The Official Barak Obama thread
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January 21, 2007
JESSE JACKSON GETS ON THE OBAMA TRAIN
BILLIONAIRE GEORGE SOROS BACKS OBAMA, AS 2008 FIGHT BEGINS
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January 21, 2007
JESSE JACKSON GETS ON THE OBAMA TRAIN
BILLIONAIRE GEORGE SOROS BACKS OBAMA, AS 2008 FIGHT BEGINS
</font>
<font face="3" color="#000000">
January 21, 2007
JESSE JACKSON GETS ON THE OBAMA TRAIN
BILLIONAIRE GEORGE SOROS BACKS OBAMA, AS 2008 FIGHT BEGINS
</font>
January 21, 2007
JESSE JACKSON GETS ON THE OBAMA TRAIN
BILLIONAIRE GEORGE SOROS BACKS OBAMA, AS 2008 FIGHT BEGINS
</font>
Views > February 1, 2007
Barack’s Black Dilemma
By Salim Muwakkil
Many blacks wonder if mainstream whites love Obama because of his lack of history as a slave, which elicits no feelings of historical guilt. Share Digg del.icio.us Reddit Newsvine The day after the national celebration of King Day, Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (D-Ill.) announced he was forming a committee to explore a run for the presidency. Obama’s rapid ascent and the popular draft that has swept him into the presidential race would have amazed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Less than 40 years after his assassination virtually killed the civil rights movement, many white Americans seem willing to back a black man for their leader. Even King dared not include a black president in his celebrated dream.
To paraphrase James Brown, this is a brand new bag. Had Brown not died last Christmas, he might have written a song about it.
Obama’s announcement was met with the kind of media coverage that makes politicians’ mouths water. Such media adulation has accompanied the 45-year-old since his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and his election to the U.S. Senate that same year. Before that, he was an Illinois state senator who had earned bipartisan respect for his energy, intelligence and political acumen.
Obama won his Senate seat through a series of lucky breaks (i.e., both of his major political rivals were done in by damaging allegations from former spouses), as well as his political appeal. His Ivy League education and well-modulated eloquence wear well in the mainstream, but have sometimes provoked suspicion from the black electorate. This Hawaiian-born son of a black Kenyan and white Kansan is a brother from another …
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) exploited those suspicions when Obama challenged him in 2000 for his First District congressional seat. Obama lost badly. In fact, Obama has had to deal with questions of racial authenticity since his initial foray into politics. Perhaps that’s why the line in his convention speech, that black parents must guard their children against the “slander that a black with a book is acting white,” resonated with such authority.
Some of the same qualities that make Obama alluring to white Americans (his affability, his seeming lack of racial grievance) are troubling to many African Americans. They wonder if the senator feels as connected to the black community as he does to the educated elite with whom he spent so much of his formative time.
This is a skeptical tradition formed by generations of African Americans who were betrayed by the slave masters’ favorite blacks. The logic seems simple: Be suspicious of those like you who are liked by those who dislike you.
Despite these suspicions, most African Americans seem pleased with the Obama phenomena, if also perplexed by the intensity of white Americans’ affection. All of this is new ground, which is why, aside from his political stance or ideological leanings, Obama’s public prominence will spark necessary discussions on race in American culture.
Obama’s racial hybridity is expressed as “black” in the United States only because “one drop” of African blood denoted blackness in a society dependent on racial slavery; this quality became a social taint with a devastating impact on the psyches of African Americans. As late as 1968, James Brown sparked a minor cultural revolution with his song, “Say it Loud (‘I’m Black and I’m Proud’).” It is one of Obama’s favorite songs.
Some who question Obama’s racial credentials raise the point that, unlike most African Americans, his family history was not framed by generations of chattel slavery. Black Republican Alan Keyes raised that issue during his disastrous senatorial campaign against Obama. Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh have also raised it. In fact, some conservatives are so distressed by his popularity that they’ve hinted he could be a “Manchurian Candidate” for Islam, programmed during his short childhood stint at an Indonesian madrasa. Whew!
But his unusual ancestral narrative may also fuel the fervor of Obama’s white support, in that his lack of slave history elicits no feelings of historical guilt among whites. They love Obama because he doesn’t hate them, as they suspect blacks should. Another theory making the rounds on black talk radio proffers that some whites see Obama as a way to redeem America in the eyes of a world angered by the Bush administration—the multicultural Obama’s calming presence serving as a necessary balm.
But where does this great black hope of whites stand on issues of enduring interest to African Americans? In Chicago, Obama won over many of his black critics by persuading them of his integrity, and with a legislative record that convinced them he had the black community’s interest at heart even as he cultivated alliances with other political forces.
For the most part, however, African Americans understand that Obama’s bid for national office requires a more complex political calculus than the protest candidacies of the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They know it’s a brand new bag—they just want it to stay funky.
Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor of In These Times, where he has worked since 1983, and an op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune. He is currently a Crime and Communities Media Fellow of the Open Society Institute, examining the impact of ex-inmates and gang leaders in leadership positions in the black community.
Barack’s Black Dilemma
By Salim Muwakkil
Many blacks wonder if mainstream whites love Obama because of his lack of history as a slave, which elicits no feelings of historical guilt. Share Digg del.icio.us Reddit Newsvine The day after the national celebration of King Day, Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (D-Ill.) announced he was forming a committee to explore a run for the presidency. Obama’s rapid ascent and the popular draft that has swept him into the presidential race would have amazed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Less than 40 years after his assassination virtually killed the civil rights movement, many white Americans seem willing to back a black man for their leader. Even King dared not include a black president in his celebrated dream.
To paraphrase James Brown, this is a brand new bag. Had Brown not died last Christmas, he might have written a song about it.
Obama’s announcement was met with the kind of media coverage that makes politicians’ mouths water. Such media adulation has accompanied the 45-year-old since his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and his election to the U.S. Senate that same year. Before that, he was an Illinois state senator who had earned bipartisan respect for his energy, intelligence and political acumen.
Obama won his Senate seat through a series of lucky breaks (i.e., both of his major political rivals were done in by damaging allegations from former spouses), as well as his political appeal. His Ivy League education and well-modulated eloquence wear well in the mainstream, but have sometimes provoked suspicion from the black electorate. This Hawaiian-born son of a black Kenyan and white Kansan is a brother from another …
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) exploited those suspicions when Obama challenged him in 2000 for his First District congressional seat. Obama lost badly. In fact, Obama has had to deal with questions of racial authenticity since his initial foray into politics. Perhaps that’s why the line in his convention speech, that black parents must guard their children against the “slander that a black with a book is acting white,” resonated with such authority.
Some of the same qualities that make Obama alluring to white Americans (his affability, his seeming lack of racial grievance) are troubling to many African Americans. They wonder if the senator feels as connected to the black community as he does to the educated elite with whom he spent so much of his formative time.
This is a skeptical tradition formed by generations of African Americans who were betrayed by the slave masters’ favorite blacks. The logic seems simple: Be suspicious of those like you who are liked by those who dislike you.
Despite these suspicions, most African Americans seem pleased with the Obama phenomena, if also perplexed by the intensity of white Americans’ affection. All of this is new ground, which is why, aside from his political stance or ideological leanings, Obama’s public prominence will spark necessary discussions on race in American culture.
Obama’s racial hybridity is expressed as “black” in the United States only because “one drop” of African blood denoted blackness in a society dependent on racial slavery; this quality became a social taint with a devastating impact on the psyches of African Americans. As late as 1968, James Brown sparked a minor cultural revolution with his song, “Say it Loud (‘I’m Black and I’m Proud’).” It is one of Obama’s favorite songs.
Some who question Obama’s racial credentials raise the point that, unlike most African Americans, his family history was not framed by generations of chattel slavery. Black Republican Alan Keyes raised that issue during his disastrous senatorial campaign against Obama. Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh have also raised it. In fact, some conservatives are so distressed by his popularity that they’ve hinted he could be a “Manchurian Candidate” for Islam, programmed during his short childhood stint at an Indonesian madrasa. Whew!
But his unusual ancestral narrative may also fuel the fervor of Obama’s white support, in that his lack of slave history elicits no feelings of historical guilt among whites. They love Obama because he doesn’t hate them, as they suspect blacks should. Another theory making the rounds on black talk radio proffers that some whites see Obama as a way to redeem America in the eyes of a world angered by the Bush administration—the multicultural Obama’s calming presence serving as a necessary balm.
But where does this great black hope of whites stand on issues of enduring interest to African Americans? In Chicago, Obama won over many of his black critics by persuading them of his integrity, and with a legislative record that convinced them he had the black community’s interest at heart even as he cultivated alliances with other political forces.
For the most part, however, African Americans understand that Obama’s bid for national office requires a more complex political calculus than the protest candidacies of the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They know it’s a brand new bag—they just want it to stay funky.
Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor of In These Times, where he has worked since 1983, and an op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune. He is currently a Crime and Communities Media Fellow of the Open Society Institute, examining the impact of ex-inmates and gang leaders in leadership positions in the black community.
Sen. Obama's NYC Fundraiser Too Much for Restaurant, Moved to Hotel
Sen. Obama's First NYC Fundraiser A Success
Tickets So Hot They Were Being Scalped On Craigslist
Andrew Kirtzman
Reporting
(CBS) NEW YORK Barack Obama entered the heart of Hillary Clinton country Friday night and received a hero's welcome before 2,000 adoring fans. His first presidential fundraiser in the Big Apple couldn't have gone much better.
"This campaign is not about me, it's about you," Obama told the crowd at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on 42nd Street.
But it's also about the contest with Clinton, and he took a mild swipe at her stance on the Iraq war.
"We know we've got a war that should have never been waged, should've never been authorized," Obama said.
This became such a hot ticket they had to move the event from a restaurant to a hotel. Then it sold out and people started scalping tickets on craigslist.
