the fabric of our great nation.
I agree that Barack Obama's background provides him the means to mend the fabric. I like the metaphor; in reply I chose to extend it.

Senator Obama has experience with mending. He has been drawn, by his work within his community, to embrace Christianity despite what one might call a secular background. Barack Obama values the role of Christian teachings, and ethics, but has the wisdom to see it as a part of unifying people of diverse faiths and understandings rather than accepting the way the debate about religion in the context of U.S. governmental policy can be (and has been) used to rend apart our society. He recognizes that "reconciliation between faith and democratic pluralism requires some sense of proportion."

From the "Call to Renewal" Keynote address on June 28, 2006:
"Even those who claim the Bible's inerrancy make distinctions between Scriptural edicts, sensing that some passages - the Ten Commandments, say, or a belief in Christ's divinity - are central to Christian faith, while others are more culturally specific and may be modified to accommodate modern life.

The American people intuitively understand this, which is why the majority of Catholics practice birth control and some of those opposed to gay marriage nevertheless are opposed to a Constitutional amendment to ban it. Religious leadership need not accept such wisdom in counseling their flocks, but they should recognize this wisdom in their politics."

Beyond merely the means, I believe Barack Obama brings the talent, humility, experience, and dedication to the country that we have all been waiting and hoping for. The undertaking is nothing less than the preservation and enhancement of the fabric of our future - in this country and on this planet. The wise first-term Senator from Illinois is ready and able to unify all the willing into a strong, durable force for good, a community of hope without boundaries.

Finally! - Originally Posted to the Obama4America Group

Matthea Little Smith — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:42:07 EDT

Originally posted to the Obamaa4America Group by Sheldon Motley
Finally we have a candidate for the office of the President of the United States who understands that we are all part of one human family. Clearly, Barack Obama sees that we are all in this together. Quoting Barack Obama, "Part of what we've lost is a sense of empathy towards each other." We have lost a sense that we must stand in others' shoes, that we must see through their eyes.

Wonderful Blog from Virginia Velez in California

Matthea Little Smith — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:26:46 EDT
From: VCubed <boricuavv@gmail.com>
Date: Oct 13, 2007 2:44 PM
Subject: Obama's so-called "Sista Souljah tack"
To: hprzybyla@bloomberg.net, jgoldman6@bloomberg.net

Nice article on Obama's candidness in 10/12/07 Bloomberg, except for the title "Obama Takes `Sister Souljah' Tack to Gain Ground on Clinton". Yes, Obama will not pander to his audience and tell us what we want to hear, but it's not a new tactic to take on Clinton; it's his standard. Unlike Hillary Clinton, he won't dance around an issue; he'll tell you why he took a particular stand and agree to disagree if you don't like it. Obama especially won't leave out key parts of his policies when facing the very audience that might take issue with it: fuel efficiency standards with the auto industry, merit pay based on teachers' own performance standards to the NEA - the most powerful teachers' union in the U.S. These are things he's been doing since he started campaigning; why call it a new "tack" and make it all about Clinton?

Walk for Change: Northfield

Tom Hayes, working for change — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:18:00 EDT

In addition to a blitz that included every dorm on the Carleton College campus, we canvassed Northfield today dropping literature and meeting neighbors while recruiting new volunteers and generally making noise and being visible. While nearly half the homes we visited were empty at the time, the feedback from those we met was overwhelmingly encouraging. Slightly under 1% indicated a strong preference for another candidate, with another 4% leaning away from supporting Obama's candidacy. While nearly 3 times as many identified themselves as "undecided" compared to already being comfortable being in the "Pro-Obama" camp, we came away upbeat and optimistic based on the people we talked to.
It was a perfect day for getting out and about, mild and sunny. The most frequently identified issue was our involvement in Iraq (no surprise.) The only "negative" was echoed several times, that being that it seemed too early - which I attribute to people thinking the election is over a year off without focusing on how soon the caucuses are looming even when we mentioned it.
I think that's great - people assumed we're out campaigning not for the nomination, but for the presidential election! Let's prove them right!
From what I've heard the other walk events sound even more successful. All fired up?

I am on the Obama for President Staff!!!

Matthea Little Smith — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:39:35 EDT

Hey! I was officially offered a job as a field organizer last night! I will start on Wednesday! It is wonderful to work with an organization that you feel passionate about!
It will be an exciting 13 months!!
Obama WILL BE our next PRESIDENT!!!

