From the New York Times:
Barack Hussein Obama, a freshman senator who defeated the first family of Democratic Party politics with a call for a fundamentally new course in politics, was nominated by his party on Wednesday to be the 44th president of the United States. The unanimous vote made Mr. Obama the first African-American to become a major party nominee for president. It brought to an end an often-bitter two-year political struggle for the nomination with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who, standing on a packed convention floor electric with anticipation, moved to halt the roll call in progress so that the convention could nominate Mr. Obama by acclamation. That it did with a succession of loud roars, followed by a swirl of dancing, embracing, high-fiving and chants of “Yes, we can.” In an effort to fully ease the lingering animosity from the primary season, former President Bill Clinton, in a speech that had been anxiously awaited by Mr. Obama’s aides given the uncomfortable relations between the two men, offered an enthusiastic and unstinting endorsement of Mr. Obama’s credentials to be president. Mr. Clinton’s message, like the messenger, was greeted rapturously in the hall. “Last night Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she is going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama,” Mr. Clinton said. “That makes two of us...” “I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world,” Mr. Clinton said. “Barack Obama is ready to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.” Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Mr. Obama’s choice for vice president, accepted the nomination with a speech in which he spoke frequently, and earnestly, of his blue-collar background, in effect offering himself as a validator for Mr. Obama among some voters who have been reluctant to embrace the Democratic presidential nominee. “The choice in this election is clear,” Mr. Biden said. “These times require more than a good soldier. They require a wise leader,” he said, a leader who can deliver “the change that everybody knows we need.” His 21-minute address completed, Mr. Biden was joined on stage by his wife, Jill, who told the crowd they were about to be joined by an unscheduled guest. The crowd exploded as Mr. Obama walked around the corner. “If I’m not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night,” he said, gazing up at where Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were watching the proceedings and leading the crowd in applause. “And President Clinton reminded us of what it’s like when you have a president who actually puts people first. Thank you.”
From the Washington Post:
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois completed an improbable and historic journey here Wednesday when he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for president, becoming the first African American to lead a major political party into a general-election campaign. Obama, who just eight years ago attended his first Democratic National Convention and who four years later shot to national prominence with an electrifying keynote address at the gathering in Boston, was given a final symbolic boost Wednesday by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who moved from the convention floor to suspend the roll call of the states and formalize her former rival's nomination by acclamation. The gesture of conciliation brought to a conclusion the closest and hardest-fought nomination battle Democrats have waged in the modern era of presidential politics, pitting two historic candidacies in a contest that divided the party and left lingering bitter feelings among Clinton loyalists. But after days of nervous speculation about how the long and often contentious competition would end here in Denver, the nomination-by-acclamation set off a joyous scene on the convention floor, as delegates danced to the strains of "Love Train" and then broke out in chants of "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!" Hours later, the convention confirmed Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) as the party's vice presidential nominee, and as he finished his acceptance speech, Obama made a surprise visit to the Pepsi Center to praise his running mate; his wife, Michelle; his erstwhile rival Clinton; and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who had delivered a powerful speech on behalf of Obama earlier in the night. "I think the convention's gone pretty well so far, don't you think?" Obama said. He cited his wife's speech on Monday, and then, referring to Hillary Clinton's speech on Tuesday, said, "If I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night." In his acceptance speech, Biden, the fiery chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cast himself as a champion of working-class families -- a key target group Obama has struggled to win over -- and laid out a sustained critique of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who will accept the GOP nomination next week. "I am here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington," he said. "I am here for the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly-line workers -- the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures." Time and again, Biden charged, Obama's judgment on foreign policy issues has been superior to McCain's. On domestic issues, he said, McCain would continue the policies of President Bush rather than embrace changes he said the country desperately needs. "Again and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama was proven right," Biden argued. "Folks, remember when the world used to trust us? When they looked to us for leadership? With Barack Obama as our president, they'll look to us again, they'll trust us again, and we'll be able to lead again..." Clinton drew a thunderous and sustained welcome from delegates, who cheered and waved American flags and chanted "Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill" as he sought to quiet them. "I am here first to support Barack Obama," he said, setting off another round of applause. Clinton acknowledged that "in the end, my candidate didn't win" the nomination. But then, citing his wife's speech on Tuesday, he said: "Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she'll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us." That set off a fresh round of applause that grew louder when he added: "Actually, that makes 18 million of us, because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November." Challenging Republican criticism of the new nominee, he said: "Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world. Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States." Recalling that Republicans had accused him of not being ready when he ran in 1992, Clinton noted that the criticism had not worked then and "won't work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history."
From USA Today:
...After an especially long primary season, after private wrangling and public battle, the Democratic Party became the first major party to select an African-American nominee for president in the nation's history. With a roar of approval and a sparkle of flashing cameras, the convention's delegates nominated by acclamation Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who just four years ago electrified the Democratic convention with a speech where he first called for "a politics of hope." That message carried him in this election season to the top of his party's ticket. "I never thought I'd live this long to see this," said Albert Lewis, a Hawaii delegate, where Obama grew up. "I'm very proud to be an American today." Obama's nomination was the climax of a campaign that intertwined two groups that have spent much of the past 50 years struggling for their place at the table of American politics: blacks and women. And it came at the hands of the woman who had tried so hard to wrest it from him. When the roll call came to New York, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton joined her state's delegation on the floor and asked the convention to stop the roll call and nominate Obama. "In the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory," Clinton said, "let's declare together in one voice, right here right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate." George Bixon, a retired electrician and the only black delegate among 57 from Iowa, said tears streamed down his cheeks as Obama was nominated. "It was a moment I thought would never happen in my lifetime," Bixon said. "He was nominated not as a black man but as a man who is qualified to do the job, and that made me proud." He immediately called his wife back home who waited by the phone with their daughter and two grandchildren. "We made history and I was part of it," he said he told them. "I'm proud of my country. I'm 63. I was refused buying a candy bar when I was 7 years old. I have been refused trying to purchase a home in an all-white neighborhood. This is nothing short of a miracle," "I can hardly describe how I feel, I am so excited," said Kathy Sykes, a delegate from Mississippi, whose delegation in 1964 challenged the party to seat black delegates. "When I think about (civil rights activist) Medgar Evers, who lost his life registering people to vote — we have come a long way in this country, and we need a man like Barack Obama to lead us into the future." Although it had been expected for months, the impact of Obama's nomination rippled out from the Denver convention hall. Charles Evers, the brother of slain civil rights leader Evers and a Republican supporter of Barack Obama, was listening to the nomination coverage on television Wednesday night before hosting his radio show, Let's Talk, on WMPR-FM in Jackson, Miss. The nomination is "one of the greatest things that ever happened in my 86 years," Evers said. "I know Medgar, Martin (Luther King) and others never dreamed they would see this day. Forty-five years ago we couldn't do this. Medgar was killed 45 years ago trying to get the right to be heard, period." "This is a monumental moment in our nation's history," Martin Luther King III, the civil rights icon's oldest son, told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "And it becomes obviously an even greater moment in November if he's elected..." Earlier in the day, Clinton had released her delegates, allowing them to vote for either candidate. She told them that she had voted for Obama but did not tell them how to vote. Mark Smith, a delegate from Silsbee, Texas, changed his vote as a result. "When Barack became her candidate, he became mine. It was difficult because it was a bitter battle between two qualified, very talented candidates for presidency."