It was the latest skirmish in a fierce, behind-the-scenes, fight for Democratic campaign cash. On one side is Sen. Obama, inspiring a growing legion of young believers. On the other, Sen. Clinton, a Democratic icon that believes her time has come.
Obama's fans, like restaurant owner B. Smith, have struggled with the decision.
"I love Hillary, I think she's fabulous, but I think we need something that's new and fresh and Obama is right there," Smith said.
LINK
-VG
Sen. Obama's First NYC Fundraiser A Success
Tickets So Hot They Were Being Scalped On Craigslist
Andrew Kirtzman
Reporting
(CBS) NEW YORK Barack Obama entered the heart of Hillary Clinton country Friday night and received a hero's welcome before 2,000 adoring fans. His first presidential fundraiser in the Big Apple couldn't have gone much better.
"This campaign is not about me, it's about you," Obama told the crowd at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on 42nd Street.
But it's also about the contest with Clinton, and he took a mild swipe at her stance on the Iraq war.
"We know we've got a war that should have never been waged, should've never been authorized," Obama said.
This became such a hot ticket they had to move the event from a restaurant to a hotel. Then it sold out and people started scalping tickets on craigslist.
It was the latest skirmish in a fierce, behind-the-scenes, fight for Democratic campaign cash. On one side is Sen. Obama, inspiring a growing legion of young believers. On the other, Sen. Clinton, a Democratic icon that believes her time has come.
Obama's fans, like restaurant owner B. Smith, have struggled with the decision.
"I love Hillary, I think she's fabulous, but I think we need something that's new and fresh and Obama is right there," Smith said.
LINK
-VG
Obama asks voters to take a chance
<font size="5"><center>
Obama asks voters to take a chance</font size></center>
By Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
Running first in fundraising and second nationally among Democratic presidential contenders, Barack Obama is asking voters to take a leap of faith and embrace the promise of his charismatic leadership to change America.
He's betting that voters will rally behind his motivational style and personal appeal despite his relatively thin national credentials, that they'll choose him as a clean slate for the future rather than restore a Clinton political dynasty and they'll embrace his idealistic if vague vision of a unified, post-racial America.
"There is this narrow window that doesn't come around that often — maybe once a generation — where we have the opportunity to put our shoulder into the wheel and move history in a better direction," Obama told about 1,000 people last Tuesday evening.
They were gathered around a gazebo in the old-fashioned town square in Fairfield, Iowa, where residents are known for their interests in meditation and environmental consciousness.
"That's the moment we're in," Obama exhorted, his voice building steam. "But we've got to seize it.
"If we seize it together," he said, allowing the last word to linger, "we are going to transform the United States of America. It's a matter of who can ignite the American people to build a movement for change."
That's the soul of Obama's message. Many Democrats find it electrifying.
In campaign stops during a two-day swing through southeast Iowa last week, the magnetic 45-year-old Illinois senator didn't try to compete with the strengths of his two main rivals who are ahead of him in polls here, the first state to vote in next year's nomination contests.
Obama's depth of experience is no match for Hillary Clinton's years of national political training. Her two terms as first lady and second-term service as a senator from New York trump his background as a Harvard-trained lawyer, Chicago community organizer, Illinois legislator and freshman U.S. senator.
Nor can he equal the amount of time that John Edwards already has invested in cultivating Iowa Democrats. Edwards has all but lived here for the past 18 months.
Even Obama's policy applause lines aren't much different from theirs: Get U.S. troops out of Iraq, make health-care coverage universal, mandate more fuel-efficient cars.
But he uses the "shoulder into the wheel" imagery at nearly every stop. He speaks of a "politics of hope," a "hunger" for change and a philosophy that individual fates are interconnected, "that I am my brother's keeper, my sister's keeper."
And when this novel African-American speaks of his implicit promise to lead America beyond race, his cues are evocative, but indirect. He doesn't talk about the challenges he's faced of straddling black and white America, of how he grew up with a white American mother and an African father who left when he was young.
Instead, he talks of being raised by a single mother — and mentions a grandmother still in Africa. He talks of America having survived harder times, and of moving past eras of war, slavery, segregation, even the civil rights movement.
In a brief interview, weaving past fans at a July Fourth baseball game in Des Moines, Obama acknowledged the racial subtext of his stump speech.
"I think that's one division that needs to be bridged. But it's one of many. I also think I've got the capacity to build bridges between Republicans and Democrats, the division between the secular and the religious."
Bridge-builder. Transformer. A new leader for a new era. That's his pitch.
The voters who came to see Obama — at an elementary school in Keokuk, a coffeehouse in Oskaloosa, a backyard in Pella, a July Fourth picnic in a Des Moines park — covered the spectrum: Democrats, independents, past Bush supporters who regret the war. Most were white.
In any setting, Obama seems to relish the moments after a speech, when adults and children swarm to shake his hand, have a photo snapped or collect an autograph. Some just want to confide in him.
In one receiving line at a backyard gathering in Mount Pleasant, Eleanor Longfield, a modest, gray-haired woman, told Obama that her 37-year-old son, an Army major with three children, was about to be deployed to Iraq for a third time. She was scared.
Obama placed both hands on the retired nurse's shoulders. He held her gaze and told her he wants to bring the troops home. "I'll pray for you," he said.
As tears welled in her eyes, he hugged her close.
Shaking, Longfield ducked out to compose herself. She headed to a table of lemonade and cookies under a shade tree.
"It's between Obama and Edwards," she said, "but after today I'm leaning toward Obama."
Obama's energy feeds off the crowds.
Before small audiences, he sometimes comes across as professorial, his words and gestures measured. His left index finger jabs the air, his head tilts to one side when he makes a point.
The bigger the audience, the louder and more instinctive his speech becomes. His tall, slim frame exudes new energy. At a small event, he said cars should be getting 45 miles a gallon. Hours later, he told a much larger crowd he could see cars soon getting 50 mpg — even 60!
He also can be disarmingly goofy.
In the middle of one speech outdoors, he started coughing uncontrollably, then admitted, laughing, that he'd just swallowed a gnat. He tried to continue but the coughing overtook him.
"Don't film that!' he pleaded to a camera crew, as the audience chuckled. "That's all right. I hadn't had lunch yet — protein."
An aide brought him a drink and he picked up where he left off.
Verona Williams, 70, a black, retired after-school teacher, brought her 11-year-old grandson, Noah, to get an autograph at a Keokuk event in an elementary school. She also brought an old cowbell she'd bought at an auction.
"Hearing his speech, I had to ring the bell for him," she explained. "The children of all races will see how united the United States has become. That's going to be a start."
Many here said they didn't expect to settle on any one candidate for months.
Bob Owens, 52, a factory worker in Pella, left an event at a neighbor's home still unsure whether the first-term senator is experienced enough to be president, but "very impressed" by his manner and message.
"I thought he came across as very personable, down to earth, family oriented, well educated."
Many expect their decisions to come down to Clinton or Obama.
Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy met Clinton years ago and considers her most qualified. He met Obama this week for the first time.
"I like Hillary Clinton, but I still have to get over some of the votes she made on the war," Malloy said.
With Obama, who opposed the war from the start, Malloy said, "I came away very, very impressed. I think he's got a natural capacity to inspire. On an inspiration, gut feeling right now, I'd say I'm closer to Senator Obama."
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
2007 McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/17658.html
<font size="5"><center>
Obama asks voters to take a chance</font size></center>
By Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
Running first in fundraising and second nationally among Democratic presidential contenders, Barack Obama is asking voters to take a leap of faith and embrace the promise of his charismatic leadership to change America.
He's betting that voters will rally behind his motivational style and personal appeal despite his relatively thin national credentials, that they'll choose him as a clean slate for the future rather than restore a Clinton political dynasty and they'll embrace his idealistic if vague vision of a unified, post-racial America.
"There is this narrow window that doesn't come around that often — maybe once a generation — where we have the opportunity to put our shoulder into the wheel and move history in a better direction," Obama told about 1,000 people last Tuesday evening.
They were gathered around a gazebo in the old-fashioned town square in Fairfield, Iowa, where residents are known for their interests in meditation and environmental consciousness.
"That's the moment we're in," Obama exhorted, his voice building steam. "But we've got to seize it.
"If we seize it together," he said, allowing the last word to linger, "we are going to transform the United States of America. It's a matter of who can ignite the American people to build a movement for change."
That's the soul of Obama's message. Many Democrats find it electrifying.
In campaign stops during a two-day swing through southeast Iowa last week, the magnetic 45-year-old Illinois senator didn't try to compete with the strengths of his two main rivals who are ahead of him in polls here, the first state to vote in next year's nomination contests.
Obama's depth of experience is no match for Hillary Clinton's years of national political training. Her two terms as first lady and second-term service as a senator from New York trump his background as a Harvard-trained lawyer, Chicago community organizer, Illinois legislator and freshman U.S. senator.
Nor can he equal the amount of time that John Edwards already has invested in cultivating Iowa Democrats. Edwards has all but lived here for the past 18 months.
Even Obama's policy applause lines aren't much different from theirs: Get U.S. troops out of Iraq, make health-care coverage universal, mandate more fuel-efficient cars.
But he uses the "shoulder into the wheel" imagery at nearly every stop. He speaks of a "politics of hope," a "hunger" for change and a philosophy that individual fates are interconnected, "that I am my brother's keeper, my sister's keeper."
And when this novel African-American speaks of his implicit promise to lead America beyond race, his cues are evocative, but indirect. He doesn't talk about the challenges he's faced of straddling black and white America, of how he grew up with a white American mother and an African father who left when he was young.
Instead, he talks of being raised by a single mother — and mentions a grandmother still in Africa. He talks of America having survived harder times, and of moving past eras of war, slavery, segregation, even the civil rights movement.