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Sen. Barack Obama

Matthea Little Smith — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:19:48 EDT

Taken From Todd Smyth's Goggle Pages
. Barack Obama has personal experience with poverty and the growing income gap, having grown up abroad in Indonesia and working as a community organizer in the south side of Chicago.

Great Day Phoning for "Turn the Page in Iraq" Door Knocking

Matthea Little Smith — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:15:48 EDT

I spent 5 hours calling folks for the October 13th " Turn the Page in Iraq" Door Knocking Event for the Obama in Minnesota Campaign. It was EXCITING!
It was great to call supporters and talk to them not only about the event, but to hear from them how things are going in their part of Minnesota.
If you haven't done phone calling yet, I encourage you to do some in your spare time. You can call from home using your My.BarackObama.com page. Call your local organizer to get information. It is a great way to connect with people around the stay and keep up with the campaign.

It just takes a little bit...

David — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:07:24 EDT

I'm thinking about Barack's words on the video that is currently up on the website Canvass for Change page...It just takes a little bit of effort by all of us and we're not just going to win an election, we're going to transform our nation. Now that's a big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG) that I can get excited about.
But it won't just happen by itself. We have to make it happen. With just a little bit of time and effort (and money for those who can) from all of us...we can make sure that Barack wins Iowa, MN, (insert your state here:), the nomination and the presidency. What an honor to be involved in such an historic undertaking! I'm going to be telling my grandchildren about this someday.
Don't know where to start? How about getting involved in a Canvass for Change this Saturday, October 13th. You can find them from the homepage of www.barackobama.com. They are happening all over the country. And if there isn't one near you, then you can just organize an event in your area. It's really easy. And there are people willing to help get you started. It just takes a little bit...

Next time you're depressed about the polls, read this. -- Originally Posted by AO

Matthea Little Smith — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:43:45 EDT
Next time you're depressed about the polls, read this. By AO - Oct 9th, 2007 at 1:13 pm EDT Truly inspirational account of a packed house revival-like Obama event: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-hansen/barack-obama-rallies-rock_b_67480.html I loved the article! Matthea

Armchair amateur speaking out against the use of divisive campaign tactics.

Tom Hayes, working for change — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:32:33 EDT

This is largely a re-posting based on my comments on the Obama HQ blog earlier today under the heading of the outreaches being conducted on various social networking sites.
I am weary of attack politics. I believe Barack Obama's vision, character, and eloquence make it possible for him to run with dignity and "presidential bearing" largely on his own positive attributes without spending inordinate amounts of time reminding the voters of his opponents. I'm all for differentiating the front-runners, but I assert we have two major re-unifications to accomplish en route to a successful Presidency. We must keep two turning points in mind:
First, after the nominating convention it must be reasonable for supporters of other candidates to get behind the Obama candidacy. Second, after the election we need open-minded Republicans who didn't vote for Obama to find a path to support a President from the "other" party. In both cases, individuals need a way to re-align their commitment while preserving their values, sense of honor, and personal integrity.
I'm inclined, accordingly, to favor approaches which leave fewer wounds to heal down the road; I think these positive outreach efforts on social websites are excellent, for instance, despite the somewhat skewed demographic slice(s) they likely reach.
I trust that strategists are considering many approaches. I know I'm not a campaign expert, but I am representative of some segment of the population. I don't want to see Senator Obama or his partisans descend (even on the advice of advisers) to muck-raking and name-calling. Simply put: if Clinton or Edwards supporters lose face by changing their allegiance after the convention we risk disenfranchising them during the rest of the campaign.
Hardened, divisive, adversarial positions do not serve the campaign any better than they do the country - or, for that matter, the world.

1000 Supporters - $5 Each = $5,000 for Barack

Matthea Little Smith — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:22:44 EDT

FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR CAMPAIGN FOR BARACK OBAMA
I believe that we can get 1,000 to donate $5.00 for Sen. Obama. Please go to my link: http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/Matthea and donate $5.00. I believe want to make a huge statement with the $5.00 donations. You can of course donate more, but the more $5.00 donations we have shows the strength of Sen. Obama's campaign!
We will all go going to Washington celebrating the inaugaration of Barack Obama January, 2009!!!

Precinct Caucus Trainings in Minneapolis, MN - Volunteers and locations Needed!

