Senator John Kerry just sent out an email to our Iowa supporters encouraging them to get involved in this final push before November 4th. He also stresses the importance of early voting, and we hope that you take just a second to find where you can vote early, and then go out to vote early for the change we need.
Dear Zachary, Imagine this: It's election night. The polls have closed and the results are in. One candidate will be the 44th President of the United States. If we don't step up our efforts right now in Iowa and reach out to as many voters as possible about Early Voting, the winner will be John McCain. But I also know we have a great opportunity right in front of us to elect Barack Obama. If we all work together to tell our friends, family, and neighbors about Early Voting, we will win Iowa in 2008. Don't wake up on November 5th wishing you'd done more.Sign up now to connect with voters in your community. With less than 23 days until Election Day, Republicans are kicking their attack machine into high gear, launching every dirty smear and guilt-by-association attack they can at Barack. They're going to try and distract us from the important issues facing our country, but we can't let them succeed. I'm doing everything I can this year to make sure this election doesn't slip away from us, but I can't do it alone -- and neither can Barack, or you, or anyone. But working together, we can reach enough voters to make that difference. Iowa voters have a unique opportunity to build momentum for change by voting early, but it's up to us to reach out to them about Early Voting. Make a difference today. Sign up to volunteer: http://iowa.barackobama.com/WinorLoseIowa Thank you, John Kerry P.S. -- You can take this campaign into your own hands with the Obama campaign's Neighbor to Neighbor tool. Reach out to fellow Iowans and make sure they know about Early Vote: http://iowa.barackobama.com/n2n
Dear Zachary, Imagine this: It's election night. The polls have closed and the results are in. One candidate will be the 44th President of the United States. If we don't step up our efforts right now in Iowa and reach out to as many voters as possible about Early Voting, the winner will be John McCain. But I also know we have a great opportunity right in front of us to elect Barack Obama. If we all work together to tell our friends, family, and neighbors about Early Voting, we will win Iowa in 2008. Don't wake up on November 5th wishing you'd done more.
Sam Stein October 10, 2008 11:12 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/10/kerry-mccain-palins-hate_n_133584.html
http://www.truthfightsback.com/page/content/smearpolitics
Four years ago, John Kerry flirted with the idea of making John McCain his running mate. Today, he is denouncing the Arizona Senator for "a stunning failure of leadership," and running a nasty, hate-filled campaign.
In a letter to supporters, the Massachusetts Democrat -- no stranger to smears himself -- ramps up his criticisms of McCain to new heights. In addition to airing disgust with the tone of the McCain crowds, he rips Gov. Sarah Palin for making "outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office."
The letter reads:
John McCain has shown a stunning failure of leadership. His campaign, in a time of economic crisis and foreign policy drift, has degenerated into a negative and nasty campaign of smears. The reports are piling up of ugliness at the campaign rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Audience members hurl insults and racial epithets, call out "Kill Him!" and "Off With His Head," and yell "treason" when Senator Obama's name is mentioned. I strongly condemn language like this which can only be described as hate-filled. According to reports, every ad paid for by the John McCain campaign is now a negative ad -- every single one! McCain allows his running mate to make outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office. We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to fight back, spread the word about what kind of low campaign he's running, and make sure people know the truth.
The reports are piling up of ugliness at the campaign rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Audience members hurl insults and racial epithets, call out "Kill Him!" and "Off With His Head," and yell "treason" when Senator Obama's name is mentioned. I strongly condemn language like this which can only be described as hate-filled.
According to reports, every ad paid for by the John McCain campaign is now a negative ad -- every single one! McCain allows his running mate to make outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office.
We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to fight back, spread the word about what kind of low campaign he's running, and make sure people know the truth.
Kerry, like Obama, has set up a website to debunk smears in real time. And he directs supporters to the link: http://www.truthfightsback.com/page/content/smearpolitics
His strained relationship with McCain serves as a reminder of how much the political dynamics have changed in the past four years. It also begins to raise the question: what kind of reception will McCain receive either if he goes back to the Senate as a campaign loser or has to work with Congress as the next president?
Join & spread the word about John Kerry's effort to stop political smears against Democrats:
"Truthfightsback.com tracks, debunks, and counters the smears of the right wing against Democrats. We are dedicated to trying to end smears of all sorts, working against a style of politics that have become too prevalent, where emotional push-button attacks substitute for vigorous debate on the issues.