In a brief interview, weaving past fans at a July Fourth baseball game in Des Moines, Obama acknowledged the racial subtext of his stump speech.
"I think that's one division that needs to be bridged. But it's one of many. I also think I've got the capacity to build bridges between Republicans and Democrats, the division between the secular and the religious."
Bridge-builder. Transformer. A new leader for a new era. That's his pitch.
The voters who came to see Obama — at an elementary school in Keokuk, a coffeehouse in Oskaloosa, a backyard in Pella, a July Fourth picnic in a Des Moines park — covered the spectrum: Democrats, independents, past Bush supporters who regret the war. Most were white.
In any setting, Obama seems to relish the moments after a speech, when adults and children swarm to shake his hand, have a photo snapped or collect an autograph. Some just want to confide in him.
In one receiving line at a backyard gathering in Mount Pleasant, Eleanor Longfield, a modest, gray-haired woman, told Obama that her 37-year-old son, an Army major with three children, was about to be deployed to Iraq for a third time. She was scared.
Obama placed both hands on the retired nurse's shoulders. He held her gaze and told her he wants to bring the troops home. "I'll pray for you," he said.
As tears welled in her eyes, he hugged her close.
Shaking, Longfield ducked out to compose herself. She headed to a table of lemonade and cookies under a shade tree.
"It's between Obama and Edwards," she said, "but after today I'm leaning toward Obama."
Obama's energy feeds off the crowds.
Before small audiences, he sometimes comes across as professorial, his words and gestures measured. His left index finger jabs the air, his head tilts to one side when he makes a point.
The bigger the audience, the louder and more instinctive his speech becomes. His tall, slim frame exudes new energy. At a small event, he said cars should be getting 45 miles a gallon. Hours later, he told a much larger crowd he could see cars soon getting 50 mpg — even 60!
He also can be disarmingly goofy.
In the middle of one speech outdoors, he started coughing uncontrollably, then admitted, laughing, that he'd just swallowed a gnat. He tried to continue but the coughing overtook him.
"Don't film that!' he pleaded to a camera crew, as the audience chuckled. "That's all right. I hadn't had lunch yet — protein."
An aide brought him a drink and he picked up where he left off.
Verona Williams, 70, a black, retired after-school teacher, brought her 11-year-old grandson, Noah, to get an autograph at a Keokuk event in an elementary school. She also brought an old cowbell she'd bought at an auction.
"Hearing his speech, I had to ring the bell for him," she explained. "The children of all races will see how united the United States has become. That's going to be a start."
Many here said they didn't expect to settle on any one candidate for months.
Bob Owens, 52, a factory worker in Pella, left an event at a neighbor's home still unsure whether the first-term senator is experienced enough to be president, but "very impressed" by his manner and message.
"I thought he came across as very personable, down to earth, family oriented, well educated."
Many expect their decisions to come down to Clinton or Obama.
Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy met Clinton years ago and considers her most qualified. He met Obama this week for the first time.
"I like Hillary Clinton, but I still have to get over some of the votes she made on the war," Malloy said.
With Obama, who opposed the war from the start, Malloy said, "I came away very, very impressed. I think he's got a natural capacity to inspire. On an inspiration, gut feeling right now, I'd say I'm closer to Senator Obama."
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
2007 McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/17658.html
Re: Obama asks voters to take a chance
<font size="5"><center>Michelle Obama says 'he's ready'</font size></center>
Michelle Obama speaks at a campaign stop outside the
home of Dan and Heather Vroom in Pella, Iowa.
(James Colburn/MCT)
By Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
OSKALOOSA, Iowa — "The question isn't whether he's ready."
It was midmorning on the Fourth of July when Michelle Obama issued this rhetorical challenge to a few hundred Iowans crammed inside the retro-modern, brick-and-loft Smokey Row coffeehouse.
"Because he's ready," she said. "It's whether we're ready."
"He is the real thing," she said. "Are we ready for that? Together we can turn the page; we can move into the next phase of what this country can be."
Since Sen. Barack Obama formally announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination five months ago, Michelle Obama is still testing the limits of her complex public role as her husband's biggest champion, corporate super-mom-on-leave and taskmaster who sometimes cuts the candidate down to size and keeps him grounded. She's not like other candidates' wives; she's a tall, striking, tell-it-like-it-is black woman from modest roots, with a Harvard law degree and a career as a hospital executive that's on hold for now.
They met when she was assigned to guide him through a summer job at a law firm.
She and the couple's girls — Malia, who celebrated her 9th birthday on the road last week, and Sasha, 6 — aren't staples on the campaign trail, but they sometimes function as closers of sorts in occasional appearances.
Barack Obama lets Sasha, a ball of energy, swing on his arms at events. He also helped a crowd sing "Happy Birthday" to the more reserved Malia. He announced at one stop that he'd bested one of the girls at a card game of UNO.
And he shows his wife a good dose of respect.
"I'm going to record all this," he told one crowd, after Michelle Obama had built him up, "so when I do something boneheaded at home — forget to take out the garbage — I can say, 'See, honey? I'm the real deal.' "
Obama, an on-again-off-again cigarette smoker for years, was cowed into quitting largely by his wife, who told him he could smoke or run for president, but he couldn't do both, according to a campaign aide who asked not to be named to avoid annoying his bosses. The aide said that Obama kept nicotine gum on hand.
At the coffeehouse, perched in front of the soda counter and dressed in summery outfits, the Obama women established the candidate's place in a warm, close, modern family whose members are willing to sacrifice some of their individual goals — but not all — to support his bid.
"Actually, the campaign wanted us to join them yesterday instead of just today," Michelle Obama told the crowd before introducing her husband. "So I sat the kids down and I said, 'Look, they want us to come out on Tuesday as well.'
"Well, the two of them promptly pulled out their camp calendar, looked it over seriously over the kitchen table, and said, 'Well, Tuesday is the haunted trails trip, so we won't be going to Iowa.' "
The audience laughed and applauded.
"We are doing fine as a family," she told the crowd. "That's one of the things that people want to know most from me as the wife of the candidate: How are we holding up? We're doing our best to keep our kids first. Our view is that if our children aren't sane and whole and focused, then we can't represent that to the rest of the country."
Later, a handler took the girls to play in a nearby park and pet a puppy while their mom worked the coffeehouse with handshakes, hugs and autographs.
Some of the women who meet her say she adds to her husband's credibility. "She matters to me very much," said Lesa Nuri, 53, an office manager at a restaurant, who has children and no health insurance. "Mrs. Obama and the senator are real people. I trust that they know exactly what it is to struggle and overcome." Barack Obama tells crowds that his wife is "too smart to run for president," a laugh line she tolerates because of what he says next: "She would rather tell the president what to do."
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
2007 McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/17662.html
<font size="5"><center>Michelle Obama says 'he's ready'</font size></center>
Michelle Obama speaks at a campaign stop outside the
home of Dan and Heather Vroom in Pella, Iowa.
(James Colburn/MCT)
By Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
OSKALOOSA, Iowa — "The question isn't whether he's ready."
It was midmorning on the Fourth of July when Michelle Obama issued this rhetorical challenge to a few hundred Iowans crammed inside the retro-modern, brick-and-loft Smokey Row coffeehouse.
"Because he's ready," she said. "It's whether we're ready."
"He is the real thing," she said. "Are we ready for that? Together we can turn the page; we can move into the next phase of what this country can be."
Since Sen. Barack Obama formally announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination five months ago, Michelle Obama is still testing the limits of her complex public role as her husband's biggest champion, corporate super-mom-on-leave and taskmaster who sometimes cuts the candidate down to size and keeps him grounded. She's not like other candidates' wives; she's a tall, striking, tell-it-like-it-is black woman from modest roots, with a Harvard law degree and a career as a hospital executive that's on hold for now.
They met when she was assigned to guide him through a summer job at a law firm.
She and the couple's girls — Malia, who celebrated her 9th birthday on the road last week, and Sasha, 6 — aren't staples on the campaign trail, but they sometimes function as closers of sorts in occasional appearances.
Barack Obama lets Sasha, a ball of energy, swing on his arms at events. He also helped a crowd sing "Happy Birthday" to the more reserved Malia. He announced at one stop that he'd bested one of the girls at a card game of UNO.
And he shows his wife a good dose of respect.
"I'm going to record all this," he told one crowd, after Michelle Obama had built him up, "so when I do something boneheaded at home — forget to take out the garbage — I can say, 'See, honey? I'm the real deal.' "
Obama, an on-again-off-again cigarette smoker for years, was cowed into quitting largely by his wife, who told him he could smoke or run for president, but he couldn't do both, according to a campaign aide who asked not to be named to avoid annoying his bosses. The aide said that Obama kept nicotine gum on hand.
At the coffeehouse, perched in front of the soda counter and dressed in summery outfits, the Obama women established the candidate's place in a warm, close, modern family whose members are willing to sacrifice some of their individual goals — but not all — to support his bid.
"Actually, the campaign wanted us to join them yesterday instead of just today," Michelle Obama told the crowd before introducing her husband. "So I sat the kids down and I said, 'Look, they want us to come out on Tuesday as well.'
"Well, the two of them promptly pulled out their camp calendar, looked it over seriously over the kitchen table, and said, 'Well, Tuesday is the haunted trails trip, so we won't be going to Iowa.' "
The audience laughed and applauded.
"We are doing fine as a family," she told the crowd. "That's one of the things that people want to know most from me as the wife of the candidate: How are we holding up? We're doing our best to keep our kids first. Our view is that if our children aren't sane and whole and focused, then we can't represent that to the rest of the country."
Later, a handler took the girls to play in a nearby park and pet a puppy while their mom worked the coffeehouse with handshakes, hugs and autographs.