Matthea Little Smith — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:30:12 EDT

I am going to begin to organize Precinct Caucus Trainings in Minneapolis, MN in November. I would like to do these trainings at colleges and at City Park Buildings. The plan will give people a visual overview, some notes, and then we will have a mock precinct caucus. I'd like to have food at the event, because this training will be about 3 or 4 hours because of the mock caucus.
I am looking for volunteers to help with these trainings. What volunteers will need to do is help with organizing the food, help getting the word out in the different locations, help with the actual training. I will do a training for the volunteers the last week of October. It'll be fun!
Please reply to this Blog if you would like to be a part of the trainings.
Take good care!

The Obama Training at St Paul Central

Matthea Little Smith — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:30:38 EDT

The training at St. Paul Central on Saturday was wonderful!!! It is evident that Senator Obama's campaign is well organized. I have never been to a presidental campaign event this early on, for one, and two, one that the staff knew what they were doing and were very respectful of the people attending.
What was really nice to see that staff people were respectful of each other. You don't see that much in presidential campaigns. The training was evident that Sen. Obama is about change, true change! I am excited to be a part of this history making movement!

Thank you, General Colin Powell.

Tom Hayes, working for change — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 11:51:08 EDT

Thank you, President George W. Bush, for elevating General Powell to such prominence in your administration. I neither know, nor care, what process and/or which advisers suggested his suitability for the role you entrusted to him. Perhaps the first thanks should even go back to Ronald Reagan, who tapped Powell for a stint as National Security Advisor.
Regardless, as speculation swirled in the run-up to the nominating conventions four years ago, the mere presence of Powell's name on the lists of possible contenders confirmed that this country's voters were, in fact, ready to seriously consider electing a President without reference to his skin color. I don't know that Powell would have been elected, let alone how his presidency would have played out. I respect the reasons he's cited for not venturing into the political arena.
To state the obvious, there will always be those who discount another's relevance, value, or suitability based on gender or skin pigmentation. For the foreseeable future we will have to remain vigilant, as Francis Holland does eloquently, and call out those who appeal to the electorate based on such deliberately divisive distinctions.
Should Senator Clinton get votes because she is female? Of course not.
Should Senator Obama get votes because he has darker skin than some, or lighter than others? Surely not.
Yet we have an election before us where we can see that the electorate is ready to accept and embrace one of these two Senators, either of which would represent the unprecedented shifting of the expressed will of the voters in this country away from "business as usual." And while it is the Democratic party which has advanced these two serious contenders for its nomination, I think the credibility of Senator Obama's run for the nomination stems in part from the serious consideration the country as a whole gave four years ago to a potential Powell presidency.
The Democratic electorate has seen the importance of selecting an electable candidate. Ironically at last the country is ready to elect a President without narrowing the choices based on anything but a candidate's intelligence, integrity, and vision. The voters are ready to unite behind a President based on hope, not the subtly divisive messages of fear that have characterized many political campaigns.
I rather doubt Barack Obama and his family and advisers gave much thought to skin color, which has played such an unfortunate role in the history of this melting pot nation. The chance that Powell might be a candidate had shined just enough light on the superstitious nature of skin-color-based marginalization that we now have this diverse field of candidates that most voters now see as viable in the run-up to the 2008 elections.
So thank you, Colin L. Powell, for simply being the person you are, for your decades of public service, for broadening awareness four years ago in such a way that your skin color wasn't relevant, even without your running for office. I think you're one of the pivotal individuals that makes it possible for us to elect Barack Obama as the next President of the United States of America, not because he's one or another color, but because he's a person of integrity and wisdom.

This is about knowing right from wrong, and acting on it.

Tom Hayes, working for change — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:22:48 EDT

If the standard we want to hold the world to is to avoid using "cruel," inhuman, and/or degrading treatment of prisoners, then we need a president who will not split hairs by choosing to define torture in such a way that it will not include head slaps, extreme temperatures, and/or waterboarding (intended to induce a real fear of imminent drownings.)
It's that simple. We need to restore integrity in the White House, and credibility to the statements our President makes to us and to the world. We cannot abide the circumstances, the outrageous policies, or the beliefs which have given us a "do as I say, not as I do" posture on the world stage. Business "as usual" cannot go on. We cannot change the past, but we can unite to reclaim the future.
This is not about political party affiliation; this is about right and wrong. We need Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States of America.

The Turning Point

Tom Hayes, working for change — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:17:26 EDT

The October 11 Issue of The New York Review of Books is out, and features excerpts from the journals of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., from 1966-1967. As somebody who was just coming to embryonic political awareness then I found the insider perspective compelling even without the obvious resonance with current events. Perhaps most fascinating was Schlesinger's assessment of RFK, which seems totally consonant with my perspective on Barack Obama.
No matter if you're a boomer who remembers the way the war escalated under LBJ or not, I urge you to get a copy of this issue and read those three pages.
"...determined to be the best senator he can and do what he thinks is right..."