From the LA Times:
Barack Obama, riding a message of change, swept aside a Democratic dynasty and two centuries of history Wednesday to become the first African American to lead a major political party into the fall campaign for the White House. The vote was by acclamation after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York waded onto the convention floor amid a standing ovation and stopped a roll call of delegations. She urged Obama's unanimous selection as the party's presidential nominee "in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory." Delegates shouted their affirmation, and the longest, most contentious Democratic primary fight in more than a generation came to a congenial halt. Hours later, former President Clinton did his part for party peace by wrapping Obama in his unqualified embrace. "Everything I learned in my eight years as president and in the work I have done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job," Clinton told cheering delegates, going far beyond the tepid endorsements he had offered in the past. "Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she'll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama," Clinton said, a day after his wife pledged her unstinting support. "That makes two of us..." Obama, 47, was at his Denver hotel with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters when history was made. At evening's end, he sent a jolt of electricity through the crowded arena when he strode onstage and embraced running mate Joe Biden, who made his convention debut with a speech that mixed autobiography with policy and pugnacity. Saluting his erstwhile rival, Obama said, "If I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night." The crowd roared. "And just in case you're wondering . . . President Clinton reminded us of what it is when you've got a president who actually puts people first." The couple, along with their daughter, Chelsea, beamed from the VIP seats. Obama's installation as the Democratic nominee capped an improbably swift rise that began four years ago at the party's national convention when Obama, then an Illinois state senator, delivered a soaring keynote address. Bookending his rise is Thursday night's acceptance speech at Invesco Field, a football stadium expected to fill with more than 75,000 people. On Wednesday, Democrats continued their pounding of Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama's fall rival and a more resilient opponent than many in the party had anticipated. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island called McCain the "cheerleader in chief" for the Iraq war. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada called McCain a snake oil salesman and, in an apparent dig at his nearly 72 years, referred to him as "kindly old Doc McCain." Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic nominee who once considered McCain as a possible running mate, said "the candidate who once promised a 'contest of ideas' now has nothing left but personal attacks. How insulting. How pathetic. How desperate." Biden joined in. Citing Obama's early opposition to the war in Iraq, he said, "Again and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was proven right." "The choice in this election is clear," said Biden, who twice tried for the White House himself. "These times require more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver change."
From the Denver Post:
Sen. Barack Obama, finally minted as his party's nominee after a historic primary season, joined running mate Joe Biden on stage Wednesday night in a symbolic and literal embrace of the man who, in a span of less than 10 weeks, must help him win the presidency. Descending the private staircase to Pepsi Center's stage, Obama reached up again and again to shake the hands of eager staffers lining up along the rail just to catch one more glimpse of the surprise guest, who — by appearance alone — electrified a Democratic National Convention audience largely here for him. "I want everyone to now understand why I'm so proud to have Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Beau Biden and Mama Biden with me on this journey," Obama said on stage, referring to the Delaware senator and a few of the 26 members of the Biden clan in the audience. Minutes before, Biden finished a sweeping condemnation of John McCain and his record, having awakened on the third day of the convention as a long-serving senator and going to bed as a stiletto-wielding vice presidential nominee. Biden used the most-watched half-hour of his political life to try to recast the presidential race as a comparison of records rather than — as it has been for much of the summer — a referendum on Obama. And he reintroduced himself to American voters as a tough, driven politician of humble roots, a fighter who remembered his father's advice: "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up, . . . get up." "Failure at some point in everyone's life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable," Biden said. Pointing to his 92-year-old mother, Catherine, in the audience, Biden said she "taught her children . . . that you are defined by your sense of honor and you are redeemed by your loyalty. She believes bravery lives in every heart and her expectation is that it will be summoned." Biden's speech was in many ways the one that Democrats say they needed — biting, intelligent, emotional and occasionally pitch-perfect... "(He) adroitly made the case for Barack Obama, but more importantly, he made the case against John McCain," Hart said.
With her husband looking on tenderly and her supporters watching with tears in their eyes, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton deferred her own dreams on Tuesday night and delivered an emphatic plea at the Democratic National Convention to unite behind her rival, Senator Barack Obama.... Declaring herself to be “a proud supporter of Barack Obama,” Mrs. Clinton urged Democrats to put aside their loyalty to her and unite behind Mr. Obama — or risk continuing Bush administration policies under the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain. “Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose,” Mrs. Clinton said, beaming as the convention hall burst into applause. “And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.” She added, “No way, no how, no McCain.” Mr. Obama praised Mrs. Clinton’s speech as he watched Tuesday night from Montana. “That was excellent, that was a strong speech,” Mr. Obama said from Billings. “She made the case for why we’re going to be unified in November and why we’re going to win this election. I thought she was outstanding....” Mrs. Clinton also provided some of the night’s sharpest lines of attack on Mr. McCain in her convention speech. “It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart,” she said, referring to the site of the Republican National Convention... With delegates waving banners that read “Hillary” or “Obama” on one side and “Unity” on the other, Mrs. Clinton encouraged supporters to rally behind Mr. Obama for the sake of struggling Americans she met during the campaign. “I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me?” Mrs. Clinton said. “Or were you in it for that young marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage?”
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton roused the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night with sharp criticism of Sen. John McCain and a full-throated endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, her former rival for the party's nomination, urging Democrats to put the long and bitter battle behind them and unite to take back the White House in November. "You haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership," Clinton told an audience packed to overflowing at Denver's Pepsi Center. "No way. No how. No McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our president..." Clinton described the passions that drove her to seek the presidency, including a desire to rebuild the economy, enact universal health care, end the war in Iraq and stand up for what she called "invisible" Americans. "Those are the reasons I ran for president. These are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should, too," she told an audience that included her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and Obama's running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.). When she finished, the white placards that had greeted her gave way to narrow blue-and-white signs that said "Obama" on one side and "Unity" on the other, as well as signs that said "Hillary" and "Unity..." "It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities," she said, referring to the site of the Republican National Convention in Minnesota. "Because these days, they're awfully hard to tell apart." Obama aides said he called Clinton after watching her speech at a house in Billings, Mont., and thanked her for her support. He also called Bill Clinton and congratulated him on his wife's performance.
From the New York Daily News:
Hillary delivered. Or at least, that's how Barack Obama saw the New York senator's emotional plea to her most passionate foot soldiers Tuesday night, when she beseeched them from a stage she had hoped would be hers not to defect to John McCain. "Yay!" Obama shouted softly as he watched from a living room in Montana while Clinton declared herself a "proud supporter" of Obama in Denver. "That was excellent, that was a strong speech," Obama said. "She made the case for why we're going to be unified in November and why we're going to win this election. I thought she was outstanding..." "I thought it was a tremendous speech," said Neera Tanden, the woman who directed Clinton's famously detailed policy proposals and now runs Obama's domestic shop. "She did everything she needed to do to unify the party. "There's not much more she could have done," Tanden said. "She made it very clear from the beginning that the way she was going to continue fighting for what she believed in and what she was passionate about was by fighting for Sen. Obama," said Sarah Hurwitz, Clinton's former top speech writer. "She made it very clear to all of us who worked for her that she expected other people to do the same."