It is our hope that we can play a role in exposing the methods and goals of those who smear Democrats so that we can decide our elections on the issues and values that matter to Americans."
also from the site:
We've created signs that you can print off from your own home computer. Post the signs at your home, in your car window, and around your community... then take a picture and send it to us! We'll feature some of the photos on TruthFightsBack.com.
NO SMEAR POLITICS/NO MCCAIN - NO PALIN
In 2004, George W. Bush did not run against John Kerry. He ran against Michael Moore. That would be the guy who looked at the pro-Saddam Iraqi insurgents who slaughter unemployed Iraqis and their children wholesale and saw Minutemen. The guy who openly entertained the idea that 9/11 was a U.S. government conspiracy, and who was and is unable to understand the U.S. economy in any other terms than a vast conspiracy of the rich, who somehow all work together harmoniously against the rest of us. John Kerry, who for all his faults was clearly the better candidate, didn't dare denounce Moore and his faction for fear of splitting the Democratic party, and that cost him the election.
The Democrats couldn't have dreamed up a better revenge scenario. For now, Barack Obama is not running against John McCain, but against that far weaker and more vulnerable candidate, George W. Bush. Obama's policy is complex and well thought-out, but his campaign is brutally simple: "McCain = Bush." Two nouns and one verb; that's as simple as it gets, and extremely effective when Bush has a 25% approval rating.
Our economy is in trouble. We have an energy crisis. a housing crisis, a financial crisis, a food shortage at every food bank, and a war that we are "winning" but losing lives money and assets. We should elect another Republican in any office? It's unfortunate that some folks vote for the same old people doing the same old thing. Come on people, vote for change, not the change McCain offers, but change that Obama has had the guts toget on t.v. and spell out. talk to your friends and neighbors and get them to read the plan at, barackobama.com/plan
I would like to see PayPal be accepted on this site and the johnkerry.com site for donations...hint, hint
The Campaign for Change had set a mighty goal for itself this weekend: it aimed to knock on the doors of 118,602 voters--one more than Bush's margin of victory in Ohio in 2004. But volunteers not only met the challenge--they busted through it and kept on going... This weekend, the tireless people of Ohio committed to changing this country knocked on no fewer than
173,651 doors.
That means that 1 out of every 45 registered voters got a knock on their door this weekend from an Obama supporter ready and waiting to talk about Barack's vision for the country. To outline his issues, to clarify misunderstandings, and to express what his presidency could mean personally and to the nation.
But you don't need to drive to a field office or wait for the weekend to get in on the action. Through groundbreaking technology called Neighbor2Neighbor, the campaign now has a simple program to provide you with everything you need to talk to your own neighbors--a list of addresses, flyers, and easy instructions on how to talk to voters. It's all explained in this handy video, from Nicole:
You can use Neighbor2Neighbor by clicking HERE. What's it like going door-to-door, you might ask? Don't take it from the campaign--take it from this first-hand account, recently posted in the blogosphere, from volunteer Heidi, in Northeast Ohio:
I live in a suburb of Cleveland and "white, working class" would probably be the best description. After a brief training we were sent out in pairs with our packets of turf. My canvass partner was a woman in her 60s (I'm 40 years old) and we hit it off right away...We approached the last house together... and the woman who answered the door was friendly and told us she was undecided. She didn't like John McCain but just didn't know enough about Barack Obama. We started discussing different ways the current economy had affected all of us, her positions on issues, our positions on issues and you could feel the connection forming between the three of us... At the end of conversation she said she felt like she knew a lot more about him and would most likely vote for him. I felt so happy as I tallied my canvass sheet back at the office. This is what canvassing is about - the informed voter sharing information with the less informed voter, neighbors sharing their stories with other neighbors, and all of us realizing what's at stake in this election.
I live in a suburb of Cleveland and "white, working class" would probably be the best description. After a brief training we were sent out in pairs with our packets of turf. My canvass partner was a woman in her 60s (I'm 40 years old) and we hit it off right away...
We approached the last house together... and the woman who answered the door was friendly and told us she was undecided. She didn't like John McCain but just didn't know enough about Barack Obama. We started discussing different ways the current economy had affected all of us, her positions on issues, our positions on issues and you could feel the connection forming between the three of us... At the end of conversation she said she felt like she knew a lot more about him and would most likely vote for him.
