Black Voters Like Obama
Yahoo! News - USA
The Nation — The big news in today’s Washington Post/ABC poll is that black voters like Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record). He now leads …
Barack Obama and The Experience Factor
Scripps News - Washington,DC,USA
By MARTIN SCHRAM. "The Experience Factor." The words resonate wherever pols and pundits congregate, sipping and opining at watering holes along the campaign …
Oprah Winfrey embraces Barack Obama: Can she drive votes?
ZDNet.com blogs - USA … to be competitive during this process, I’ve decided to make the maximum allowable primary donation to Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. …
Barack Obama gets key Indian American backing
Indian Muslims - San Diego,CA,USA
New York, Feb 26 (IANS) The 2008 US presidential election nominee, Democrat Barack Obama, has received some key support from the Indian American community. …
Rice: Obama’s Run Shows Black Progress
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finds Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama appealing and says it won’t be much longer before …
An Open Letter to Barack Obama
American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA
I’m 26 years old and I never voted for anyone in an election for anything until this past November. I don’t think politicians can be trusted. …
Barack Obama’s audacity of hope
Manila Times - Manila,Philippines
ON Barack Obama’s first day as a senator, occupying a tiny transition office right next to a janitor’s closet in the basement of the Dirksen office building …
Barack Obama is not just addressing the American people. He is addressing the world gone cynical over corrupt, incompetent and morally degenerate leaders. He tells the world that a different future is possible. He tells us that there is power in conviction. And that beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, the world comprises one people. He tells us that there is power in hope. Obama, unadulterated and still uncorrupted, has the makings of a great American president. Our people need such leaders; not actors, boxers or brain-impaired justice secretaries, but leaders who have the capacity to instill the hope and reality of real change.
Steve West, co-host of Live & Local on WKVT 1490, wrote this reaction to the attack on John Odum…
…I’m reading a vitriolic screed by a man defending his own anti-racism credentials (which have not been questioned), slamming the character of Mr. Odum (who he does not know), and implying that Mr. Odum’s employer should put a tighter leash on him.
No matter what the details of this discussion……….that’s just not cool.
Any hope of keeping the “moral high ground” that SVR and Mr. Naylor had prior to this phenomenon is gone. He has displayed some fairly childish “schoolyard bully” behaviors, and has entirely alienated at least one potential comrade to the SVR cause……….meaning me.
Even if Odum’s posting was wildly off base and without merit……………the response was, dare I say, nasty and personal, and only tangentially addressed the issue. At this point, frankly, I’m pretty tired of the whole thing already. But now, today, John Odum says that, in order to keep the peace at his workplace, he is stepping down from GMD, where he has helped to add intelligence, humor, and energy to the political dialogue in Vermont.
And that’s just not right.
And to Professor Naylor and others of like mind at SVR, I say……….right or wrong, I’ll stick by John Odum on this one. He has shown himself to be, in my experience, intellectually honest and well-intended. I cannot say the same of the responses I’ve read from SVR.
And now I, for one, will redirect my attention to more immediate and measurable threats, while hoping that Odum reconsiders.
Oh yeah, and this should be fun. VDB has the details…
What: A live Burlington broadcast of WKVT’s “Live and Local,” devoted to media outside the mainstream
When: Saturday, March 3, 6 to 8 p.m.
Where: The Euro Cafe, 61 Main Street, Burlington
Who: WKVT Hosts Steve West and Gorty Baldwin; Special Guests include Alex Ball (Rip and Read), Haik Bedrosian (Burlingtonpol), Peter Freyne (Freyneland), Neil Jensen (What’s the Point?), Cathy Resmer (802 Online), Bill Simmon (Candleblog), Charity Tensel (She’s Right), Shay Totten (Vermont Guardian), and of course, VDB.
Who Else: You and yours
The format will be open and free-wheeling; the baklava and beer and spinach pie will be flowing.