From the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Hillary Rodham Clinton said all the right words last night to unite a party battered by a divisive nomination battle. But she's done that before, with some of the same words, long before the Democratic National Convention opened. What mattered this time, with thousands of delegates inside the hall cheering her on and millions of her supporters watching on TV, was how Clinton offered her support to the Democrat who beat her for the party's presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama. From her first words, there was no doubt. “She absolutely delivered – for Obama and for herself,” said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of The Rothenberg Political Report, a respected nonpartisan newsletter, who was in Denver's Pepsi Center. “Right from the get-go, she embraced Barack. . . . The Obama people got exactly what they wanted and what they needed.” Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the University of Southern California hailed it as “one of the best speeches she has ever given,” adding, “She really knocked it out of the ballpark...” But last night she hit all the right notes, delivering a speech remarkably free of any sense of defeat, self-pity or what-might-have-beens. She thanked the 18 million Americans who supported her in the primaries, but then all but commanded them to put aside their displeasure with the outcome and get behind the Illinois senator as he leads the party into battle.
Sen. Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. as his vice presidential running mate here on Saturday, embracing him as a "statesman with sound judgment" who had never forgotten his humble roots or lost his fundamental decency. "Joe Biden is that rare mix. For decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn't changed him," Obama (Ill.) said. The announcement -- made official only hours earlier -- capped weeks of speculation and brought an infusion of experience and aggressiveness to the Democratic ticket two days before the start of the convention in Denver. Biden, 65, a sharp-witted and energetic foreign policy expert who has held two of the most critical Senate chairmanships, bounded out onto the stage just after 2 p.m. Central time. The senator from Delaware hugged Obama and then, taking the podium as the vice presidential candidate for the first time.... Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and also served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He commands a loyal, if small, clutch of followers in the battleground state of Iowa, having twice campaigned for president there. His home state of Delaware has just three electoral votes, but he is originally from Pennsylvania, a critical swing state with 21. ...Obama and Biden made their joint debut in front of a crowd of tens of thousands at the old Illinois statehouse, where the presumptive Democratic nominee launched his campaign a year and a half ago. The first blue "Obama-Biden" signs were on display -- quickly produced under the cloak of secrecy as the campaign tried to keep the announcement from leaking. In his introductory remarks, Obama described Biden's life story: as a boy raised on Catholic values in working-class Pennsylvania; as a young senator who lost his first wife and daughter in a car accident; as a senator who had fought against tyranny and injustice...."He is still that scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the odds -- the dedicated family man and committed Catholic who knows every conductor on that Amtrak train to Wilmington. That's the kind of fighter who I want by my side in the months and years to come," Obama said. He described Biden as being "at home in a bar in Cedar Rapids" as well as on the world stage -- two settings in which Obama has struggled over the course of the race. ..."There's something about this guy, there's something about Barack Obama, that allows him to bring people together," Biden said. "It's been amazing to watch him, but then again, that's been the story of his whole life." He said Obama has the "vision and courage" to improve the country, calling him a "clear-eyed pragmatist who will get the job done."
From the Chicago Tribune:
Still fired up by Barack Obama's first announcement on a bitterly cold day in February 2007, Chris Trudeau returned Saturday, buoyed by the throngs of people Obama has drawn across the country and throughout the world."I figured if it was good enough for 200,000 Europeans, it'll certainly do for me," Trudeau said.They came to see an encore performance by Obama, the man who launched his presidential campaign last year at the foot of the same Old State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once walked.The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee energized thousands of cheering supporters who saw his first joint appearance with newly unveiled running mate Joe Biden, a fellow U.S. senator whose credentials played well with longtime Obama admirers and the newcomers.Standing for hours in the heat, the crowd stayed calm, swigging bottled water before exploding into deafening roars, first for Obama and then for Biden.Trudeau, a 25-year-old graphic designer from Springfield, viewed the moment as tantamount to ending slavery or giving women the right to vote."Eventually we come around and do the right thing, and Obama's a big step in coming around and doing the right thing," he said.In a day of harmony, it also didn't hurt his relationship with his girlfriend, Becky VanDyke, when she said Biden was her favorite choice for vice president....Glen Ellyn resident Kevin Johnson, a medical student at Southern Illinois University, got up at 4 a.m. and hit the road to Springfield to see his first "political role model.""More than anything else, it feels like he speaks and says things and feels the way about things that are common sense," Johnson said.The 25-year-old African-American endorsed Biden, partly because "he doesn't really take a lot of slack from Republicans."
Still fired up by Barack Obama's first announcement on a bitterly cold day in February 2007, Chris Trudeau returned Saturday, buoyed by the throngs of people Obama has drawn across the country and throughout the world."I figured if it was good enough for 200,000 Europeans, it'll certainly do for me," Trudeau said.They came to see an encore performance by Obama, the man who launched his presidential campaign last year at the foot of the same Old State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once walked.The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee energized thousands of cheering supporters who saw his first joint appearance with newly unveiled running mate Joe Biden, a fellow U.S. senator whose credentials played well with longtime Obama admirers and the newcomers.Standing for hours in the heat, the crowd stayed calm, swigging bottled water before exploding into deafening roars, first for Obama and then for Biden.Trudeau, a 25-year-old graphic designer from Springfield, viewed the moment as tantamount to ending slavery or giving women the right to vote."Eventually we come around and do the right thing, and Obama's a big step in coming around and doing the right thing," he said.In a day of harmony, it also didn't hurt his relationship with his girlfriend, Becky VanDyke, when she said Biden was her favorite choice for vice president.
...Glen Ellyn resident Kevin Johnson, a medical student at Southern Illinois University, got up at 4 a.m. and hit the road to Springfield to see his first "political role model.""More than anything else, it feels like he speaks and says things and feels the way about things that are common sense," Johnson said.The 25-year-old African-American endorsed Biden, partly because "he doesn't really take a lot of slack from Republicans."
Roy Gross doesn't know exactly what he's going to say next Thursday when he takes the stage at the Democratic National Convention. But the former truck driver from Taylor knows his comments will focus on the woes of the middle class. Gross got the call last Saturday that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wants to share the stage with him. He'll get three minutes to speak on the night that Obama will formally accept the nomination before 75,000 people at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High football stadium. "It's hard to get all of your thoughts into three minutes, but on the other side, I think three minutes will seem like an eternity on that big stage," Gross told The Associated Press Thursday in a phone interview. The 49-year-old business agent for Teamsters Local 299 in Detroit says he was shocked and excited to get the invitation. The Obama campaign will fly Gross to Denver on Wednesday and put him up. He expects to be back to work Friday. The daughter he has raised as a single parent is finishing up her final year as an education major at Bowling Green University in Ohio. She won't be able to accompany him because of her school schedule. Gross said he came to the Obama campaign's attention when he introduced the Illinois senator at a May 14 campaign event at Macomb Community College in Warren. He wrote his own comments then, but said he thought "that they would provide me with a speech so I would say the right things" when he spoke in Denver. Instead, the Obama campaign told Gross they want convention watchers to hear what he has to say in his own words. "I find that so great that they would allow a regular working Joe to actually put his thoughts on paper and go up there," he said. "I'm doubly impressed that Senator Obama is going to solicit the opinion of the common, working guy." Gross is one of more than 20 "real people" from around the country the Obama campaign has asked to speak about their everyday struggles during the convention, which runs Monday through Thursday.