Branstiter to Speak at Macalester Rally

Dan Hannaher — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:57:20 EDT

I encourage any of you in the area of the Twin Cities to try and take in tonight's rally on the campus of Macalester College commemorating Barack Obama's original anti-Iraq War message.
FargObama's own Allan Branstiter will be speaking at the event. Allan is an Iraq War veteran and currently a Fargo resident attending Minnesota State University Moorhead. He has shared his message with me, and hopefully he'll allow me to post it after tonight's rally. He delivers a clear and distinct message - that Barack Obama is the candidate who can and will end this war. With a personal message of patriotism and commitment to truth Allan's address makes me proud. Go see him!

"Refusing to talk with our enemies doesn't make the United States look tough, it makes us look arrogant."

Tom Hayes, working for change — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 12:42:27 EDT

At the Washington Square rally Senator Obama again asserted the US Government should "talk to our enemies," which many opponents, including Senator Clinton, have criticized.
"Refusing to talk with our enemies doesn't make the United States look tough, it makes us look arrogant."
Diplomacy has not been exhausted, though it may have been underappreciated lately. As I said in a post on September 25th, the cycle of escalation must be reversed. If we elect Barack Obama as the next President of the USA we will have a visionary at the helm who seeks unity, and it is in unity that we find strength, security, and peace.
Who will open doors wide enough to get not just his fellow democrats, but the two major parties in this country moving toward genuinie bipartisan progress? Barack Obama will.
Who can talk straightforwardly about hard choices, not hide behind staged, scripted answers? Who can tell you if he'd root for the Cubs or the Yankees? Barack Obama can.
Barack Obama will.

Get a "doubter" to watch for the Dartmouth debate for integrity, ideals, and initiatives instead of staged talking points.

Tom Hayes, working for change — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:02:49 EDT

It's no wonder President Bush suggests Mrs. Clinton will get the nomination - he's projecting his desires. The members of the old guard evidently fear Barack Obama's optimistic integrity almost as much his power to energize progressive-minded voters who have wearied of the divisive messages that lately permeate the national dialog.
The entrenched in any organization always resist change; it is the natural dynamic. Fortunately for us as Barack Obama supporters, staying the course is neither viable nor the desire of the electorate, and our candidate articulates the need for a new vision guiding our strategic decisions eloquently.
Obama's intangible momentum is increasing. His vision represents hope to younger voters who are energized by his hopeful message of unity. His goals for the country resonate with formerly jaded veteran voters who see through the "staged talking point" style that other politicians are coached. Voters are increasingly enthusiastic about the integrity, ideals, and initiatives presented by Senator Obama.
While no proposal in any politician's platform will likely survive the Washington process "as-is," by providing a lofty initial target Barack Obama can and will lead the country to greatness as President.

Only by knowing one's enemies can they be turned into something else.

Tom Hayes, working for change — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:48:07 EDT

Nixon faced Mao, and the world changed. Reagan softened the rhetoric and built a bridge to Gorbachev. LBJ got caught up in proving to the world and Ho Chi Minh who was more powerful, and the quagmire of the conflict in Viet Nam dragged on as our military involvement escalated.
As the graduate of Columbia most in the spotlight presently, Senator Obama has issued the statement below on the heels of Ahmadinejad's visit to his alma mater.
"I would not have extended an invitation to give President Ahmadinejad another platform for his hateful rhetoric. Adolph Hitler was the worst mass murderer in the history of the world, and Ahmadinejad's denial of his crimes is offensive to Jews, to Americans, and to all people of goodwill. But this is America, and we should never be afraid to confront the ranting lies of dictators like Ahmadinejad with the power of truth and the strength of our own values. What Ahmadinejad will learn while he's here is that America is united in rejection of his hateful views, and in opposition to the Iranian government's support of terrorism and pursuit of nuclear weapons."
We have nothing to fear from letting Ahmadinejad speak in the USA. His philosophies and views are not made somehow stronger by having a platform at one of our institutions, even without the confrontational introduction he was treated to, nor will it draw new supporters to him. No, quite the opposite, his visit to Columbia focuses attention on the need for alternatives, the need to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East.
Barack Obama is willing to meet, and hold meaningful discussions, with those who do not see issues in the same light. The need for strong defense is a given, but the fundamental reason remains that we are all served best by peace - peace, which history suggests is built via diplomacy, which starts by talking.
One candidate is clearly brave enough and committed to leading us toward increased understanding, toward unity rather than increasing isolation and conflict. Bring one new supporter to this campaign (and website) by the end of this week.
The cycle of escalation must be reversed. We need Barack Obama in the White House.