Some of the women who meet her say she adds to her husband's credibility. "She matters to me very much," said Lesa Nuri, 53, an office manager at a restaurant, who has children and no health insurance. "Mrs. Obama and the senator are real people. I trust that they know exactly what it is to struggle and overcome." Barack Obama tells crowds that his wife is "too smart to run for president," a laugh line she tolerates because of what he says next: "She would rather tell the president what to do."
Posted on Sun, July 8, 2007
2007 McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/17662.html
Obama Leads With Corporate Crowd
My apologies, Barack Obama did NOT vote for the Bankruptcy Bill of 2005. He voted nay. I had stated earlier on this post that he did. T.O.
source: chicagotribune.com
Clinton can play hometown card, too, but it has done little to help her so far
By Susan Chandler | Tribune staff reporter
September 2, 2007
The typical Midwestern business leader is a rock-ribbed Republican who favors socially moderate policies but strongly opposes more regulation and higher taxes. That makes it somewhat of a surprise that Barack Obama, a Democrat from Chicago's South Side, appears to be winning their hearts and wallets.
Hundreds of Chicago executives, lawyers and investment bankers have written checks to Obama, according to a Tribune analysis of campaign contributions during the first six months of this year. Most aren't hedging their political bets by giving money to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic Party's front-runner in national polls -- so far anyway.
Obama's allies in corner offices run the industry gamut from Exelon Chief Executive John Rowe to Madison Dearborn Chairman John Canning to Baxter International CEO Robert Parkinson.The Obama camp also is being supported by Brenda Barnes, the CEO of Sara Lee Corp.; William Osborn, the head of Northern Trust Corp.; and Michael Krasny, founder of CDW Corp.
The Tribune analysis found that among CEOs of the Chicago area's 50 largest publicly traded companies, 10 made personal contributions directly to Obama totaling a little more than $29,000. Clinton's tally: zero.
The aggregate numbers are fairly small because federal election laws limit individuals to $2,300 in donations for the party primaries and another $2,300 for the presidential election. If a candidate ends up not winning the nomination, he or she must return the contributions related to general election.
Clinton still has plenty of time to catch up, her supporters point out. Serious fundraising kicks into gear again after Labor Day.
Among Republican contenders, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was favored by a handful of Chicago CEOs -- including Miles White at Abbott Laboratories, Judson Green at Navteq and Patrick Moore of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. -- who gave him a total of about $8,000. Arizona Sen. John McCain came in second, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani came in third.
The top executives at Chicago's 50 largest private companies were more Republican than their public-company peers, with fewer than 10 contributing to any presidential hopeful in the first half. Of those that did, four gave money to Romney, including Craig Duchossois of Duchossois Industries Inc. and William Wirtz of the Wirtz Corp., who also donated a smaller amount to McCain.
One Chicago company that has the bases pretty well covered is Equity Residential Properties Trust, the giant apartment landlord. CEO David Neithercut gave money to Obama and Dodd, while Chairman Sam Zell backed Giuliani and McCain. (Zell is a director of Tribune Co., which owns this newspaper.)
Obama's fundraising lead among business types is reflected among Illinois residents in general.
Through the first half of the year, Obama received $7.7 million in campaign contributions, according to the latest amended filings available from the Federal Election Commission.
Clinton raised less than one-quarter of that -- $1.8 million.
No Republican presidential candidate has even broken the seven-figure mark in Illinois. McCain, whose campaign has stalled from lack of money nationally, has raised more than $735,000. Romney has gathered $623,000, and Giuliani rounds out the top three with $575,000, according to the election commission.
As disappointing as that is for the Republican Party, it has got to be a bigger disappointment for the Clinton campaign.
Clinton has claimed hometown status here because she grew up in suburban Park Ridge. Illinois also was a big contributor to her husband's two successful runs for president, and now the state is holding its primary in February, early enough to sway the choice of a presidential nominee.
Clinton's campaign leaders are putting the best spin on the situation. They say they haven't tried very hard in Illinois, choosing instead to target other states. They also say fundraising here picked up quite a bit in the second quarter.
"Obviously to see this kind of support in Illinois has been a pleasant surprise," said Clinton spokesman Blake Zeff. "Each time Hillary has come to Chicago, the reception has been extremely warm, and for that we are very grateful."
Clinton picked up an important endorsement this summer from prominent Republican donor Terrence Duffy, the head of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Duffy praised her for crossing party lines and combining leadership with "pragmatic problem-solving skills."
Clinton's distant second in Illinois fundraising could be hard to overcome, said political consultant Eric Adelstein.
"The better [Obama] does the more of a hindrance on her fundraising in this state it becomes," said Adelstein, who is not working for either candidate. "He has got a real lock on Illinois at this point."
James Tyree, CEO of Mesirow Financial, believes he is an example of why Obama has come on so strong in so short a time.
"I'm really not often active in these types of things, but in this case, I think Barack is such a unique talent, I think he can win. I think he is level-headed and balanced, unlike many of the other folks who are throwing their hat in the ring."
Tyree says he has not contributed to the Clinton campaign. "Barack has all my support, and I'm asking all my friends around the country to support him."
Kenneth Janda, an emeritus political science professor at Northwestern University, says Obama's fundraising success is two-pronged. Obama is tapping "new sources" who probably wouldn't have contributed to the presidential race at all, Janda says. Others simply want to make sure they have access to him whether he ends up as the presidential nominee or remains one of the state's two U.S. senators.
"That's the critical factor. They want to be on-board," Janda said. Contributing to both Obama and Clinton would be a "pretty transparent" attempt to hedge one's bets and won't have the same payoff with the eventual winner, he added.
Still some high-profile business people are contributing to both Democratic front-runners.
John Bryan, the former CEO of Sara Lee Corp., has donated to Obama and Clinton. So did William Daley, the Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the mayor's brother. Bill Daley didn't stop there: He also gave money to the presidential campaigns of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd.
Some share within party
Another person spreading his money around is William Brandt, the turnaround specialist who has hosted several big fundraising dinners for former President Bill Clinton and is a close friend and adviser of Hillary Clinton's.
Brandt has contributed the maximum amount -- $4,600 for the presidential primary and general election -- to Clinton and Obama. He also has contributed to the primary campaign of Edwards, who is running third in the polls.
Brandt said he is doing it because he wants to encourage vigorous debate among a strong field of candidates. "I'm one of those Democrats who think we have an embarrassment of riches. I want them to be heard for as long as possible. I think the clash of ideas helps and sharpens both Barack and Hillary."
Yet there's no question who he wants to see in the Oval Office in 2008. "With our kids dying in Iraq, who do you want to be pulling the levers of power? It's got to be Hillary," Brandt said.
Brandt is willing to shoulder some of the blame for Clinton's slow start in Illinois. He says he advised her to focus elsewhere so as not to test the loyalties of local contributors. Brandt also predicts Clinton will catch up in Illinois before the primaries begin early next year.
She took a step in that direction June 25 with a fundraiser at the Palmer House Hilton attended by 600 people, including Yusef Jackson and Ernie Banks. The dinner was a sellout and raised more than $1 million, twice what organizers had hoped.
The summer is a slow period because many people are on vacation, so Brandt doesn't expect another big surge until after Labor Day.
For Clinton, New York and California continue to lead in her fundraising efforts. Illinois ranks eighth for her. The Land of Lincoln comes in second for Obama, trailing only California, a more populous state. New York ranks third for Obama.
Obama backers not surprised
Obama advisers John Rogers, CEO and founder of Ariel Capital Management, and Valerie Jarrett, CEO of Habitat Co., say Obama's fundraising success here should come as no surprise.
"I get calls all the time from people who want to be involved, write checks, volunteer. I've been involved in politics for 25 years, and I've never seen anything like it," said Rogers, who heads one of the country's largest minority-owned investment firms. "People just believe in him and like him personally."
It is more than just charisma, says Jarrett, who chaired Obama's finance committee during his Senate race. Despite his liberal policies such as universal health-care coverage, he is trusted by the local executives and entrepreneurs because they have seen him operate up close.
"The business community here knows him and what kind of elected official he has been. His fundraising numbers demonstrate complete confidence in his candidacy," she said.
The Clinton-Obama race has revealed some fault lines in Chicago's wealthiest family -- the Pritzker clan. Real estate executive Penny Pritzker is heading up national fundraising for Obama, while her brother, venture capitalist J.C. Pritzker, is the national chairman of Citizens for Hillary, an initiative designed to garner votes and contributions from the grass-roots level.
However, campaign records show that most Pritzkers and many members of the billionaire Crown family are backing Obama rather than Clinton.
A number of Chicago business leaders are hedging their bets in a different way -- they gave money to Obama and McCain.
Public relations magnate Daniel Edelman did, and so did Krasny, Rowe and Osborn. Canning found a different straddle -- Obama and Romney.
But with McCain running short of cash and trailing in the polls, he appears increasingly unlikely to be the Republican candidate, political experts say. That leaves Chicago's business community with a big bet on Obama, one they hope will pay off if he becomes the first Illinois politician to occupy the Oval Office since Abraham Lincoln.
schandler@tribune.com
My apologies, Barack Obama did NOT vote for the Bankruptcy Bill of 2005. He voted nay. I had stated earlier on this post that he did. T.O.
source: chicagotribune.com
Clinton can play hometown card, too, but it has done little to help her so far
By Susan Chandler | Tribune staff reporter
September 2, 2007
The typical Midwestern business leader is a rock-ribbed Republican who favors socially moderate policies but strongly opposes more regulation and higher taxes. That makes it somewhat of a surprise that Barack Obama, a Democrat from Chicago's South Side, appears to be winning their hearts and wallets.
Hundreds of Chicago executives, lawyers and investment bankers have written checks to Obama, according to a Tribune analysis of campaign contributions during the first six months of this year. Most aren't hedging their political bets by giving money to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic Party's front-runner in national polls -- so far anyway.