Barack Obama, whose oratory and opposition to the war in Iraq helped propel him to the Democratic presidential nomination, said Thursday that he's preparing for an election he believes will turn on the economy. In an interview here with USA TODAY, Obama spoke about his multiracial background, the meteoric journey that will take him to Denver to accept his party's presidential nomination next Thursday night and the potential obstacles that follow. The interview took place during a three-day campaign swing that took him through traditionally Republican communities of the rural South. … One of the sharpest areas of disagreement between the two men has been Iraq policy. Obama said Thursday's reports of a potential deal by the Bush administration to pull U.S. combat troops out of Iraq show that he, and not McCain, has been right about the conflict there. "It's more or less the same time frame I announced two years ago," Obama said. The senator has been advocating a phased withdrawal that would bring combat troops out of Iraq by 2010. McCain says the timing of a pullout must be determined by conditions on the ground. … Obama wants voters to focus on "the fundamental choice we have to make" between his economic policies and those of his Republican rival, John McCain, he said. "I'm much more interested in laying out that choice clearly than I am in a bunch of high-flying rhetoric," he said. Going into the fall, Obama is adjusting his campaign. "There's no doubt that the enthusiasm and grass-roots energy we built carries with it its own dangers," he said. …He said he's seeking smaller forums where he can discuss issues with voters. "We're cutting through all the sizzle and getting to the steak," Obama said. In Chester, he spoke to 250 voters at picnic tables in a sun-dappled pine grove. During a nearly 90-minute conversation that touched on matters ranging from health care to education, from tax policy to Iraq, Obama told the group that his foreign policy advisers will include two prominent Republicans, Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Richard Lugar of Indiana. "This is nice," Obama said of the laid-back setting. "Who brought the potato salad?"
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
… Obama spoke after a town-hall meeting at John Tyler Community College in Chester, [Virginia], where the Illinois senator, joined by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, talked about the economy before an audience of about 300 people. "I think that people are looking for who's going to fight for them in the White House," Obama said. "And if they have confidence that I'm going to make their lives better, their children's lives better, I don't think they care whether I'm green or blue or polka dot." Aided by Kaine, one of his earliest and most enthusiastic supporters, Obama has made a big push in Virginia. He has peppered the state with 33 campaign offices and supplemented television ads with four visits during his general-election campaign. All are signs that he believes Virginia's 13 electoral votes are within reach; a Democratic presidential nominee has not carried the state in 44 years. Obama spent the past two days talking about the economy. He visited Martinsville, which has the state's highest unemployment rate, and Lynchburg, Chester and Chesapeake. During the interview in Chester, Obama sought to dispel the notion he's too liberal for Virginians by affirming his stances on several hot-button issues, such as his opposition to same-sex marriage and his support for Second Amendment rights. "I am a strong believer of the Second Amendment," he said. "Nobody's going to take the guns of law-abiding Virginians away from them." … "The fact that we're tied . . . I think that sends a good signal about what we're doing," Obama said, referring to polling showing he and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain are close in Virginia. "But it's not going to be easy. "This is a state in transition. Obviously the success of [former Gov.] Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and [Sen.] Jim Webb indicate that Democrats can win statewide, but it's going to require everything we've got in order to pull this out."
Sen. Barack Obama lamented the loss of U.S. jobs Wednesday as he campaigned in a region of southern Virginia that in recent elections has spurned Democratic presidential candidates. Obama came to economically distressed Southside alongside Mark R. Warner, a popular former governor who seven years ago made the strongest electoral showing in rural Virginia of any statewide Democratic candidate in a generation. Warner is running for U.S. Senate, and Democrats hope he can help Obama snare Virginia's 13 electoral votes. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee spoke to workers laid off from nearby factories at a packed town hall meeting in a cavernous warehouse here used by Patrick Henry Community College to train workers in the auto-racing industry. U.S. flags and race cars surrounded the stage. "You're worried about the future. Here people have gone through very tough times," the Illinois senator said. "When you've got entire industries that have shipped overseas, when you've got thousands of jobs being lost. . . . That's tough." … Democrats expect Obama to win big in Northern Virginia, perform well in competitive Hampton Roads and attract large numbers of African American and younger voters. But their strategy, much like Warner's winning formula in 2001, also includes securing as many votes as possible in Southside, where Obama ran ahead of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in February on his way to a landslide victory in the state's primary. … Obama drew hearty applause here when he spoke about his desire to give tax breaks to companies that create jobs in the United States and stop tax breaks to those that ship jobs overseas. "People feel like the American dream is slipping away," he said. "That's what's at stake in this election. We can't keep going in the same direction that we have been. We have to fundamentally change how America does business."
From the Associated Press:
Democrat Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to create millions of union jobs in alternative energy and end tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas, using tough new populist language to convince voters that he, not rival John McCain, is best positioned to lift the limping U.S. economy. Obama was on a two-day bus tour through Virginia, a likely general election battleground state, amid frenzied speculation about when he would announce his running mate. He brushed off questions about his choice during a morning visit to a farmer's market in Greensboro, N.C., before boarding the bus. … At a community college in Martinsville, Va., Obama told about 350 supporters that McCain had a compelling biography as a former prisoner of war in Vietnam. But, he said, the GOP hopeful would follow the economic policies of the Bush administration if elected. "I honor his service," Obama said. "I don't honor his policies. I don't honor his politics." Obama also renewed his warning that Republicans would try to scare voters about his background. "They'll say, 'He's young, he's got a funny name, he's not patriotic,'" Obama said, adding that it was part of a pattern in GOP presidential politics. "We've seen this movie before," he said. … Obama said it was wrong that the Iraqi government has been sitting on billions of dollars in oil revenue while the U.S. spends billions to rebuild the country. "We should be using some of that money to rebuild Virginia, laying roads, building broadband lines and putting people back to work," Obama said. As for tax breaks to companies taking jobs overseas, Obama said: "We sure as heck don't have to give them incentives to move. ... We should give companies tax breaks that are right here." … "If you give me that opportunity, if you give me that chance, I will fight for you every single day," he pledged. "I'll wake up every day in that White House thinking about those people in Martinsville."
[Emily's List, the organization founded to help elect more pro-choice women to governor's offices and Congress] today released the results of a survey it did earlier this month showing that Obama holds a solid lead among women voters -- 51 percent backed Obama and 39 percent John McCain. That gives Obama a larger preconvention lead among women than those enjoyed by either John Kerry in 2004 (one percentage point) or Al Gore in 2000 (nine points). Obama's 12 point lead is also larger than the final margin of victory for Kerry (3 points) and Gore (11 points) among women. "This is a very solid showing for Senator Obama. In historical terms, it's a showing that augurs well for him," said pollster Geoff Garin, who oversaw the survey. … [T]he organization's leader, Ellen Malcolm, today rejected the suggestion that it was lingering doubts among Clinton's supporters that was contributing to whatever softness there is in support for Obama among women voters. Malcolm noted that women in the survey who had positive views of Clinton were supporting Obama, 73-18 percent, whereas 19 percent of those who did not like Clinton were backing Obama, which Malcolm suggested showed a lack of antiObama animus among Clinton supporters. "The more you like Senator Clinton, the more likely you are to be for Senator Obama," Malcolm said. To further the 'no harm, no foul' notion, she noted that she and Clinton and Michelle Obama would be attending a unity event at the convention next week.