Integrity and a poker face

Tom Hayes, working for change — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:22:50 EDT

A long-time acquaintance inquired in email last night why I'd support Senator Obama's candidacy. I found a timely AP Story that correlates with my perspective as I surveyed the news this morning. What follows is essentially the response I sent. It doesn't tell the whole Obama story, but it packages an illustrative anecdote.
According to a provocatively titled article by Christopher Wills, a writer for the Associated Press:

As a presidential candidate, Obama doesn't accept political contributions from lobbyists or political action committees. But as a legislator, he took thousands of dollars from the groups represented by some of his poker buddies. AT&T in its various incarnations, for example, gave more than $13,000 over the years.
Still, Obama routinely voted against the communications giant's interests. He opposed SBC Communications Inc. — as AT&T was then called — on a major initiative in 2003 that would have increased costs for the company's competitors.
Poker night also included a lobbyist for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, and the game eventually was moved to the association's office. Obama often voted to raise taxes and fees for businesses.
Players say the poker game affected legislation only by building relationships, and lobbyists might get a more respectful hearing for their arguments.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_po/obama_poker
Between that and the rest of what's written I see confirmation of the union of integrity and well-grounded principles I want in our President - a man who listens, who builds necessary bridges to allow persons representing disparate positions and goals to cross the divide separating them.
Barack Obama's not going say, "I didn't inhale." He's not going to adopt the protective coloration of a regular ol' Texan despite being born in Connecticut, attending Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, a degree from Yale, and so on. Obama's human, and he personifies the best of what that means.
Did I persuade my associate of my wisdom supporting Senator Obama's candidacy? I don't know yet.
Some will claim to be scandalized by 'gambling' revelations even on this petty scale; I'm reassured and encouraged, frankly. I'm glad that the man I want elected as our next President is human, thoughtful, creative, down to earth, and able to meet unfluential, persuasive lobbyists without losing his integrity or losing sight of his goals.

Fiscal responsibility

Tom Hayes, working for change — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:48:30 EDT

Even without the moral basis for wanting to draw a speedy conclusion to the misbegotten war in Iraq, the cost in sheer dollars is a drain on the economy of the United States. Between the expenses of transporting and maintaining the troops half-way around the globe, the countless no-bid contracts rife with accounting irregularities, and the increased security requirements for our diplomats that line the pockets of questionable organizations such as Blackwater, the taxpayers hard-earned cash is profligately squandered at astonishing rates.
Joe Bodell, in a September 23rd article about the political landscape in Minnesota, (published via the Huffington Post,) concludes with this insight:
"Fiscal conservative" and "Fiscally responsible" are two entirely different and, in recent history, contradictory concepts.
Senator Obama has consistently tried to extricate us from the unconscionable expense associated with the ill-conceived, ill-begun, poorly prosecuted War in Iraq. We need to recast "politics as usual" in such a way that the financial and ethical priorities of the U.S. Government resonate transparently with the desires of this great people, not the greed of those few positioned to profit from global conflict.
We need a change, a courageous new visionary to unify us in harmony, not isolate us via wars. The spin for eight years has been "compassionate conservatism," but the reality: divisive fear-mongering and hidden agendas that were anything but compassionate.
Mission Accomplished? The urgent mission now is to resist the spin, to restore the greatness of the United States of America, the pride of our diverse citizenry, and our credibility abroad.
We need to elect Senator Barack Obama as our next President.

Barack Top Ten - 9-22-07 - Victory2008.net

Barack Daily Buzz - Victory2008.net — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:33:42 EDT
1) Obama Condemns Jena Charges during Iowa State University Speech
9-22-07
Lisa Rossi - Des Moines Register
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/NEWS09/709220328/-1/NEWS04

2) Obama and Edwards Step Up Criticism of Clinton
9-22-07
Beth Fouhy - Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPDo-NMvpVY4UgXpm2c296R0i3Jw

3) Obama Leads Both Giuliani and Thompson in Recent Poll
9-22-07
Rasmussen Reports
http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20070921/pl_rasmussen/obamamatchup20070921_1

4) Obama's Mother Featured in New TV Ad Airing in Iowa
9-22-07
John McCormick - Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obama_adsep21,0,7546153.story?coll=chi-news-col