I felt so happy as I tallied my canvass sheet back at the office. This is what canvassing is about - the informed voter sharing information with the less informed voter, neighbors sharing their stories with other neighbors, and all of us realizing what's at stake in this election.
Such an expansive door-to-door effort this weekend was the perfect way to cap off Heartland Issues Week, since canvassing brought Barack's message to many small towns and rural areas that wouldn't typically get attention from past campaigns. Signs of the overwhelming field presence in the state are everywhere--below is a picture of volunteers at an office opening in tiny Mount Gilead:
Our moment is now... and it's happening everywhere.
That's one more than the number of votes by which John Kerry lost Ohio in 2004... and thereby lost the race for President. George Bush went on to give us 4 more years of terrible policies and partisan bullying.
118,602 is also the goal for the number of doors that Campaign for Change aim to knock on this weekend in Ohio. That's right: 118,602 doors. Ohioans are just that committed to make sure their state goes blue this time.
We can't afford a repeat of 2004. Knock some doors. Talk to some voters. Help the campaign go above and beyond 118,602. Join a canvass in your area, right now, by clicking
HERE.
A striking example provides for how narrowly supporting one and only one cause can lead to voter disrepresentation among the larger electorate. Despite the large portion of Roman Catholic Christians among the American demographic, few high offices have been set upon by Roman Catholics in the United States. Late after the conception of the United State, the first Catholic nominee of a major party for president was Alfred Emanuel Smith of the Democratic party in 1928. More than thirty year later, John Kennedy was the first Catholic president of the Democratic party. Almost half a century later, John Kerry was the only other Catholic nominee for president, also of the Democratic party. Understandably, Democrats were the first party to accept Catholic immigrants and push to give them equal rights and worker compensation and conditions. Smith, Kennedy, and Kerry believed strongly in equal civil liberties and opportunities for Catholics, blacks, Jews, and women, forging a major divergence from the Republican party and even Southern Democrats. In the late 1980s, the Christian Coalition was founded to wield great power within the Republican Party and help shape the Republican majority in congress. However, the Christian Coalition and Christian right have never supported a Catholic nominee for president. Paradoxically, the most successful and influential Catholic politians of today, such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, are ostracized by the Christian right and even fellow Catholics. While some of the Christian right would agree that theology should not be introduced into policy making, abortion has become the single-issue that sways most Catholics, synergically with the Christian right, from ever helping to elect a Catholic president. Through the use of Catholic voter guides, the Catholic church acutally encourages one-issue voting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61wj4tJICcc The abortion stance becomes the Catholic voter litmus test and gold standard to weigh above all other issues. Being wary of any church that instructs it's members how to vote and the strong reliance on a religious hierchary, Republican protestants expound on their basic mistrust in voting for Catholics. Republican protestants won't vote for a Catholic leader, and Catholics won't vote for a pro-choice candidate. This virtually ensures we won't see a Catholic president from any party besides the Democratic Party. A Catholic Republican will never be president as long as Catholics remain one-issue (Abortion) voters and the Christian right remains intolerant. This in and of itself does not denigrate the Catholic Church. Rather it points out the collective thinking of the Catholic right with the protestant right which explains a poltical anomaly. The current political environment has prevented Catholic politicians in the highest offices from enjoying the wide spread support of the greater Catholic right. Sam Brownback's attempt at the White House would be explained by this theory. A bigger theme emerges that single-isse voting in many examples disenfranchises the single-issue voters themselves. It is quite likely we will see more Catholic nominees for the Democratic bid of the presidency, but the Catholic right will not vote for them.