From the Olympian:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has opened a campaign office in Idaho, in keeping with an earlier promise the Illinois senator made to establish a presence in all 50 states. … "It's been almost 50 years [since Idaho voted for a Democratic presidential candidate]," said T.J. Thomson, lead organizer for the grassroots Idaho for Obama campaign. "I'm thinking it'd have to be a perfect storm." Strong voter turnout. An off year for Republicans. Independents that can be persuaded. Those are the political conditions Thomson and a team of 1,500 volunteers hope for as they try to rally Idaho voters behind a Democratic candidate. The group has largely targeted young voters, a demographic Obama has been widely credited with drawing into politics. Republican presidential candidate John McCain hasn't opened a campaign office in Idaho. … The Obama campaign staffed an office in downtown Boise this week with two full-time paid employees and one full-time volunteer. Campaign efforts at the grassroots level were energized earlier this year when Obama made a swing through Idaho in February and drew about 14,000 people to Boise State's basketball arena. "When he showed he could fill a colosseum to its capacity, in a place like Idaho," Thomson said, "that showed America that even in states that have been traditionally Republican in the past, that doesn't mean they're always going to be Republican."
From the Las Vegas Review Journal:
Sen. Barack Obama told a small crowd of supporters here Sunday that he offers real solutions to the nation's economic woes while his opponent is pushing the same tired agenda of President Bush. Obama, D-Ill, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, said Sen. John McCain is trying to make the campaign about Obama and his experience because the Arizona Republican's own record is one of supporting Bush's failed economic and foreign policies. "No wonder they want to make the election about me," he said. "They don't want to be talking about their record because they can't defend it. So don't get fooled by Paris, Britney and nasty e-mails folks are sending out. This election is about you. It's about us..." Obama made his comments to about 250 invited supporters at Wooster High School. The day before, he and McCain appeared at a faith forum at a California megachurch, where they briefly hugged. Sunday's visit was Obama's first to Nevada since a trip to North Las Vegas in late May, before he locked in the Democratic nomination for president... Earlier in the day, he met with Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens to discuss strategies for developing alternative energy. Pickens has criticized the country's dependence on oil and is pushing the development of alternative energies... Obama highlighted the differences between his and McCain's positions on taxes and the development of alternative energy. Obama said his tax plan provides breaks to 95 percent of Americans, while McCain's plan would give breaks to the wealthy and to corporations. "He's giving $300 billion tax breaks to corporations including oil companies like Exxon Mobil that have made record profits every quarter for the past three quarters," he said. "John McCain and I both have a tax plan, but I benefit the middle class and working families and he is benefiting the same corporations that have been making out like bandits under the Bush administration." Obama also said he wants to commit $15 billion a year to developing new sources of energy. This would reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil and create "5 million new green jobs" that could not be outsourced to other counties. "We've got a lot of sun here in Nevada," Obama said. "And we can use that to generate energy and free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. "Here in Nevada, we should have solar panels all throughout the state, everywhere," he said, his remarks heralding today's energy summit in Las Vegas organized by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
From the Reno Gazette-Journal:
When Marysa Falk received a phone call asking if she would carry U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's luggage to the airport Sunday, she happily dropped everything to volunteer for the job. She called it an honor. And, she got to attend the Democratic candidate's invitation-only speech Sunday morning at Wooster High School. "It's nice to see everyone wearing Obama shirts, pins and bracelets," said Falk, president of Students for Obama at the University of Nevada, Reno. About 250 volunteers, union representatives and others affiliated with the campaign attended Obama's speech with Falk. They mostly agreed: They liked what they heard. Roieann Croxen, 67, a Sparks mother and grandmother, said she switched from supporting U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton to support Obama. A recent bout of illness caused Croxen to lose her home, her job and her savings. Obama, she said, is her best hope for national health care reform. "I honestly believe that (Obama) is going to make the change," she said. Banmali Rawap, a 61-year-old University of Nevada, Reno professor, said he was impressed with Obama's speech. His daughter is a delegate for Obama in Las Vegas. "(His speech) was down to earth, in the way he talks to people and understands their problems," Rawap said. "His economic solution will work, and it's practical..." Christian Fitts, a 13-year-old volunteer for Obama's campaign, said he appreciated Obama's energy plans to implement greater use of wind and solar energy. "I thought he was a really good speaker in person," Fitts said. "He touched on the economy the most." Reggie Brantley, 54, of Sparks said he felt Obama demonstrated he understood the crowd's concerns while answering the crowd's questions. "He addressed the issues and he made it plain that our interests are his interests," Brantley said. "To me, he's not a celebrity, he's a man of substance."
The folks in this picturesque mountain community with red barns and Amish buggies have been voting overwhelmingly Republican in national elections for decades. But tough economic times in Mifflin County and in rural areas all around the country have created possible openings for Democrat Barack Obama. President Bush won nearly 70 percent of the county's vote in both 2000 and 2004, but the standard of living here has declined steadily during his administration. The farm equipment factory that employed 500 workers here is closing. So is the milk plant. Farmers are facing skyrocketing feed and fertilizer costs, and gas prices are squeezing household budgets of those who now have to drive elsewhere for work. Nationally, Bush won almost 60 percent of the rural vote, but Republican John McCain doesn't appear to be doing as well... Recognizing an opportunity, Obama has opened more offices in rural areas than any other Democratic presidential candidate in years, pushing a message focused on job creation. Neighborhood campaign teams have been going door to door talking about Obama and his economic policies. In Ohio, his campaign recently announced a "Barns for Obama" effort, in which farmers are encouraged to paint their barn with Obama's logo... Republican Barbara Dettloff, 72, a retired bartender from Racine, Ohio, an Appalachian river town with about 750 people, voted for Bush in 2004 and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in this year's Republican primary. She's voting for Obama in November because "I think he's nice and I think he's sincere in what he says."
From the Hamilton Spectator:
A vibrantly attired Uncle Sam and his companion, Lady Liberty, led a parade of about 40 Barack Obama supporters in Hamilton on the weekend. The group gathered for a voter registration rally Saturday, before marching to the York Boulevard bridge to represent how they say the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee can "bridge" all people of all ages, races and political stripes. "There is an amount of optimism that we've never seen before," said Kenneth Sherman, the chair of the Hamilton chapter of Democrats Abroad, and the vice-chair of the national organization in Canada. Sherman says Democrats Abroad has seen a "tremendous increase" in membership during the leadup to the United States' November election. Estimates peg the number of eligible U.S. voters living north of the border at about 600,000. "Americans living abroad see the U.S. through a different lens," said Sherman. For Mark Oreskovich, an American citizen from Brantford who has been living in Canada for more than 40 years, watching from a distance as his home country fights a war in Iraq spurred him to register to vote. Oreskovich, who is originally from Obama's home state of Illinois, said he has never voted in an American election, but he intends to vote for Obama this November.
From WLNS-TV:
With the presidential election just 78 days away, one candidate is setting up shop in mid-Michigan. Senator Barack Obama's campaign staff opened an office in Lansing. There's a lot of talk about Michigan's role as a battleground state in this election, and now that battle is taking to the streets of mid-Michigan. Several hundred people turned out to officially launch this phase of presumptive democratic candidate Barack Obama's campaign. The event drew prominent democrats, volunteers and Obama supporters from across the area. Organizers say the local campaign office will allow them to recruit and manage volunteers. They say they now plan to put the campaign in high gear, canvassing the area, registering voters and doing whatever it takes to spread their message.