5) JFK Advisor, Counsel and Speechwriter Ted Sorensen Backs Obama
9-22-07
Jennifer Feals - Seacoast Online
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070921/NEWS/709210402/-1/NEWS11&sfad=1

6) Students Like Obama in Iowa But Will They Caucus?
9-22-07
Dan Gearino - Sioux City Journal
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/09/22/news/iowa/3d06824cc7f1e10c8625735e000ce490.txt

7) Obama Wants to Expand Senior Volunteer Programs
9-22-07
Mike Glover - Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jDkaLoCLlGNuKVxZbfOhsUW7F7Dg

8) Democrats 2008 - Clinton - 36% - Obama - 23% - John Edwards - 18%
9-22-07
Angus Reid Global Monitor
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/28315/democrats_2008_hillary_36_obama_at_23/

9) Ben & Jerry's Co-Founder Ben Cohen Accuses Obama and Clinton of Timidity over Pentagon Cuts
9-22-07
Teddy Davis and Mike Chesney
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3632367&page=1

10) In Polls Obama Lurks - Analysts Say Barack Needs to Soar
9-22-07
Jason Clayworth - Des Moines Register
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/NEWS/709220332/1001/ENT

Agents of Change: Saturday 6 October 2007

Tom Hayes, working for change — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 08:45:53 EDT

Obama for America is organizing this special event to prepare Minnesotans for their crucial role in the Democratic primary process.

Join me and hundreds of other supporters from all over Minnesota on Saturday, October 6th for an exciting Minnesota Caucus Convention:

http://my.barackobama.com/MNcaucus
Minnesota Caucus Convention
Saturday, October 6th
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Caucus training
2 p.m. - 6 p.m. Grassroots strategy training (optional but encouraged)
Reception to follow
St. Paul Central High School
275 Lexington Pkwy N
St. Paul, MN 55104
You probably already know the Minnesota Caucus is scheduled for February 5th, 2008. You may even have been notified of this organizing event already via email from Chris Miller, from Obama for America. Come be an agent of change. RSVP by following the link right now, and forward it to a friend, too.

The national field staff and Minnesota leaders will brief you on the strategy to win Minnesota, teach you how to caucus, and give you opportunities to get involved in your local community. We will work with local grassroots supporters and make a change.
See you there!
http://my.barackobama.com/MNcaucus

"Members of Congress are putting health coverage for poor children at risk so they can score political points in Washington..."

Tom Hayes, working for change — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:29:37 EDT

According to the LA Times, during his September 20th news conference President Bush said, "Members of Congress are putting health coverage for poor children at risk so they can score political points in Washington," by increasing the funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program by an amount of roughly $35 billion over five years - approximately a seven-fold improvement on the President's own proposed increase. Economics and finance looks different to us here in the midwest, evidently.
Drawing on that same Times article:
Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said he had spoken during the morning with Bush and told him that the administration's plan was insufficient "to accomplish what he said he wants to do, and that's cover more kids."

"Drawing lines in the sand at this stage isn't constructive," Grassley said of the president's comments, adding in a written statement that Bush was mistaken in saying that the bill would help meet the healthcare coverage costs of children in households with incomes up to $83,000.
The Cost of just the Iraq War itself is set to reach $456 billion September 30, the end of FY 2007. How many days early would we have to leave Iraq to set aside $35 billion? I can think of many better ways to invest my money.
I'm not saying we can walk out of Iraq this week and feel good about what's likely to happen in the ensuing vacuum. We've followed the administration's policies into a position of being very mired down there in every sense. But maybe if we just started to scale back prudently on our war spending we'd have enough to address children's needs in the USA.
If de-escalation of our presence in the Middle East tended to lessen the anger at us, well, so much the better. That's just my midwestern sense of priorities talking, I suppose. Things must look very different in DC, or Kennebunkport.
Let's elect Senator Obama.

30th Harkin Steak Fry (Indianola, Iowa)

pm — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:28:57 EDT
~ Sunday, September 16th ~

Circle that date and join the Minnesotans for Obama contingency as we head to Iowa!

A group of us are planning on joining Senator Tom Harkin at the 30th Annual Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa (just outside of Des Moines, Iowa).

Confirmed on the mailer and website are the following special guests: Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Senator Barack Obama and Governor Bill Richardson.

The Harkin Steak Fry is an excellent opportunity to see, meet and hear the presidential candidates along with enjoying the steak fry with thousands of other enthusiastic Democrats and political folks!