For more see: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/us/politics/17catholics.html?em
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/09/18/churchgoing-catholics-returning-to-gop-fold/
My previous blogs have VANISHED (apparently into thin "web" air)!! Oh well, I am not going to spend anytime crying about that. I am also not going backwards (i.e., trying to repost items lost) because the election is less than 60 days away! That being said, I have few exceptions: highlight speeches of the historical 2008 DNC, Obama's acceptance speech, Fact Checking Gov. Sarah Palin and Republican Pres. Nominee John McCain's RNC Acceptance Speeches. With respect to the highlights of the 2008 DNC, I have compiled a list of my favorite speeches with links to the video. The list is in reverse chronological order. If, for some reason, a link is broken, you can always Google the speech or search for it on YouTube.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
Denver, CO (August 25-28, 2008)
Pres. Nominee Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZCrIeRkMhA
Sen. Joe Biden’s VP Acceptance Speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVH58DeUThg
Beau Biden Introducing his father, Sen. Joe Biden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFNdA6fxKpo
Sen. John Kerry’s Speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO2PAm4iCtE
Fmr. President Bill Clinton’s Speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3r6xvwPGcY
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=268ncnoitEc
Congressman Dennis Kucinich “Wake-up America” Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE_eKhUC9rI
Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass) Speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAwKHriAj5Q
Michelle Obama’s Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTFsB09KhqI
Ted & Caroline Kennedy’s Speech
First of all the American people are NOT SMART... so you can kill that crap. Its a pompus way to think, Come on Obama you have travel all around this country but talking to people who already support you, don't just drink that water.. You need to get out there talk to those people who DO NOT support you, and look at the reasons.. its because of ignorance or because they do not understand you.. YOUR TALKING OVER THEIR HEADS..
YOU GOT TO DUMB DOWN YOUR MESSAGE SO EVERYONE GET ITS.. YOU ALSO NEED TO CALL THE BASTARDS OUT ON THE LIES .. THEY ARE LYING.. there is no way around this. This taking the HIGH ROAD , you can NOT do that with SLIME.
They are making this election into a MUDDY WATER CAMPAIGN FULL OF DISTRACTIONS , no issues. This is turning into a nightmare with everyday, KEEP SAYING JOHN MCCAIN voted with George Bush 90% of the time.. OK WE GOT THAT ALREADY. YOU GUYS HAVE SAID THAT .... .. Now you got to tell us about the LIES, FLIP FLOPPING ON HIS OWN WORDS OF RUNNING AN HONORABLE CAMPAIGN, NOW THEY ARE IN FULL FORCE KARL ROVIAN DIVIDE AND CONQUER .. they are going to divide the country to win this election..
GET UP AND FIGHT BACK.. THIS HIGH ROAD CRAP WORKED IN THE PRIMARIES BUT NOW YOUR IN THE GENERAL ELECTION, AND THE FAR RIGHT WING IS ENERGIZED, AND THE INDEPENDANTS ARE DUMB WILL GO WITH THE POLLS..
I am so discouraged, I am going to bed.. This is the farest right ticket to run for office , its worse that George Bush, and it looks like we are about to elect that back in again based on BS. I can not believe the O campaign is allowing this shit to happen.
9:13 am PST, September 4, 2008. Near 16th and Mission. I am ready to begin.
I volunteered in the Obama campaign during the primary. I wanted her to win over Clinton. However, since Obama has clinched the primary, I have done nothing.
I was thinking about leaving the country when Bush beat Kerry. I didn't do it, but I was thinking about it. It's unbelivable when you think about it: Gore won in 2000, yet Bush got elected. Bush won in 2004, yet I still dispute the result. I remember watching the results come in on the internet and seeing Kerry ahead in the polls and projections. I have to admit I was really discouraged by this country at that moment in time. To even get to the point where it was close meant that I disagree with so many other voters. Now I am really proud of the Democrats. To elect Obama was great. BUT WE ARE NOT FINISHED YET AND NO ONE SHOULD BE SATISFIED!
I am a man and a PhD fusion energy (clean energy) researcher who feels that it is urgent that Barack Obama is elected the next President of the United States of America. I was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton largely because I felt the Clintons could best withstand the onslaught of the vicious extreme right wing of the republican party and the cancer in America that are the Talk Radio Bullies such as Rush Limbaugh and Shawn Hannity.
Barack and Hillary and Biden have superb credentials for the presidency of the US. As a Hillaryite I am insulted by McCain's VP pick. Palin has no experience and has zero travel and international experience. She can only claim experience as a hockey mom! We Hillaryites must show McCain that we are not shallow as he thinks we are. We supported Hillary because of her experience, intelligence, and integrity and not just because she is a woman! McCain's poor judgement and reckless gambling are becoming more apparent every day. We cannot put the country in the hands of such an irresponsible political impression of George Bush.