Following this week’s dust-up over David Geffen’s comments about Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama is reportedly trying to lower the temperature a bit. He told an audience in Houston last night that the nation will remain at a standstill “if we continue to engage in small and divisive politics and tit-for-tat.” Obama also told the NYT that he wasn’t aware of the competing press statements as they were flying, and he told his staff that he doesn’t want his team “to be a party to these kinds of distractions because I want to make sure that we’re spending time talking about issues.”
In handling things this way, he seems to appreciate the discomfort many felt about the initial response to the Clinton/Geffen story. And is staying true to this part of his announcement speech…
That is why this campaign can’t only be about me. It must be about us - it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice - to push us forward when we’re doing right, and to let us know when we’re not.
Bravo Barack, bravo!
And now the Link Party…
Barack Obama Rally Heads To Larger Venue
CBS 42 - Austin,TX,USA
(CBS 42) AUSTIN Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama will be in Austin Friday afternoon for a rally. And apparently so many people want to see and hear …
Oprah Winfrey Backs Barack Obama
Post Chronicle - USA
Media titan Oprah Winfrey is throwing her considerable weight behind Barack Obama’s bid to become America’s first black president after dismissing public …
Why Obama will surprise national political pundits
Chicago Sun-Times - Chicago,IL,USA
First, just because a prominent African-American leader endorses Hillary Clinton, that doesn’t mean Barack Obama’s campaign has suffered a mortal wound. …
In Illinois, at least, large numbers of black voters tend to take their time making up their minds. In political parlance, they ”break late.”
Ten months before the March 2004 U.S. Senate primary (about where we are now before the Iowa caucuses), Obama’s own polls showed him winning just 34 percent of the black vote. About a month before the primary, African-American voters began ”breaking” in large numbers to his candidacy. As they began focusing on the campaign, black voters saw he was viable, liked his message and a significant percentage finally realized he was African American. He ended up winning just about all their votes.
This same pattern has been repeated time and time again during the past 25 years here. Harold Washington didn’t start off his campaign with the majority of black support against a white female with a huge war chest and the powers of patronage and incumbency, but he certainly ended that way.
Proposal by Obama on Public Financing Appears to Gain
New York Times - New York,NY,USA
The opinion is a response to an inquiry by Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination. It is an indication of how …
Barack Obama Draws Large Crowds In Urban Areas
CBS 5 - San Francisco,CA,USA
(AP) WASHINGTON Leah Hanes had never been much into politics until she ended up at a Barack Obama rally this week in Los Angeles, wearing a campaign T-shirt …
I’d like to invite any Obama supporters who stumble across this post to join a few related BarackObama.com groups that just might be able to provide Obama HQ with the helpful feedback that Barack asked for in his announcement speech.
Obama Rapid Response (82 members so far!)
Help monitor misinformation and negative political spin about Barack Obama. And organize efforts to respectfully contact media outlets to correct the record. Group home page Blog home page
Citizen Strategy ThinkTank (65 members so far!)
Help Barack Obama craft the messages and strategy that will make him the 44th President of the United States. Group home page Blog home page
Website Feedback (58 members so far!)
Help the Web Team continue to evolve this "work in progress" by providing feedback on all aspects of your Web visitor experience. Group home page Blog home page
And if you’re in Vermont…
Vermonters for Obama (44 members so far!)
Started in December 2006 and based in Burlington. Group home page Blog home page
Robert Greenwald documents the Obama atrocities on Fox News…
And now today’s featured links…
Senators Barack Obama, Claire McCaskill to Introduce Legislation …
All American Patriots (press release) - Taeby,NA,Sweden
Tuesday, February 20, 2007, WASHINGTON, DC – US Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Claire McCaskill …
Obama with Democrats in Des Moines
Radio Iowa - Des Moines,IA,USA
Over 2000 Iowa Democrats assembled in downtown Des Moines last night to see and hear Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. ..