Barack Obama and John McCain made their first joint appearance of the general election Saturday night, breaking away from the debates over national security and the economy that have dominated the campaign in recent weeks to court evangelical voters at an Orange County megachurch. The forum at Saddleback Church presented a rare opportunity for Christian voters to contrast candidates who do not conform neatly to party stereotypes. While Obama has spoken often about his faith -- and endured a storm of controversy over comments made by the former pastor of the Chicago church he attended until recently -- McCain has largely avoided public discussions of faith and values during his career, which has contributed to a sometimes rocky relationship with evangelical leaders. The event was hosted by Rick Warren, the author of the best-selling "The Purpose Driven Life" and one of the country's most prominent evangelical preachers. Warren, a Southern Baptist, referred to both McCain and Obama as friends in his introductions... In his answers, Obama described many of his positions, even on taxes and energy, in the language of a devout Christian. When asked about his "greatest moral failing," he discussed his teenage drug and alcohol use, attributing it to "a certain selfishness on my part. I was so obsessed with me, and the reasons why I might be dissatisfied, that I couldn't focus on other people..." "I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and I am redeemed through him," Obama told Warren. "That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis."
From the Reno Gazette Journal:
When U.S. Sen. Barack Obama returns to Reno today for his first general election campaign swing in Northern Nevada, he'll be stepping into what could be ground zero in the presidential battle for the Silver State's five electoral votes. Washoe County, long a Republican stronghold with only pockets of Democratic voters, is starting to change, giving hope to local Democrats that the county will be the one to finally nudge Nevada into a Democratic presidential candidate's column. "We are the swing county in the swing state, and a personal visit from the senator will energize volunteers and voters in a huge way," said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno. "On Sunday, the real campaign begins." In traditional Nevada politics, Democrats running statewide focus on their base in Clark County, which has long been overwhelmingly Democratic but underwhelming in its turnout performance. Voters there, both Republican and Democrat, rarely make it to the polls in great numbers. That gives Washoe County, with a growing number of Democrats, a new foothold. "You have to do well in Washoe County," said Sean Sinclair, a Democratic consultant who ran U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's 2004 campaign. "There's never been enough of a margin in Clark County that you can just do average in the rest of the state." Since 2004, Democrats in Washoe County have cut the Republican voter registration advantage to 5,700 from 17,000. The county's two biggest cities, Reno and Sparks, are majority Democratic. Outside of registration, the county also is starting to perform for the party. In the 2006 congressional race, Democrat Jill Derby won the county by 4 percent. Democrats in four of the six statewide offices won the county... While today is Obama's first general election visit to the area, his organization in the state reflects an opportunity for him in Washoe County, which he won handily in the Nevada Caucuses. The campaign has 10 field organizers in Washoe County, and two of the campaign's five senior staff members worked in Northern Nevada during the caucuses.
From the Las Crucs Sun-News:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will appear at a local high school for a town hall and discuss the economy at a smaller event in Albuquerque on Monday. During his fourth visit to New Mexico this campaign season, the Illinois senator will discuss the economy with residents at an invitation-only event Monday morning in Albuquerque. The candidate will hold a town hall meeting at Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque at 1 p.m. Doors open at 10:45 a.m.
From the Los Angeles Times:
Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama raised $51 million in July, pushing the total he has raised since his presidential quest began to more than $390 million. His take for the month dipped slightly from the $52 million he raised in June. But he nearly matched the roughly $53 million raised by rival Sen. John McCain and the Republican National Committee combined in July. Obama's total is significantly more than what the eventual nominees had raised by this time four years ago. President Bush had raised $240 million at this point in 2004, and Sen. John F. Kerry had collected $210 million... In a statement, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said 65,000 new donors in July "demonstrate just how strongly the American people are looking to fundamentally change business as usual in Washington..." Obama has an edge: a massive number of small donors. His campaign says he has received money from more than 2 million contributors, compared with McCain's 600,000. Obama expects to raise more than McCain in part by seeking more money from that army of donors.
Under a scorching sun, hundreds of people lined up recently in a parking lot here to pick up free back-to-school supplies being distributed by a local radio station. Bobbing among the shade umbrellas were a handful of workers for Senator Barack Obama, carrying clipboards and voter registration forms. On Monday night, others fanned out at a movie screening for surfers in Wrightsville Beach. They descended on a street festival in Asheville. When oil companies posted record profits, Obama supporters showed up at gas stations here with registration forms. Despite the relentless heat, and midsummer lull, the Obama campaign is mobilizing in North Carolina. The state is one of half a dozen once-solid Republican bastions, including Georgia, Indiana and Virginia, where Democrats now sniff opportunity to expand the electoral map. They hope that North Carolina’s growth, especially among high-tech workers in Research Triangle Park, will help change voting patterns that are decades old... To that end, the organization of Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has been conducting an intense registration drive, appearing wherever people gather, as well as singling out potential voters in neighborhoods and online, and reaching out to undecided voters. It has also reactivated the extensive volunteer network it built before crushing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton here in the May primary, and it is already running television commercials. The campaign of the presumed Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, by contrast, has been barely visible... “The dynamics here are different than they ever have been,” said Mr. Obama’s state director, Marc Farinella, pointing to the influx of about 600,000 people since 2004. Mr. Farinella said the Obama campaign would take advantage of this through an aggressive ground game and would speak to both affluent workers and those upended by trade policies that have cost the state tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs. The campaign will also try to exploit Mr. McCain’s opposition to a $300 billion farm bill approved by Congress... But the Obama organization is steadily gaining recruits and putting them to work. Jennifer Lasater, 38, a project manager at a software company here, donated $25 online to the campaign recently and then joined a registration drive through a breast-cancer awareness event. Now she is canvassing and calling voters and at night entering voter information into the campaign’s extensive voter database. “The thought that North Carolina could vote for a Democrat made me think that if there’s something I could do to make that happen, that would be valuable,” Ms. Lasater said. “I figure, if my mother-in-law, who is fairly conservative, told me out of the blue that she was planning to vote for Obama, he has a chance in this state.”
Led by a former Bush fund-raiser and a former U.S. Senator who bolted the G.O.P. several years ago, a group of current and former Republicans disenchanted with Senator John McCain and supportive of Senator Barack Obama are banding together to start a "Republicans for Obama" effort. Rita Hauser, a New York philanthropist who raised money for both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, is helping to organize the push to draw Republicans away from Mr. McCain and will serve as a spokeswoman for the group, alongside former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee, of Rhode Island, who was one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate and became an independent after he lost his seat in 2006. Ms. Hauser served as a finance chairwoman in New York for George W. Bush in 2000 and was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board during his first term, but she endorsed Senator John F. Kerry in 2004, because of her opposition to the Iraq War. Ms. Hauser said she was motivated to support the presumed Democratic nominee, Mr. Obama, again by her feelings on Iraq. But she said others in the group were driven by other issues. About 20 current and former Republicans make up the group's leadership committee, including Douglas Kmiec, a Republican who served in the Justice Department under President Ronald Reagan and was a supporter of Mitt Romney during the Republican primary, and Dorothy Danforth Burlin, a Washington lawyer who is the daughter of former U.S. Senator John Danforth, another moderate Republican.
