From the Washington Post:
Sen. Barack Obama ended a week's focus on values by giving a conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church a highly personal account of his spiritual journey and a promise that he will make "faith-based" social service "a moral center of my administration." "In my own life, " he said, "it's been a journey that began decades ago on the South Side of Chicago, when, working as a community organizer, helping to build struggling neighborhoods, I let Jesus Christ into my life. I learned that my sins could be redeemed and that if I placed my trust in Christ, that he could set me on the path to eternal life when I submitted myself to his will and I dedicated myself to discovering his truth and carrying out his works." He suggested that he would apply the lessons of his faith to the problems he would face if he became president. "The challenges we face today -- war and poverty, joblessness and homelessness, violent streets and crumbling schools -- are not simply technical problems in search of a 10-point plan," he said. "They are moral problems, rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness, in the imperfections of man. And so the values we believe in -- empathy and justice and responsibility to ourselves and our neighbors -- these cannot only be expressed in our churches and our synagogues, but in our policies and in our laws." ..."If we show up," Obama told reporters aboard his campaign plane as he left Montana on Saturday, "if we let folks know that we're interested in them and we share a lot of common values, then we're not going to win 100 percent of the evangelical vote. We might not even win 50 percent of the evangelical vote. But we will at least take some of the sharp edges off this divide that's existed in our politics. And that hopefully will allow people to listen to each other, and that will help me govern over the long term." ..."Democrats can't shrink the map to win. I think we have to expand the map to win," he said. "And for a bunch of election cycles, we had such a narrow path to victory that if one thing went wrong, we were going to lose. I can't guarantee that we are going to win in any Southern state anymore than I can guarantee we're going to win in a place like Montana or North Dakota, but I can guarantee that we can give it a good shot."
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday told a roaring crowd of religious African-Americans at the America's Center that they should have no doubt of his commitment to his Christian faith, his nation or his political principles. In an address filled with religious and patriotic references, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president told delegates attending a national conference here of the African Methodist Episcopal Church that his career and his life revolved around his belief that, "I won't be fulfilling the Lord's will unless I'm doing the Lord's work.'' Obama said his faith would continue to influence his performance and his politics if he wins the White House, and he recounted the strong role that churches have played in tackling numerous issues — including slavery and women's rights — facing Americans since the colonies declared independence 232 years ago. Obama ignited repeated cheers and standing ovations as he reaffirmed his proposals to expand on faith-based government initiatives begun by President George W. Bush. And in a pointed jab at the national news media, Obama singled out denomination leaders who he said could attest to reporters that "I've been talking about this for a couple years now. Don't think this is news." "It is not part of a political strategy,'' Obama said with emphasis, his voice booming throughout the convention hall. ...Obama called on parents to take on their proper roles. "Only we in the home can teach our daughters to never allow images on television to tell them what they're worth,'' he said. "Only we as parents can make sure that when our sons grow up, that they treat women with respect and understand that when they have the ability to have a child, they must have the courage to raise a child." Obama also said that most of the nation's challenges "of war and poverty, joblessness and homelessness, violence on the streets and in the public schools ... are not simple technical problems in search of a perfect 10-point plan. They are also moral problems rooted in social indifference and individual callousness." His audience, estimated by organizers at 10,000, was unabashedly supportive. Dozens sported pro-Obama T-shirts, and the crowd spontaneously began shouting Obama's campaign slogan — "Yes we can!" — before he uttered a word. The Rev. Marvin Sullivan, pastor of Ward Chapel AME Church in Florissant, praised Obama "an honest person who speaks from the heart.'' Conference delegate Nona Simpkins, also of St. Louis, said that the enthusiasm had less to do with the fact that Obama also was African-American, and more to do with his message. "He has the right agenda,'' she said.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Barack Obama found a receptive audience Saturday at the African Methodist Episcopal Church convention, where he reinforced his message of service, sacrifice and active faith. The crowd of thousands of delegates and leaders of the oldest predominantly black denomination in North America welcomed Obama as their own political son, who understands their language of God and church. "He was excellent, marvelous," said Eunice Williams, a great-grandmother from Jacksonville, Fla. "I think he'll make a blessed president. He wants to do something to help all mankind, not just a few." ...Saying "God raised us for service," Obama told of his own conversion to God's will and truth as a community organizer, lessons he said he took with him in his later roles. The challenges of war, poverty, violence and genocide are moral problems rooted in individual callousness that government alone can't fix, he said. Individuals must serve too. But he added that a necessary first step is to stop spending billions of dollars in Iraq and instead spend it on lifting people in cities such as St. Louis and Chicago. "Our nation's conscience can't rest with so much work to be done," he said, calling for a greater role by faith-based agencies for change.v He also had something to say to reporters who may never have seen this side of the candidate. "I've been talking about this for two years," he said. "This is not part of a presidential strategy." "I say it because I believe it; I've always believed it. This is the work we are called to do as Christians. We need every hand on deck."
From the Meridian Star:
It wasn't long ago that the presidential election seemed to loom somewhere in the foggy distance. But now that both parties have presumptive nominees, the realization has begun to spread across the nation that the election is just around the corner. There are less than four months to go until the big day, November 4. As the day nears, more and more people are beginning to get involved, and more and more localized election-centered events are popping up. In Meridian, one of the first signs that election season has gone into full swing was Saturday's Obama Fest 2008, a party held at Dumont plaza by the Lauderdale County Democratic Executive Committee, in support of Democratic Presidential Presumptive Nominee Barack Obama. Everything from voter registration booths to mime performances were scheduled for Obama Fest 2008, and local and state candidates and elected officials, including 3rd Congressional District Candidate Joel Gill, were slated to speak at the event, making it a classic political rally. Vendors sold Obama t-shirts, food, and jewelry to the excited crowd, which was alive with the anticipation of possibly living to see the first black President of the United States elected. "We're making history," said Mamie G. Cole of Meridian, "I've been here a long time on this earth, and I never dreamed that I'd live to see a black man become the President of the United States."v "This is an opportunity for History in the country, and it's also history-making," said Meridianite John Flowers. For Tim Quick, who serves as assistant secretary for the Lauderdale County Democratic Party, the Obama campaign is about moving back into the political climate of the 1960s.v "I think this country went off track in the 196's," Quick said. "There was leadership to try to take us in the right sort of direction - the Kennedy's, Martin Luther King - and they were all shot ... So this in my opinion is an opportunity to go back in the direction we would have gone in had Bobby Kennedy been president."v The air at Obama Fest 2008 was thick with excitement, but the Democrats aren't the only one's getting ready for the election. The Lauderdale County Republican Executive Committee has some plans up its sleeve as well, according to one of its district representatives, Jamie Peavy. "We're starting to plan a bunch of events," Peavy said, "everything from voter registration drives to going door to door. Nothing is in stone yet, but we're going to make some things happen."