The gates open on Sunday at 12noon and the event runs from 1pm-4pm at th Indianola Balloon Field, Indianola, Iowa. (3 miles eat of Highway 65/69 and highway 92 Intersection on Highway 92).

You can purchase tickets at the door $35, $5 kid's meal. If you have questions about the Harkin Steak Fry you can call (515) 277.9966 or email molly@tomharkin.com.

I had the opportunity to attend in 2003 before the last presidential election and it was an excellent opportunity to hear the candidates live rather than only on TV and feel the energy of thousands of like-minded folks.

UPDATE!
Here's the final update before our adventure down to the Harkin Steak Fry.

Since the gates open at noon (event is from 1-4), the drive down is 4 hours (no stops) and they are expecting HUGE crowds this year, I’m recommending we meet in the parking lot at Best Buy (35W/494) between 7-7:30am, departing promptly at 7:30am.   Look for the car with the OBAMA sign. Here's the address for you to mapquest:

Best Buy (Richfield MN)
1000 West 78th St
Richfield, MN 55423

Remember the event is outside – under tents – no real shelter so dress warmly.

Here’s a couple of details from the Harkin Steak Fry website as of tonight (9/14):
° This year marks the 30th Harkin Steak Fry, and this year’s special guests are Democratic Presidential candidates: Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Senator Barack Obama, and Governor Bill Richardson.° Please join us at the Balloon Field in Indianola, Iowa on Sunday, September 16, 2007. ° Time is from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Gates open at 12:00. (Indianola Balloon Field is located 3 miles east of the intersection of Highways 65/69 and 92) Feel free to bring lawn chairs or blankets into the Balloon Field.

Here’s a bit more detail from John W who will be joining us (thanks John!):
° Comment: Note: Indianola is south (not east) of Des Moines; take 65/69 south, drive through Indianola; Hwy 92 is the traffic signal just after the Godfather's Pizza; turn left at that signal, onto Hwy 92, go three miles to the Hot Air Balloon Field. Indianola.

I wasn’t able to get much more information from the Des Moines Obama office. Typically near the Balloon Field are picnic shelters where the candidate meets before the event for a pre-rally. If we arrive around noon – we can check that out and should be able to get in on that fun too!

As I mentioned on my earlier email, we can loosely caravan down together and once we get there – people can stay together or go their own way. And depending on your personal plans, departure times to return to MPLS/St. Paul is on your own.

THANKS! See you bright and early on Sunday! Pam Meier

You can see the details of this event and sign up by going to:

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

Volunteer with Minnesotans for Obama at the Minnesota State Fair!

Mandy in Mpls — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:17:45 EDT





Barack Obama Volunteers Needed for the Minnesota State Fair!
Join Us for Twelve Days of Fun Ending Labor Day!
Thursday, August 23rd - Monday, September 3rd
Sign Up for 1 of 4 Daily Shifts at:
www.minnesotansforobama.org/forms/volunteer_statefair.asp

WE HAVE GREAT NEWS!
Minnesotans for Obama is now officially part of the Minnesota State Fair with space inside the DFL building! And we want YOU to join in the fun!

WE NEED LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS -- LIKE YOU!
To show the strength of our grassroots movement, we need to be visible, talk with voters and sign them up for Barack Obama. Our table inside the DFL building also will be staffed every day from 9am-9pm with volunteer shifts from 9-12, 12-3, 3-6, and 6-9. And here's where we need your! help.

WE'VE MADE VOLUNTEERING EASY!
Click here to sign up by day for one or several shifts during the fair. Obama State Fair Team Captains will be in contact with you to confirm your schedule, cover your volunteer assignment and other detail.

MINNESOTA STATE FAIR INFORMATION.

Our Obama table is located inside the DFL building, at the corner of DanPatch Avenue and Cooper Street.
Since we're a grassroots movement, volunteers will need to pay for their admission into the Fair, parking, food, and beverages.
2007 ADMISSION PRICES - Regular admission at the gate: adults (13-64) $11; seniors (65 & over) $9; kids (5-12) $8. Children under 5 are always free! Discount admission tickets: $8 (more discount ticket information).
Discount admission tickets are available prior to the fair until Wednesday,Aug. 22, 2007.
Parking: $9 or one additional pre-fair discount admission ticket ($8).
For information about the fair, visit the official MN State Fair website, www.mnstatefair.org.

IT'S A MINNESOTA TRADITION!
During the State Fair over 1.7 million people from 87 Minnesota counties will come to the State Fair, go on rides, visit the animal barns, eat food on a stick and talk politics. It's a Minnesota tradition and so is grassroots politics!