Obama's allies in corner offices run the industry gamut from Exelon Chief Executive John Rowe to Madison Dearborn Chairman John Canning to Baxter International CEO Robert Parkinson.The Obama camp also is being supported by Brenda Barnes, the CEO of Sara Lee Corp.; William Osborn, the head of Northern Trust Corp.; and Michael Krasny, founder of CDW Corp.
The Tribune analysis found that among CEOs of the Chicago area's 50 largest publicly traded companies, 10 made personal contributions directly to Obama totaling a little more than $29,000. Clinton's tally: zero.
The aggregate numbers are fairly small because federal election laws limit individuals to $2,300 in donations for the party primaries and another $2,300 for the presidential election. If a candidate ends up not winning the nomination, he or she must return the contributions related to general election.
Clinton still has plenty of time to catch up, her supporters point out. Serious fundraising kicks into gear again after Labor Day.
Among Republican contenders, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was favored by a handful of Chicago CEOs -- including Miles White at Abbott Laboratories, Judson Green at Navteq and Patrick Moore of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. -- who gave him a total of about $8,000. Arizona Sen. John McCain came in second, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani came in third.
The top executives at Chicago's 50 largest private companies were more Republican than their public-company peers, with fewer than 10 contributing to any presidential hopeful in the first half. Of those that did, four gave money to Romney, including Craig Duchossois of Duchossois Industries Inc. and William Wirtz of the Wirtz Corp., who also donated a smaller amount to McCain.
One Chicago company that has the bases pretty well covered is Equity Residential Properties Trust, the giant apartment landlord. CEO David Neithercut gave money to Obama and Dodd, while Chairman Sam Zell backed Giuliani and McCain. (Zell is a director of Tribune Co., which owns this newspaper.)
Obama's fundraising lead among business types is reflected among Illinois residents in general.
Through the first half of the year, Obama received $7.7 million in campaign contributions, according to the latest amended filings available from the Federal Election Commission.
Clinton raised less than one-quarter of that -- $1.8 million.
No Republican presidential candidate has even broken the seven-figure mark in Illinois. McCain, whose campaign has stalled from lack of money nationally, has raised more than $735,000. Romney has gathered $623,000, and Giuliani rounds out the top three with $575,000, according to the election commission.
As disappointing as that is for the Republican Party, it has got to be a bigger disappointment for the Clinton campaign.
Clinton has claimed hometown status here because she grew up in suburban Park Ridge. Illinois also was a big contributor to her husband's two successful runs for president, and now the state is holding its primary in February, early enough to sway the choice of a presidential nominee.
Clinton's campaign leaders are putting the best spin on the situation. They say they haven't tried very hard in Illinois, choosing instead to target other states. They also say fundraising here picked up quite a bit in the second quarter.
"Obviously to see this kind of support in Illinois has been a pleasant surprise," said Clinton spokesman Blake Zeff. "Each time Hillary has come to Chicago, the reception has been extremely warm, and for that we are very grateful."
Clinton picked up an important endorsement this summer from prominent Republican donor Terrence Duffy, the head of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Duffy praised her for crossing party lines and combining leadership with "pragmatic problem-solving skills."
Clinton's distant second in Illinois fundraising could be hard to overcome, said political consultant Eric Adelstein.
"The better [Obama] does the more of a hindrance on her fundraising in this state it becomes," said Adelstein, who is not working for either candidate. "He has got a real lock on Illinois at this point."
James Tyree, CEO of Mesirow Financial, believes he is an example of why Obama has come on so strong in so short a time.
"I'm really not often active in these types of things, but in this case, I think Barack is such a unique talent, I think he can win. I think he is level-headed and balanced, unlike many of the other folks who are throwing their hat in the ring."
Tyree says he has not contributed to the Clinton campaign. "Barack has all my support, and I'm asking all my friends around the country to support him."
Kenneth Janda, an emeritus political science professor at Northwestern University, says Obama's fundraising success is two-pronged. Obama is tapping "new sources" who probably wouldn't have contributed to the presidential race at all, Janda says. Others simply want to make sure they have access to him whether he ends up as the presidential nominee or remains one of the state's two U.S. senators.
"That's the critical factor. They want to be on-board," Janda said. Contributing to both Obama and Clinton would be a "pretty transparent" attempt to hedge one's bets and won't have the same payoff with the eventual winner, he added.
Still some high-profile business people are contributing to both Democratic front-runners.
John Bryan, the former CEO of Sara Lee Corp., has donated to Obama and Clinton. So did William Daley, the Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the mayor's brother. Bill Daley didn't stop there: He also gave money to the presidential campaigns of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd.
Some share within party
Another person spreading his money around is William Brandt, the turnaround specialist who has hosted several big fundraising dinners for former President Bill Clinton and is a close friend and adviser of Hillary Clinton's.
Brandt has contributed the maximum amount -- $4,600 for the presidential primary and general election -- to Clinton and Obama. He also has contributed to the primary campaign of Edwards, who is running third in the polls.
Brandt said he is doing it because he wants to encourage vigorous debate among a strong field of candidates. "I'm one of those Democrats who think we have an embarrassment of riches. I want them to be heard for as long as possible. I think the clash of ideas helps and sharpens both Barack and Hillary."
Yet there's no question who he wants to see in the Oval Office in 2008. "With our kids dying in Iraq, who do you want to be pulling the levers of power? It's got to be Hillary," Brandt said.
Brandt is willing to shoulder some of the blame for Clinton's slow start in Illinois. He says he advised her to focus elsewhere so as not to test the loyalties of local contributors. Brandt also predicts Clinton will catch up in Illinois before the primaries begin early next year.
She took a step in that direction June 25 with a fundraiser at the Palmer House Hilton attended by 600 people, including Yusef Jackson and Ernie Banks. The dinner was a sellout and raised more than $1 million, twice what organizers had hoped.
The summer is a slow period because many people are on vacation, so Brandt doesn't expect another big surge until after Labor Day.
For Clinton, New York and California continue to lead in her fundraising efforts. Illinois ranks eighth for her. The Land of Lincoln comes in second for Obama, trailing only California, a more populous state. New York ranks third for Obama.
Obama backers not surprised
Obama advisers John Rogers, CEO and founder of Ariel Capital Management, and Valerie Jarrett, CEO of Habitat Co., say Obama's fundraising success here should come as no surprise.
"I get calls all the time from people who want to be involved, write checks, volunteer. I've been involved in politics for 25 years, and I've never seen anything like it," said Rogers, who heads one of the country's largest minority-owned investment firms. "People just believe in him and like him personally."
It is more than just charisma, says Jarrett, who chaired Obama's finance committee during his Senate race. Despite his liberal policies such as universal health-care coverage, he is trusted by the local executives and entrepreneurs because they have seen him operate up close.
"The business community here knows him and what kind of elected official he has been. His fundraising numbers demonstrate complete confidence in his candidacy," she said.
The Clinton-Obama race has revealed some fault lines in Chicago's wealthiest family -- the Pritzker clan. Real estate executive Penny Pritzker is heading up national fundraising for Obama, while her brother, venture capitalist J.C. Pritzker, is the national chairman of Citizens for Hillary, an initiative designed to garner votes and contributions from the grass-roots level.
However, campaign records show that most Pritzkers and many members of the billionaire Crown family are backing Obama rather than Clinton.
A number of Chicago business leaders are hedging their bets in a different way -- they gave money to Obama and McCain.
Public relations magnate Daniel Edelman did, and so did Krasny, Rowe and Osborn. Canning found a different straddle -- Obama and Romney.
But with McCain running short of cash and trailing in the polls, he appears increasingly unlikely to be the Republican candidate, political experts say. That leaves Chicago's business community with a big bet on Obama, one they hope will pay off if he becomes the first Illinois politician to occupy the Oval Office since Abraham Lincoln.
schandler@tribune.com
Re: Obama Leads With Corporate Crowd
Good info T.O. I came across a site not long ago which allows one to put in a zip code and see what contributions came from that area, by name. I'm going to locate it again and post it in this thread and the the Money Chase thread.
QueEx
Good info T.O. I came across a site not long ago which allows one to put in a zip code and see what contributions came from that area, by name. I'm going to locate it again and post it in this thread and the the Money Chase thread.
QueEx
Re: Obama Leads With Corporate Crowd
<font size="4">
Want to know if a celebrity is playing both
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CLICK: </font size>http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=newman&fname=paul&search=Search
`
`
<font size="4">
Want to know if a celebrity is playing both
sides of the fence? Whether that new guy
you're seeing is actually a Republican or just
dresses like one? If your boss maxed out at
that fundraiser or got comped? Whether your
neighbor's political involvement stops at that
hideous lawn sign?
FundRace makes it easy to search by name or
address to see which presidential candidates
your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors
are contributing to. Or you can see if your
favorite celebrity is putting their money where
their mouth is.
FundRace gives you the technology to do what
politicians and journalists have been doing for
years: find out where the money's coming from,
see who it's going to, and solve the mystery of
why that crazy ex-roommate of yours is now the
Ambassador to Turks and Caicos.
CLICK: </font size>http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=newman&fname=paul&search=Search
`
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Obama: elected office longer, past more bills than Hillary and Edwards
For Obama, It's Now or Never
September 05, 2007 4:24 PM
ABC News' Jonathan Greenberger Reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said Wednesday that this may be his last chance at running for president.
Asked if his '08 bid was just a strategic move to position himself for a run in 2012, Obama said he didn't think his wife would allow him to run again if it doesn't work out this time.
"Well, I'm not sure- I don't think my wife's going to let me do this twice. So let me be clear about that," Obama said while campaigning in Iowa.
Obama also sought to answer charges from his Democratic rivals that he is too inexperienced to be president, by pointing to his experience in the Illinois state legislature.