From the Brookhaven Daily Leader:
When Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama accepts his party's mantle and ends what some say has been the most exciting nomination bid in recent history, he will do it before the eyes of one of Lincoln County's own. Brookhaven's Sherry Washington will serve as a volunteer in Denver at the 2008 Democratic National Convention at Mile High Stadium Aug. 25 through Aug. 28. She will be present to see Obama officially accept the Democratic nomination for president and select a vice presidential running mate. Short of running for the post herself, Washington believes attending the convention is about as exciting is it can get for a veteran of the Lincoln County Democratic Committee who has put in time volunteering at the polls. "I'm excited - totally excited," she said. "I'm just going to take everything in, enjoy it and come back with the knowledge." Washington said politics have fascinated her since a young age, but she has been out of the game for more than two decades. Through 26 years of working for the Social Security Administration in Brookhaven, Washington has had little time to continue the political involvement she began more than 25 years ago. But now that she's retired, Washington said she was "back in action."
From the Rocky Mountain News :
Today is the deadline to get your name on the waiting list for tickets to Barack Obama's speech at Invesco Field. Campaign officials, however, said the chances are slim you'll get a seat if you waited until now to get on the list. The campaign already is processing applications and will begin notifying people between today and Friday if they got a ticket. Officials did not know Monday how many people have requested tickets. As of Friday, 60,000 Coloradans had requested tickets and an additional 20,000 were put on the waiting list. Tickets, also called community credentials, can be picked up at any of the nine Colorado Campaign for Change offices. When people pick up their credentials, they will be asked about their ability to get to Invesco Field and if they have lodging. Some of those questions were asked when people called or applied online for tickets - including a willingness to volunteer. Officials have said they want people to make phone calls on behalf of the campaign while waiting for Obama to speak but haven't said how that will work. Matt Chandler, Obama spokesman, said there would be a cutoff date for people to pick up their credentials, but he wouldn't say what that date was. He said it was safe to assume it would be before the week of the convention, Aug. 25-28. Campaign officials also said more offices will be opened in Colorado before the convention. They wouldn't give a number but said Colorado would have more than New Mexico, which has 15.
From the St. Petersburg Times:
It could be the single most important question for the presidential election in Florida: Can Barack Obama translate thousands of new Democratic voters into thousands of more votes? Because on the surface, the voter registration trend in Florida should be worrisome to John McCain and Republicans, who can't afford to lose Florida's 27 electoral votes. While the state GOP added about 126,000 voters this year through July, Florida Democrats added 236,000. Since January, Democrats accounted for nearly 45 percent of about 530,000 new registrations in Florida, compared with 24 percent for Republicans and 31 percent for independents and minor parties. More than twice as many new Hispanic voters -- a heavily courted electorate -- registered Democratic as Republican, as did new voters under 35. "Floridians are enthusiastic for change," state Democratic chairwoman Karen Thurman said. "With so many new Democratic voters, a record number of volunteers, and great candidates running for offices across Florida, we are seeing a wave of support building to elect Barack Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket..." The Obama campaign has launched an unprecedented voter mobilization effort in Florida that is focused heavily on registering African-Americans, Hispanics and younger people who have never voted... In the new numbers, Democrats see implications that could extend well beyond this year. More than 131,000 new voters under 35 registered as Democrats, for instance, compared with 63,392 who registered as Republicans, according to Democratic figures. Among new Hispanic voters, Democrats gained 49,381 and Republicans 19,759. Only 3,400 new African-American voters registered Republican, compared with more than 75,000 who registered Democratic.
From the Cherokee Chronicle Times:
Americans recall the series of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, as a world-changing event. For some, it was a personally life-altering day. For one girl, who was 12 at the time, it would serve as an awakening to the larger world and lead her to become a political activist on a national scale. Stephanie Cosgrove, a 2008 graduate of Washington High School in Cherokee, has been elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, which begins on Aug. 25. This is not the first time Cosgrove has had an impact that is unusually significant for someone so young. Within a week of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy, Cosgrove had t-shirts made and on sale to raise money for the victims. The t-shirts had a message of hope, stating, "The World is a Wonderful Place." The words "Keep the Faith" appeared on an American flag and below that were the words, "God Bless America." Pins with a similar design were also produced and sold. The t-shirts and pins became highly popular. Cosgrove's efforts would gain her national attention as a young person of compassion and action. Her interest in national and world events grew and she became an early supporter of Barack Obama. "I worked really hard to get him here in December," Cosgrove said. Thanks to Cosgrove and other local Obama supporters, Obama did appear in December before an audience that packed the main room at the Cherokee Community Center. Obama did well in the January caucus vote in Cherokee and across the state. Cosgrove was elected at the caucus as a delegate to the county convention and from there as a delegate to the district convention, which corresponds to the fifth congressional district in Iowa. The state convention was as far as Cosgrove expected to go until she was told that she was qualified to try for a national convention seat... She expects the national convention in Denver to be even more exciting. She will not be the only youthful delegate. Many states have delegates in their teens or early 20s. Another Iowa female delegate graduated high school last spring and one male is 21.
Will the real Obama supporters please . . . sit down? There are many ways to contribute to a campaign. Volunteer time, make phone calls, build benches. Benches? Meet Harry and Emma, the creators of "Benches for Barack." The project was the brainchild of Harry Fishbein and Emelia (Emma) Dillon, a quirky couple of 18-year-olds - from Cobble Hill and Hoboken respectively - as a way to get involved in the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama. It all started at a bus stop, where Dillon was complaining to Fishbein about her mom's failed attempts to get her involved in the campaign. They came up with the idea to build benches and give the profits to the campaign... After coming up with the idea, Fishbein and Dillon posted an ad on www.craigslist.org and started selling the benches for $30... Purchases were slow until Kara Zuaro, a writer for blog The Brownstoner, discovered their ad and ordered a bench from the teens. "It seemed perfect. I was looking for a bench anyway and I found a way to donate to the campaign," Zuaro said. "I didn't realize how young Harry and Emma were until they brought the bench over." Impressed by their endeavors, Zuaro wrote a special item about them in her section of The Brownstoner. After the blog entry, business skyrocketed for the teens. They received 50 e-mails a day for three days. The influx in customers meant more work and an increase of the price of benches from $30 to $40. Building these benches, Dillon says, is "hard labor..." As of Aug. 4, Benches for Barack had sold 95 benches and raised $1,425 for the campaign. "I used to see cutesy things like kids having lemonade stands," Lavoie said, "but these two are building something that can last and making a lot more money than I've ever heard of."
Last night, in a cell phone text message that was quickly followed by an e-mail linking back to a new page on his Web site -- my.barackobama.com/vp -- aides to Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) campaign wrote: "Barack will announce his VP candidate choice through txt message between now & the Conv. Tell everyone to text VP to 62262 to be the first to know! Please forward." Note three things: the casual reference to the candidate ("Barack"); the call to "forward" the text (to friends, relatives, etc.); the perceived personal appeal of being "the first to know"; and the timing -- the text was sent two weeks before the Democratic National Convention kicks off. That gives plenty of time for the text to be passed around. It also gives the Obama campaign one more way to differentiate itself technologically from its Republican opponent; Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) doesn't have a text messaging program. A number of candidates have experimented with texting this campaign cycle, and Obama has by far been the most prolific texter. Though Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), former governor Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and Edwards all had text messaging programs, Obama's campaign has used the technology most consistently. Since announcing its program last summer, Obama has sent at least 25 texts to supporters.