It is obvious that McCain is a hypocrite, he and his dirty tricks brigade led by Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh have been saying for months that Obama is not experienced enough. Yet in a reckless gamble at 72 years of age he turns around (in panic) and selects someone who is light years less experienced than Obama and especially less experienced than her counterpart, Joe Biden! We cannot allow this duo of a foggy minded, grumpy old man, bowing to the extreme right wing, and a total zero credentialed extreme right wing (complete elimination of abortion and pro choice) VP pick assume control of the White House! John Kerry said in an interview by Wolf Blitzer on CNN (Sunday August 31, 2008) that McCain has bowed to Limbaugh and the extreme right with his pick of Palin. We must elect Obama/Biden in November. We must fight on and never ever give up! We (Obama/Biden) shall be victorious in November!
Nice to see the bump from the most recent Daily Tracking poll by Gallup.
Gallup Daily: Obama Moves Ahead, 48% to 42%
Couple of thoughts on Last two nights:
The GOP campaign is negative and as much as I had to say this, it's time to play their game.
I was thinking...
Does anyone else find it strange that the man that gave Barack Obama a huge break -- the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention -- endorsed him early along with Ted Kennedy giving him big name credentials before his nomination seemed to be a foregone conclusion, and has spent his own PAC's money to defend Barack against "swiftboat" type attacks does not have a speaking slot at the convention. Of course we're talking about Vietnam War vet Sen. John Kerry. I'm just saying! I can hear the convention speech now, "Four years ago I stood before you and proclaimed 'help is on the way'. Well, today I am hear to proudly say.. help has ARRIVED and HIS NAME IS BARACK OBAMA!"
I've read many detractors of the idea on various posts, but they all seem to be Republicans using lines like "I hope it's him; that will kill Obama." If Republicans don't like it, there must be a reason. I like it (thought I've liked almost all of the picks) for several reasons.
All in all, I think this would be one of the top picks. Right now, though I predicted heavily Clinton, my list of who ought to be veep goes as follows...
1) Wes Clark -- vetran status, military experience, and change to Washington
2) John Kerry -- see above
3) Joe Biden -- many of the above for Kerry, but without the intangibles of just having been in the race four years ago
4) Hillary Clinton -- read other blogs for this one
5) Bill Richardson -- tons of experience, good speaker, good debater, western swing states
All the rest really don't even come close to this top five. I know we want change, but we don't need more inexperience, and we don't need a boring, expected announcement (AKA Bayh).
Just a thought.
Greetings!
Everyone reading this should understand that the Republicans are the robots of the warlords and billionaires of this universe and do not play fair and are right now toiling into the wee hours trying to figure how to steal THIS ELECTION FROM US! Like the LAST ONE AND THE ONE BEFORE THAT – just for example. These are facts and can be verified by simple research. As they see it, there is far too much to lose to RISK giving up the power that goes hand in hand with absolute power of WAGING AND CONTROLLING WAR – PRIVATE CONTRACTORS – OIL – RAPING THE ENVIRONMENT – OCEANS – AIR – FRESH WATER AND FORESTS.
The main of these were the primary reasons why our own government along with rich and powerful oil men from Texas (exactly where the Bush dynasty is from) and central criminal elements at the time conspired and successfully assassinated the LEADER of OUR OWN GOVERNMENT – one of the most beloved and inspiring leaders this country, in fact the entire world, has ever known. He died because he wouldn’t play ball. He was in process of ending the war which hadn’t really gotten out of control yet AND signing an OIL DEPLETION ALLOWANCE – which was waiting for his return to Washington to be signed into law. The allowance would have “robbed” the oil companies of millions in additional profits and that combined with the abrupt end to all the wartime profiteering is something that the REAL powers that be could just not live with.
To those with a functioning mind it is ludicrous to believe that anyone would go to such risk if they did not KNOW that the replacement would play ball. This is why the FACT learned from a documentary where many of the attendees and associates to the actual meeting THE NIGHT BEFORE THE ASSASINATION included among numerous right wing luminaries, several oil billionaires, Nixon and the replacement himself – LBJ – who was the poster boy for Texas Oil and their political machine (and someone BTW who NEVER LEGALLY WON ANY ELECTION AT ANY LEVEL – AND BECAME THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD on the heel of THE SALACIOUS MURDER OF THE RIGHTFUL KING. – This fact makes us all Hamlets in a sense because our rightful, brilliant, compassionate and caring leader and father figure was murdered so a lame, heartless, soulless flunky conspirator could take his place and insure billions in profits for his mostly Texan cronies)
Any similarities come to mind???