"I've been in elected office longer than John Edwards or Hillary Clinton," said Obama. "I've passed more bills I'm sure than either of them --certainly in the state legislative level."
Obama served eight years in the Illinois state Senate before his 2004 election to the United States Senate. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is in her second term as a United States senator, following eight years she spent in the White House married to former President Bill Clinton. When Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., left the Senate following his 2004 vice presidential run, he had only served one six-year term.
Obama also took aim at Clinton's work on health care, arguing that the "closed" nature of the task force she led undermined the chances for reform.
"What the president can do," said Obama, "is shine the spotlight on the process and mobilize the American people to keep the pressure on. And that's something that didn't happen. And in some ways, in '93 that didn't happen because it was a closed process. And not everybody understood what was taking place, so when the insurance companies and the drug companies starting airing those Harry and Louise ads, you know, nobody really knew what was what. And that's why the American people have to be involved."
Obama's remarks come on the heels of a new ad, "Change," which seeks to position him as the anti-Washington and anti-lobbyist candidate.
link to story
-VG
For Obama, It's Now or Never
September 05, 2007 4:24 PM
ABC News' Jonathan Greenberger Reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said Wednesday that this may be his last chance at running for president.
Asked if his '08 bid was just a strategic move to position himself for a run in 2012, Obama said he didn't think his wife would allow him to run again if it doesn't work out this time.
"Well, I'm not sure- I don't think my wife's going to let me do this twice. So let me be clear about that," Obama said while campaigning in Iowa.
Obama also sought to answer charges from his Democratic rivals that he is too inexperienced to be president, by pointing to his experience in the Illinois state legislature.
"I've been in elected office longer than John Edwards or Hillary Clinton," said Obama. "I've passed more bills I'm sure than either of them --certainly in the state legislative level."
Obama served eight years in the Illinois state Senate before his 2004 election to the United States Senate. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is in her second term as a United States senator, following eight years she spent in the White House married to former President Bill Clinton. When Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., left the Senate following his 2004 vice presidential run, he had only served one six-year term.
Obama also took aim at Clinton's work on health care, arguing that the "closed" nature of the task force she led undermined the chances for reform.
"What the president can do," said Obama, "is shine the spotlight on the process and mobilize the American people to keep the pressure on. And that's something that didn't happen. And in some ways, in '93 that didn't happen because it was a closed process. And not everybody understood what was taking place, so when the insurance companies and the drug companies starting airing those Harry and Louise ads, you know, nobody really knew what was what. And that's why the American people have to be involved."
Obama's remarks come on the heels of a new ad, "Change," which seeks to position him as the anti-Washington and anti-lobbyist candidate.
link to story
-VG
Obama, Japan, roots for accidental namesake
Who doesn't love this brother, LOL! I'm not into politics beyond being an observer but I found this story and interesting read on how other people outside the us view Obama's rise as it relates to America.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080212/wl_asia_afp/usvoteobamajapan;_ylt=AjP39aCrbqRP_ByCSHz6Qd6ROrgF
Obama, Japan, roots for accidental namesake
by Shaun Tandon Tue Feb 12, 1:56 AM ET
OBAMA, Japan (AFP) - Barack Obama, who has been credited with tapping support in unlikely places, is enjoying a groundswell of enthusiasm in a small city in western Japan, which is delighted to share his name.
ADVERTISEMENT
Obama, Japan, is rooting for candidate Obama, hoping that if he becomes the US president he will put this ancient fishing town of 32,000 people firmly on the tourist map and, just maybe, choose it for an international summit.
Supporters in Obama -- which means "small shore" in Japanese -- have held parties to watch election results, put up posters wishing the senator luck and plan a special batch of the town's "manju" sweets bearing his likeness.
"At first we were more low-key as Hillary Clinton looked to be ahead, but now we see he is getting more popular," Obama Mayor Toshio Murakami said.
"I give him an 80 percent chance of becoming president," the 75-year-old said with a proud grin.
Murakami sent a letter last year to Obama, enclosing a set of lacquer chopsticks, a famous product of this town on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) in Fukui prefecture's Wakasa region.
"I will present you the chopsticks of Wakasa paint and I am glad if you use it habitually," Murakami said in the English-language letter. "I wish you the best of health and success."
Murakami noted that Barack Obama's birthday, August 4, happens to be "Chopsticks Day" in the city.
Obama, who is also a hero in his father's native Kenya, has been gaining in a neck-and-neck race with Clinton, in part by winning over voters in states that rarely back members of their Democratic party.
Murakami is now preparing another package for the candidate that will include a good-luck charm from the local Obama Shrine.
"For the first letter I found his address on the Internet, so I don't know if he got it," Murakami said. "But this time I asked the (US) embassy for his exact address, so I'm sure he'll get it."
Lest cynics find the city's efforts naive, it was Obama himself who first drew attention to the connection.
Obama, speaking to Japan's TBS network in December 2006, said that when he flew once to Tokyo, an officer stamping his passport told him of the town.
"He looked up and said, 'I'm from Obama,'" the senator said.
A professor saw the footage and contacted the mayor, who insists that his support for Obama goes beyond just his name.
"It seems to me that President Bush isn't aggressively addressing global warming, but Obama would. And I like how he opposed the Iraq war," he said.
Murakami also hoped a President Obama would sign a peace treaty with North Korea. It is no small issue in Obama, one of the seaside towns where agents from the communist state kidnapped Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s, setting off a long row between the countries.
The election is being closely followed by many in 1,500-year-old Obama, a port nestled by snowy hills that in ancient times supplied food to the emperor when he lived in Kyoto some 75 kilometres (40 miles) to the south.
"When you look in Obama's eyes and hear his voice, he's very impressive," said resident Rieko Tanaka.
"Hillary is a bit old-fashioned and she's the wife of Bill Clinton, so I think a new person should lead the USA," she said.
Tomoyuki Ueda, 40, a company worker dining at a restaurant serving the town's celebrated mackerel, said it would be healthy for the United States to elect its first African-American president.
"I think both Obama and Hillary are qualified, but if Obama becomes president he could correct problems of racial discrimination," he said.
Seiji Fujihara, a head of the local tourism board, said he has only met a black person once, but believed Obama's election would make the United States "more equal" on racial issues.
Fujihara started a club for self-styled Obama supporters in the city and plans "I love Obama" T-shirts.
"We know we can't vote. But if we send out a message, we can help push him to victory," he said.
Who doesn't love this brother, LOL! I'm not into politics beyond being an observer but I found this story and interesting read on how other people outside the us view Obama's rise as it relates to America.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080212/wl_asia_afp/usvoteobamajapan;_ylt=AjP39aCrbqRP_ByCSHz6Qd6ROrgF
Obama, Japan, roots for accidental namesake
by Shaun Tandon Tue Feb 12, 1:56 AM ET
OBAMA, Japan (AFP) - Barack Obama, who has been credited with tapping support in unlikely places, is enjoying a groundswell of enthusiasm in a small city in western Japan, which is delighted to share his name.
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Obama, Japan, is rooting for candidate Obama, hoping that if he becomes the US president he will put this ancient fishing town of 32,000 people firmly on the tourist map and, just maybe, choose it for an international summit.
Supporters in Obama -- which means "small shore" in Japanese -- have held parties to watch election results, put up posters wishing the senator luck and plan a special batch of the town's "manju" sweets bearing his likeness.
"At first we were more low-key as Hillary Clinton looked to be ahead, but now we see he is getting more popular," Obama Mayor Toshio Murakami said.
"I give him an 80 percent chance of becoming president," the 75-year-old said with a proud grin.
Murakami sent a letter last year to Obama, enclosing a set of lacquer chopsticks, a famous product of this town on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) in Fukui prefecture's Wakasa region.
"I will present you the chopsticks of Wakasa paint and I am glad if you use it habitually," Murakami said in the English-language letter. "I wish you the best of health and success."
Murakami noted that Barack Obama's birthday, August 4, happens to be "Chopsticks Day" in the city.
Obama, who is also a hero in his father's native Kenya, has been gaining in a neck-and-neck race with Clinton, in part by winning over voters in states that rarely back members of their Democratic party.
Murakami is now preparing another package for the candidate that will include a good-luck charm from the local Obama Shrine.
"For the first letter I found his address on the Internet, so I don't know if he got it," Murakami said. "But this time I asked the (US) embassy for his exact address, so I'm sure he'll get it."
Lest cynics find the city's efforts naive, it was Obama himself who first drew attention to the connection.
Obama, speaking to Japan's TBS network in December 2006, said that when he flew once to Tokyo, an officer stamping his passport told him of the town.
"He looked up and said, 'I'm from Obama,'" the senator said.
A professor saw the footage and contacted the mayor, who insists that his support for Obama goes beyond just his name.
"It seems to me that President Bush isn't aggressively addressing global warming, but Obama would. And I like how he opposed the Iraq war," he said.
Murakami also hoped a President Obama would sign a peace treaty with North Korea. It is no small issue in Obama, one of the seaside towns where agents from the communist state kidnapped Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s, setting off a long row between the countries.
The election is being closely followed by many in 1,500-year-old Obama, a port nestled by snowy hills that in ancient times supplied food to the emperor when he lived in Kyoto some 75 kilometres (40 miles) to the south.
"When you look in Obama's eyes and hear his voice, he's very impressive," said resident Rieko Tanaka.
"Hillary is a bit old-fashioned and she's the wife of Bill Clinton, so I think a new person should lead the USA," she said.
Tomoyuki Ueda, 40, a company worker dining at a restaurant serving the town's celebrated mackerel, said it would be healthy for the United States to elect its first African-American president.
"I think both Obama and Hillary are qualified, but if Obama becomes president he could correct problems of racial discrimination," he said.
Seiji Fujihara, a head of the local tourism board, said he has only met a black person once, but believed Obama's election would make the United States "more equal" on racial issues.