So join us at the State Fair. Talk with Minnesota voters about Senator Obama's message of hope and change. Volunteer! (www.minnesotansforobama.org/forms/volunteer_statefair.asp)

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at volunteer@minnesotansforobama.org or call us at 763-588-7545.

Sincerely,

Minnesotans for Obama State Organizers
PS: Don't have time to volunteer but are planning on attending the fair? You can still participate in the MN Obama movement by wearing your Obama gear for visibility and direct interested parties to the DFL Booth!

FargObama in Action -- Sioux City and Chicago

markolaf — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 08:51:22 EDT

Here are the promised pics of Dan in Chicago with Barack and the group of four (Aaron, Jeanna, Mark and Dan) in Sioux City for the Walk for Change event.

Link

Minnesota Kickoff Thoughts

Carl — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:19:29 EDT
As I sit here in my favorite coffe shop doing my normal Saturday morning ritual of getting my cup of joe and reading the Trib and Pioneer Press. Seeing the pictures and reading what the scribes have to say about last night's event. My mind continues to rewind back to special moments through last night.   Just a few of the many;

1. Assisting Former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton down for a better view and talking with her about when Paul and I saw her on the Lake Street Bridge at the Minnesota Aids Walk this spring.   She had given us the "thumbs up" to our Obama sign and now she has endorsed Mr. Obama yesterday.
2. Walking out the door of the IMF for the 1st time and seeing that line of people waiting for Barack.   It made me think back to that first meetup that I attended with Paul, Wendy, Ross, Lori and a few others.   Look at where this movement has come.   As Barack said it not about us its about the winds of change.
3. Watching as our volunteers authentically in their own way welcoming people coming into the event after waiting in line in the hot sun.   Volunteers greeting people and being themselves and having FUN doing it.
4. Having an indepth discussion about faith as a progressive Protestant Christian with an Orthodox Jew.   We had traded emails about the event for about a week and finally met in person. Talking about what binds us together as persons of faith, as American, and as human being. Appreciating what makes us different instead of having what makes us different dividing us. And how can we be person's of faith in the public square yet not overstep that line of separation of church and state.
5. Feelings of being personally overwhelmed by an event issue last night or figuring out on the fly what a volunteer was going to do.   Thank you for all for your patience as volunteers during those moments.
6. Showing up at the House of Balls and sitting down with MJ and Jocelyn talking about this special night and about peace. Going out back in their parking lot and talking with Aaron, Leah, Chris, Paulina, and other volunteers about their experiences of last night and their ideas for upcoming events and the grassroots movement.
7. Getting a call from Phil Church telling me, as I'm greeting people at the door, that he is in line and seeing him and meeting his wife about 10 minutes later. That was a LONG line. Hopefully worth the wait.
8. Meeting this wonderful person called Yolanda from St. Cloud for the first time and feeling that I have known her for a lifetime after our many telephone and conference calls. Her infectious laugh.
9. Seeing my brother who had come late to the event from work & having that chance to bond in our own way as only siblings can.
10. Seeing and hearing that beautiful tapestry of people lining the railings and being energized by Keith, informed about grassroots by RT, and the imparting of the message of change from Barack.
11. Talking with Bill Wilson outside of the event and seeing that sparkle in his eye remembering back to our first meeting and that first meetup in St Paul.   Him talking about when he went to Iowa to support Kennedy and Carter.
.... more

The campaign for me is about being yourself and making everyone feel welcome who comes to this tent called the Barack Obama campaign and our Minnesota grassroots movement.   Geniune hospitality has become a lost art in this society. As volunteers you demonstrated what hospitality and making people feel welcome means to me. Whether the people who walked through the door were young or old, rich or poor, white or person of color, gay or straight, urban or rural, Christin or Jew or Muslim or ...., longtime Democrat or Republican (Current or Former like Myself) or Green or never been in politics before.   As Keith Ellison said because we want an America and world where everyone matters and is valued.

I want to remind everyone as Barack said that this is your movement and your campaign.   Take time the next few days of how you want to be a part of this Minnesota grassroots movement and remember that we are all here to make each other feel welcomed and valued.   Think about your talents and how you can share them with this grassroots movement. Together we can do great things and have FUN doing it.   Know that we together will be supporting wherever that path leads for you.

Again I personally thank all of you for last night.

Peace,
Carl Holmquist
Organizer Minnesotans for Obama
www.minnesotansforobama.org