From Bloomberg:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is opening campaign offices in Indiana, North Carolina and Alaska, using his financial edge to challenge John McCain in states previously written off by Democrats. Obama, an Illinois senator, also is concentrating much of his campaign-ad spending since clinching his party's nomination in June on states won by President George W. Bush in 2004, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Obama's push in previous Republican strongholds includes 14 offices in Indiana, 11 in North Carolina and four in Alaska, according to his campaign Web site. Only one of those states, North Carolina, has backed a Democratic presidential candidate in the past 40 years. "The number of offices that Obama will be able to open in states where we essentially withdrew from the battlefields in previous campaigns is stunning," said former Democratic National Committee National Chairman Steve Grossman, who is raising money for Obama. In highly competitive Missouri, for example, Obama has opened 29 offices, said Debbie Mesloh, Obama's spokeswoman for the state, which has supported a Democratic presidential nominee only twice since 1968.
From First Coast News:
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The Obama campaign is launching a new campaign at area barber shops and beauty salons. State Representative Audrey Gibson joined campaign volunteers and supporters at Bernard's Beauty Supply on Edgewood Avenue for the initiative. They're registering voters for the next few weeks. "We are going door-to-door, neighbor-to-neighbor, to ensure people know Barack Obamas vision for our country and that they are engaged in the political process," said Florida campaign spokesperson Adora Andy.
From the Providence Journal:
State Rep. Ray Sullivan has been hired to lead Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign operation in Rhode Island. Sullivan, a Coventry Democrat, becomes the Obama camp’s first paid staffer in the Ocean State since the primary election. Sullivan said more paid staff would be joining him at a campaign headquarters that will soon be established. “The campaign has never really left the state; it’s just not had a formal office and organization on the ground,” Sullivan said Thursday. “This is a big day for Rhode Island...” Meanwhile, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, has no plans to establish a Rhode Island headquarters or bring in paid staff.
From the Youngstown Vindicator:
An enthusiastic crowd of about 2,000 rose to their feet and cheered for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee repeatedly during a town hall-style meeting Tuesday at Austintown Fitch High School. It was his first visit to the area since the March 4 Democratic primary. “He is the epitome of hope and change,” said Karla Randall of Canfield, the mother of three sons, after the event. “I love his policies and his passion. He’s an example to my sons to not be afraid, be willing to take a risk and to do it with respect for God and people.” ...During Tuesday’s meeting, Obama responded to a question about unions — which have a powerful influence in the Mahoning Valley — by saying President Bush heads “the most anti-union administration in history.” Obama praised unions for establishing 40-hour work weeks and fighting for employee rights and fair pay. Earlier in the day, Obama sent food to members of the United Steelworkers of America Local 3523 on strike since July 24 against Thomas Steel Strip in Warren. Austintown was the second campaign stop this week for Obama as he touts his “New Energy for America” program. The policy, he said, would eliminate the need for oil from the Middle East and Venezuela in 10 years.
From the WISH-TV:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama returns to Indiana today. He'll talk about his energy plan at a speech this morning at Concord High School in Elkhart. ...Tuesday, Obama campaigned in another battleground state. He told a crowd in Ohio he wants to be held responsible for the promises he's making. "I want to be held accountable. If I am fortunate enough, if I have the honor to serve as your president, then you're still going to have to watch out. You've still got to make sure that I'm going to do what I said I was going to do. Because that's how our democracy's supposed to work," said Obama. The Obama campaign office in Elkhart handed out a thousand tickets to today's event.
From WSBT-TV:
The mood was one of anticipation at Concord High School in Elkhart early Wednesday as hundreds of people waited in line to see presidential Hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speak. Long before the sun came up — and for some people at the head of the line, before it went down Tuesday — sisters, couples and friends took their place in a line that snaked around two sides of the school gymnasium by 7 a.m. Early-birds included George and Peg Cooper of Elkhart, who set up camp about 7:20 p.m. and placed their lawn chairs near the front of the line, catching just a couple of hours of sleep in their van. The Coopers, both retired, strongly support Obama. “I’ve been a Republican most of my life. I want change,” said George, who turns 66 this week. “Obama seems like a fresh person.” As for party loyalty, 63-year-old Peg said, “I don’t vote for parties. I vote for the person.” And it’s the Obama persona that’s attracting new voters, too, including 17-year-old Ashley Wenger. She’ll turn 18 in time to vote and thinks Obama will be a good president. Ashley was attending the event with her younger sister, 14-year-old Megan, and their 41-year-old father Tracy... “He’s easy to believe and he speaks with confidence,” Wenger said. He works for a cabinet company and said so far, the layoffs and economic downturn have note affected him. But he worries they will in the future. And despite the festive atmosphere early Wednesday — the tickets for Wenger’s teens, the Obama T-shirt that 58-year-old Cary Osborne of Elkhart was buying — the economy was a prominent issue among voters. In fact, the economy and the environment are the top issues for Jeramy Hancock, 18, a 2008 Penn High School grad headed to Indiana University-Bloomington... Hancock said he's registered to vote, supports Obama and considers him talented. Asked if young people were talking about the election, issues and candidates, Hancock was emphatic. "It's my first election and it's a really big one," he said. "We're not just talking. We're thinking."
From WINK-TV:
Senator Barack Obama is making his presence known in Collier County. His campaign opened an office in Naples on Tuesday. The Barack Obama campaign says its all part of their strategy to compete for votes in all 50 states, including every area of Florida, even if that means putting a drop of blue in a county that's been a sea of red for some time. "We're welcoming everyone under our broad tent as we've always called it," said Steve Hemping, Chair of the Democratic Executive Committee of Collier County. You wouldn't know it by the packed house welcoming Barack Obama's "Campaign for Change" office in Naples, but Democrats have been a rare breed around here... But now, Democrats say they're seeing a change they're hopeful will become a trend. "It's been Republican territory here for some time, but the Democratic party is out registering Republicans here lately," Hemping said.
From the Tribune-Democrat:
The next time your neighbor drops by, he might not be looking to chat about the weather. He might be lobbying for the presidential bid of a certain Democratic senator from Illinois. As part of a massive push for pivotal Pennsylvania votes, the Barack Obama campaign wants to open a slew of field offices and create more than 700 “neighborhood teams” to spread the candidate’s message in every voting precinct across the state. The idea – an army of regular folks serving as trained, organized Obama ambassadors – shows what a critical role Pennsylvania voters will play in the battle between Obama and presumed GOP nominee John McCain... To get that message out, the Obama campaign is going local. Obama’s Johnstown campaign office at 508 Main St. will officially open Thursday, joining about 23 other offices around the state. “You’re going to see another round of office openings in the next couple weeks,” Smith said. “Rural outreach,” including door-to-door visits, also is expected to be a focus of the campaign. Then there are the neighborhood teams. They will be charged with a variety of activities including the organization of phone banks, canvassing activities, church visits, house meetings and volunteer recruitment. Along with training and guidance from Obama staffers, the teams can use resources from the campaign’s Web site, officials said. “There is no more effective messenger than someone you know, someone you trust, someone who lives next to you in your neighborhood,” Smith said. About 247 teams already are in place, he said. With Democratic voter-registration ranks having swelled in the months leading up to the primary, there are plenty of registered voters for the Obama teams to visit. But campaign officials also calculate that there are more than 1 million unregistered, eligible voters in Pennsylvania. Smith said Obama’s message of change could resonate with those residents. “We’re asking voters to believe in something different this year,” he said.