Fujihara started a club for self-styled Obama supporters in the city and plans "I love Obama" T-shirts.
"We know we can't vote. But if we send out a message, we can help push him to victory," he said.
Re: Obama, Japan, roots for accidental namesake
^^^^Very tight post!
^^^^Very tight post!
****BGOL HOUSTONIANS**** Obama Is COMING!!!
This is the official Obama rally. See you there!
--------------------------------------
This Tuesday, Barack Obama will be in Houston for a Stand for Change Rally, where he'll talk about his vision for bringing about the kind of change we can believe in.
Come see why the Houston Chronicle endorsed Barack today, saying he "is best-qualified by life experience, skill and temperament to be the standard bearer for his party."
Stand for Change Rally with Barack Obama
Toyota Center
1510 Polk Street
Houston, TX
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Doors Open: 6:00 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public. However, tickets are required and admission is on a first come, first-served basis. Sign up now:
RSVP Now
http://tx.barackobama.com/houston
For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners are permitted.
This is the official Obama rally. See you there!
--------------------------------------
This Tuesday, Barack Obama will be in Houston for a Stand for Change Rally, where he'll talk about his vision for bringing about the kind of change we can believe in.
Come see why the Houston Chronicle endorsed Barack today, saying he "is best-qualified by life experience, skill and temperament to be the standard bearer for his party."
Stand for Change Rally with Barack Obama
Toyota Center
1510 Polk Street
Houston, TX
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Doors Open: 6:00 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public. However, tickets are required and admission is on a first come, first-served basis. Sign up now:
RSVP Now
http://tx.barackobama.com/houston
For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners are permitted.
Re: ****BGOL HOUSTONIANS**** Obama Is COMING!!!
I'll be there.
I'll be there.
Obama Brings the THUNDA leaving hillary with no place to hide
Obama Slams Clinton on Homestrech
Mar 2, 4:47 PM (ET)
By TOM RAUM
(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., makes remarks during a town hall meeting...
Full Image
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama worked to fend off an intensified attack on his foreign policy credentials from rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday as their paths crossed two days ahead of a potentially race-ending showdown in Ohio and Texas.
"What precise foreign-policy experience is she claiming that makes her qualified to answer that telephone call at 3 a.m. in the morning?" Obama asked of the former first lady at a town-hall meeting. It was a reference to dueling television ads over who would exercise superior judgment in responding to a national emergency in the middle of the night.
The Illinois senator also sought to ease lingering Internet-fed concerns about his religion, in particular whether he was a closet Muslim.
"I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years. I pray to Jesus every night," he declared at an earlier appearance in the rural southern Ohio town of Nelsonville. He said he wanted to halt "confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated."
(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., holds up a baby as he greets supporters...
Unlike Clinton, who has been barnstorming Ohio, Obama had only two events in the state on Sunday and was spending the night in hometown Chicago. He heads to Texas on Monday for a final day of campaigning before awaiting returns on Tuesday in San Antonio.
His aides said privately that they felt they had a good shot at a win in Texas, but were less certain about Ohio, where they braced for a possible loss.
The two senators came close to running into each other in this Columbus suburb, where Clinton spoke at one high school and Obama spoke several hours later at another. Obama supporters boasted of a much larger crowd.
Obama said his opposition to the war in 2002 was not a single speech - as Clinton has asserted - but a series of remarks during his 2002 successful Senate campaign.
Obama criticized Clinton expressly for failing to read the classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons capabilities, a report available at the time of her October 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war. "She didn't give diplomacy a chance. And to this day, she won't even admit that her vote was a mistake - or even that it was a vote for war," Obama said.
(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a town hall meeting...
Full Image
"When it came time to make the most important foreign policy decision of our generation the decision to invade Iraq Senator Clinton got it wrong," Obama said.
He said that Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a fellow Democrat from neighboring West Virginia, had read the intelligence estimate as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and had voted against the war resolution.
Rockefeller, who is now chairman of that committee, endorsed Obama on Friday and campaigned with him on Saturday.
Rockefeller called Obama "brilliant" and "well grounded" and prepared to take the reins as commander in chief.
The Obama campaign also lined up a conference call for reporters with various Democratic foreign-policy experts who asserted his ability to inspire and lead, his good judgment on Iraq, and ticked legislative accomplishments. It was an effort to undercut Clinton's claim that Obama foreign-policy experience was shallow.
In addition to foreign policy, Obama talked about economic issues affecting economically depressed Ohio, as had Clinton.
Recent polls show Clinton retains a lead in Ohio, although it has been narrowing. In Texas, her once formidable lead has all but vanished and the race is now seen as a dead heat.
Most Democratic strategists see Texas and Ohio as must-win states if Clinton is to continue her candidacy, a view also expressed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
She has lost 11 consecutive contests to Obama and lags in the delete count.
But in recent days, Clinton campaign officials have suggested that if Obama doesn't win all four Tuesday contests - which also include races in Rhode Island and Vermont - it would signal "buyers remorse" and be reason to continue the campaign to the next major primary, Pennsylvania on April 22.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080302/D8V5I2A81.html
-VG
Obama Slams Clinton on Homestrech
Mar 2, 4:47 PM (ET)
By TOM RAUM
(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., makes remarks during a town hall meeting...
Full Image
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama worked to fend off an intensified attack on his foreign policy credentials from rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday as their paths crossed two days ahead of a potentially race-ending showdown in Ohio and Texas.
"What precise foreign-policy experience is she claiming that makes her qualified to answer that telephone call at 3 a.m. in the morning?" Obama asked of the former first lady at a town-hall meeting. It was a reference to dueling television ads over who would exercise superior judgment in responding to a national emergency in the middle of the night.
The Illinois senator also sought to ease lingering Internet-fed concerns about his religion, in particular whether he was a closet Muslim.
"I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years. I pray to Jesus every night," he declared at an earlier appearance in the rural southern Ohio town of Nelsonville. He said he wanted to halt "confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated."
(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., holds up a baby as he greets supporters...
Unlike Clinton, who has been barnstorming Ohio, Obama had only two events in the state on Sunday and was spending the night in hometown Chicago. He heads to Texas on Monday for a final day of campaigning before awaiting returns on Tuesday in San Antonio.
His aides said privately that they felt they had a good shot at a win in Texas, but were less certain about Ohio, where they braced for a possible loss.
The two senators came close to running into each other in this Columbus suburb, where Clinton spoke at one high school and Obama spoke several hours later at another. Obama supporters boasted of a much larger crowd.
Obama said his opposition to the war in 2002 was not a single speech - as Clinton has asserted - but a series of remarks during his 2002 successful Senate campaign.
Obama criticized Clinton expressly for failing to read the classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons capabilities, a report available at the time of her October 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war. "She didn't give diplomacy a chance. And to this day, she won't even admit that her vote was a mistake - or even that it was a vote for war," Obama said.
(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a town hall meeting...
Full Image
"When it came time to make the most important foreign policy decision of our generation the decision to invade Iraq Senator Clinton got it wrong," Obama said.
He said that Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a fellow Democrat from neighboring West Virginia, had read the intelligence estimate as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and had voted against the war resolution.
Rockefeller, who is now chairman of that committee, endorsed Obama on Friday and campaigned with him on Saturday.
Rockefeller called Obama "brilliant" and "well grounded" and prepared to take the reins as commander in chief.
The Obama campaign also lined up a conference call for reporters with various Democratic foreign-policy experts who asserted his ability to inspire and lead, his good judgment on Iraq, and ticked legislative accomplishments. It was an effort to undercut Clinton's claim that Obama foreign-policy experience was shallow.
In addition to foreign policy, Obama talked about economic issues affecting economically depressed Ohio, as had Clinton.
Recent polls show Clinton retains a lead in Ohio, although it has been narrowing. In Texas, her once formidable lead has all but vanished and the race is now seen as a dead heat.
Most Democratic strategists see Texas and Ohio as must-win states if Clinton is to continue her candidacy, a view also expressed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
She has lost 11 consecutive contests to Obama and lags in the delete count.
But in recent days, Clinton campaign officials have suggested that if Obama doesn't win all four Tuesday contests - which also include races in Rhode Island and Vermont - it would signal "buyers remorse" and be reason to continue the campaign to the next major primary, Pennsylvania on April 22.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080302/D8V5I2A81.html
-VG
Osama, Yo Mama, and Obama
''original post on main board''
When the phone rings at 3am and it's Chelsea Clinton stumping for her Mom Hillary...what might happen?
''original post on main board''
Last edited:
A plan for Barack Obama
Caille Millner
Sunday, March 9, 2008
It's been a rough week for Sen. Barack Obama, and an even rougher week for his supporters. He took his eye off the ball for a minute to attack Sen. John McCain - and Sen. Hillary Clinton pounced, throwing the kitchen sink at him. Meanwhile, the thin-skinned media, falling prey to her campaign's whining about how much "tougher" they've been on her than on him, allowed her to set the tone for the entire news cycle during the last week before the elections in Ohio and Texas. (You can fill my in-box all you want, Clinton fans, but the media has been sweeter to Clinton than you know. There's been scant mention of Monica, Whitewater, Marc Rich, cattle futures ... oh, did I just say all that?)
Those of us who admire the senator, meanwhile, are feeling wrung out and exhausted. Obama's got to bounce back. I think that he will - but he'll have to do it smartly, because for him, the race has entered its most precarious phase. If he attacks the Clintons using gutter politics, he'll lose - those are the tactics that they excel at, and he can't beat them at their own game. More importantly, he risks losing his message and his base by stooping to their level. Here's my advice for him and his supporters.
-- Ignore John McCain for now. The split results in Ohio and Texas offered Obama one advantage - it confused his eventual opponent, John McCain. McCain had started to attack Obama, but now he's got to sit tight and watch how this plays out. Putting the Republican nominee on the sidelines right now probably isn't the best thing for the Democrats in the fall - the Republican National Committee has taken advantage of the calm to outraise the Democratic National Committee by tens of millions of dollars so far - but we'll have to deal with that later. For now, Obama can - and must - focus on the battle in front of him. If he wants to mention how much stronger a president he'll be than McCain, that's cool, but only after he's reminded voters how much stronger he'll be than Clinton.
-- Be an iron fist in a velvet glove. There's no need to be impolite to Clinton. Unlike some observers, I don't think it was weak at all for him to accept Samantha Power's resignation after she called Clinton a "monster." It showed that Obama keeps his staff on a tight leash - unlike Clinton - and emphasizes positivity in every aspect of his campaign.
Besides, after the Clinton campaign has impugned Obama's patriotism, tossed out racial and religious smears, and said that John McCain would make a better president than Obama would, they're expecting Obama to go ballistic. Kill the Clintons with kindness - and, since Hillary Clinton is running on the false pretense that she was also president during Bill's years in the White House, offer calm reminders of how there were a lot of things about the 1990s that weren't so great after all.
Remember losing control of Congress in the 1990s, Democrats? Remember losing Democratic control of governorships across the country? Remember all the useless psychodramas, remember losing all chance to further any kind of political agenda for the last two years of Bill Clinton's last term because of his personal problems? Say it like that, and the voters will remember. Even if they don't want to.
-- Let your surrogates be nastier than you are - up to a point. Really, there's so much to be nasty about with this couple that it's important to remind voters only of the issues that are germane to the race. Obama should have a couple of his supporters who worked in the Clinton White House remind people that Hillary Clinton has no experience with foreign-policy crises, no experience with economic policy, and that her one experience with health care was a disaster from start to finish. Pound Clinton on the "experience" meme, and it will quickly become apparent how thin her resume really is.
-- Get on the bus. Town hall meetings in endless succession. Photo ops with his sleeves rolled up while in conference with working-class voters about their fears and wishes. Walk door-to-door talking to people about their health care and explain to them why he's the best person to actually get it done. You get the picture: Obama's got to show the skittish undecideds that he works as hard as Clinton does.
Now, for the rest of us, his supporters:
-- Chill out. I went in to see my acupuncturist a few days ago, and he asked why I was so stressed. "I won't vote for Hillary!" I yelled. "I won't!"
He looked at me impassively for a moment, then said, "I won't either. Half the country won't. But, umm, it's a long time till November, and how often do you want to be on this table?"
Caille Millner is a Chronicle editorial writer. You can e-mail her at cmillner@sfchronicle.com.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/09/EDKOVG4R9.DTL
-VG
Caille Millner
Sunday, March 9, 2008
It's been a rough week for Sen. Barack Obama, and an even rougher week for his supporters. He took his eye off the ball for a minute to attack Sen. John McCain - and Sen. Hillary Clinton pounced, throwing the kitchen sink at him. Meanwhile, the thin-skinned media, falling prey to her campaign's whining about how much "tougher" they've been on her than on him, allowed her to set the tone for the entire news cycle during the last week before the elections in Ohio and Texas. (You can fill my in-box all you want, Clinton fans, but the media has been sweeter to Clinton than you know. There's been scant mention of Monica, Whitewater, Marc Rich, cattle futures ... oh, did I just say all that?)
Those of us who admire the senator, meanwhile, are feeling wrung out and exhausted. Obama's got to bounce back. I think that he will - but he'll have to do it smartly, because for him, the race has entered its most precarious phase. If he attacks the Clintons using gutter politics, he'll lose - those are the tactics that they excel at, and he can't beat them at their own game. More importantly, he risks losing his message and his base by stooping to their level. Here's my advice for him and his supporters.
-- Ignore John McCain for now. The split results in Ohio and Texas offered Obama one advantage - it confused his eventual opponent, John McCain. McCain had started to attack Obama, but now he's got to sit tight and watch how this plays out. Putting the Republican nominee on the sidelines right now probably isn't the best thing for the Democrats in the fall - the Republican National Committee has taken advantage of the calm to outraise the Democratic National Committee by tens of millions of dollars so far - but we'll have to deal with that later. For now, Obama can - and must - focus on the battle in front of him. If he wants to mention how much stronger a president he'll be than McCain, that's cool, but only after he's reminded voters how much stronger he'll be than Clinton.
-- Be an iron fist in a velvet glove. There's no need to be impolite to Clinton. Unlike some observers, I don't think it was weak at all for him to accept Samantha Power's resignation after she called Clinton a "monster." It showed that Obama keeps his staff on a tight leash - unlike Clinton - and emphasizes positivity in every aspect of his campaign.
Besides, after the Clinton campaign has impugned Obama's patriotism, tossed out racial and religious smears, and said that John McCain would make a better president than Obama would, they're expecting Obama to go ballistic. Kill the Clintons with kindness - and, since Hillary Clinton is running on the false pretense that she was also president during Bill's years in the White House, offer calm reminders of how there were a lot of things about the 1990s that weren't so great after all.
Remember losing control of Congress in the 1990s, Democrats? Remember losing Democratic control of governorships across the country? Remember all the useless psychodramas, remember losing all chance to further any kind of political agenda for the last two years of Bill Clinton's last term because of his personal problems? Say it like that, and the voters will remember. Even if they don't want to.
-- Let your surrogates be nastier than you are - up to a point. Really, there's so much to be nasty about with this couple that it's important to remind voters only of the issues that are germane to the race. Obama should have a couple of his supporters who worked in the Clinton White House remind people that Hillary Clinton has no experience with foreign-policy crises, no experience with economic policy, and that her one experience with health care was a disaster from start to finish. Pound Clinton on the "experience" meme, and it will quickly become apparent how thin her resume really is.
-- Get on the bus. Town hall meetings in endless succession. Photo ops with his sleeves rolled up while in conference with working-class voters about their fears and wishes. Walk door-to-door talking to people about their health care and explain to them why he's the best person to actually get it done. You get the picture: Obama's got to show the skittish undecideds that he works as hard as Clinton does.
Now, for the rest of us, his supporters:
-- Chill out. I went in to see my acupuncturist a few days ago, and he asked why I was so stressed. "I won't vote for Hillary!" I yelled. "I won't!"
He looked at me impassively for a moment, then said, "I won't either. Half the country won't. But, umm, it's a long time till November, and how often do you want to be on this table?"
Caille Millner is a Chronicle editorial writer. You can e-mail her at cmillner@sfchronicle.com.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/09/EDKOVG4R9.DTL
-VG
Barack Obama may be to Good for America
I have been thinking about his last speech. My thoughts about it.not mine (masterbater)
I have been thinking about his last speech. My thoughts about it.not mine (masterbater)
Re: Barack Obama may be to Good for America
QueEx
You think Barack is a messenger/prophet ???
QueEx
Re: Barack Obama may be to Good for America
My cousin, a Obama supporter, says he has all the makings of being the Anti-Christ....
Revelation 13:11–14:
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Hey, if the guy is really Damien from the Omen...who am I to deny the brotha his chance to destroy the world?
Obama for President!!!
My cousin, a Obama supporter, says he has all the makings of being the Anti-Christ....
Revelation 13:11–14:
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Hey, if the guy is really Damien from the Omen...who am I to deny the brotha his chance to destroy the world?
Obama for President!!!
Re: Barack Obama may be to Good for America
^^^ If he is, just don't take the damn mark of the beast.
They were saying the same thing about Bush early on. Your fear mongering won't work here.
^^^ If he is, just don't take the damn mark of the beast.
They were saying the same thing about Bush early on. Your fear mongering won't work here.
Re: Barack Obama may be to Good for America
I don't mince words....
If I were pro-Clinton/Mc Cain I would have attacked Obama right from the door....
As it stands, I'm pro-Obama and was merely reporting what was said to me by another Obama supporter who happens to be "religious"....
With that being said, you can now slowly remove your "defense attorney" hat and post something relevant....
^^^ If he is, just don't take the damn mark of the beast.
I don't mince words....
If I were pro-Clinton/Mc Cain I would have attacked Obama right from the door....
As it stands, I'm pro-Obama and was merely reporting what was said to me by another Obama supporter who happens to be "religious"....
With that being said, you can now slowly remove your "defense attorney" hat and post something relevant....
Re: Barack Obama may be to Good for America
Ask your friend about the one million iraq people killed since the war.....Bush is main reason for their deaths.....
.....A million dead and Bush hasn't reached anti-christ level?
....Does the Anti-Christ level have an accreditation board attached to it?
Ask your friend about the one million iraq people killed since the war.....Bush is main reason for their deaths.....
.....A million dead and Bush hasn't reached anti-christ level?
....Does the Anti-Christ level have an accreditation board attached to it?
Re: Barack Obama may be to Good for America
No, but an UN-emotional response to what was presented may just have that type of board....
It's repsonses like yours and like-minded others that provoke anti-Obama sentiment in Black America. I await your "To hell with you for not liking Obama...because blah, blah, blah...and blah," because I will then direct you to previous posts that show my candidate to be Obama.
Bush has nothing to do with the tea in China...he's gone in a few.
Who, of the likely suspects now running, fit the profile of the anti-Christ, as quoted in scripture...?
The "Uniter"....
No, but an UN-emotional response to what was presented may just have that type of board....
It's repsonses like yours and like-minded others that provoke anti-Obama sentiment in Black America. I await your "To hell with you for not liking Obama...because blah, blah, blah...and blah," because I will then direct you to previous posts that show my candidate to be Obama.
Bush has nothing to do with the tea in China...he's gone in a few.
Who, of the likely suspects now running, fit the profile of the anti-Christ, as quoted in scripture...?
The "Uniter"....