Barack Obama Drawing Large Crowds
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama’s campaign says 9000 people showed up for his Los Angeles rally, but it’s hard to know for sure. The crowd sprawled around the …
Interest appears high in Barack Obama’s Austin landing
Austin American-Statesman (subscription) - Austin,TX,USA Barack Obama, D-Illinois, to arrive before his slated 2 pm Friday speech on Auditorium Shores. Obama plans to bring his nascent presidential campaign to …
Ex-Senate leader Daschle endorses Obama
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA Barack Obama won the endorsement Wednesday of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who said the White House hopeful "personifies the future of …
Barack Obama’s Hollywood Debut
Chicago Tribune - Chicago,IL,USA
At the Beverly Hilton, site of the Golden Globe Awards, the stars of the entertainment world came out for a $2300-per-ticket campaign fundraiser with the …
Obama to headline voting rights march commemoration in Selma
The Decatur Daily - Decatur,AL,USA
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address next month at the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee that …
Obama represents a new generation
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA,USA Barack Obama (D. Ill.)? His economist father (black) was born in Kenya, giving Obama a connection to Africa more direct than most African Americans have. …
Barack Obama puts UK politicians to shame for Web 2.0 skillz
Mobile Digest - London,England,UK
Check the new website for Democrat candidate Barack Obama, for example, which lets users create their own profiles, hook up to plan local events, …
Obama got start in civil rights practice
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA
This photo provided by Harvard University Law School shows Barack Obama as a student at the school in Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 6, 1990. …
Obama’s new breed of baby boomer
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA
Senator Barack Obama, shown in Las Vegas on Sunday, grew up in the aftermath of the huge cultural storm of the 1960s….
The Hot Ticket in Hollywood: An Evening With Obama
New York Times - New York,NY,USA Barack Obama was greeted during a rally on Sunday in Las Vegas. Mr. Obama will be the guest of honor at a celebrity-studded benefit tonight. …
Authentic Obama
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
ORANGEBURG, SC — Is Barack Obama "authentically" black? Come on, be real. Is the pope Catholic? Obama made his first campaign trip to this early-primary …
Political Web sites get personal
PopMatters - Chicago,IL,USA
WASHINGTON—Barack Obama’s newly revamped Web site looks a lot like MySpace and Facebook, and that is no accident. As a presidential candidate offering …
Gigabyte grass roots grow for Obama campaign
Kansas City Star - MO,USA Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, announced that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee, Farouk Olu Aregbe logged on to Facebook.com. …
Obama: US Ready for Black President
ABC News - USA Barack Obama, D-Ill., makes a campaign visit to Claflin University with a town-hall style meeting Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007, at the Tullis arena in Orangeburg …
Barack Obama: not your typical Chicago politician
Monterey County Herald - Monterey,CA,USA
CHICAGO - Watching Barack Obama launch his presidential campaign, you’d never know he’s from Chicago. He staged the dramatic kickoff downstate in …
The first-term Democratic senator didn’t come up through the rough ranks of Chicago politics. He got his start as a neighborhood organizer who fought City Hall. He was just a bystander to the 1983-87 reign of the city’s only African-American mayor, Harold Washington. He made his first unsuccessful run for Congress against an established black congressman, Bobby Rush. And he ran for the U.S. Senate against an Irish-American Democrat with deep roots in Chicago’s political machine and broad support from the party establishment.
"He’s an enigma," said Denny Jacobs, a former Democratic state senator from East Moline who served with Obama in the state Legislature.
"He’s not the mayor’s guy. He’s not the aldermen’s guy. He’s not the county board chairman’s guy. He’s nobody’s guy. Usually you’re somebody’s guy. In Chicago, that’s a way of life."
It’s not that Obama is at odds with Chicago politics. He’s endorsed Daley for re-election, for example.
But being free of debts to Chicago’s political establishments - black or white - gives him more freedom to seek the White House without being implicated in City Hall patronage investigations or having close ties to a controversial figure such as Jackson.
"He’s trying to show he’s not just a Chicago politician. He’s a politician for all the people," said state Sen. Terry Link, a Democrat from Will County, north of Chicago.
Virginia Governor to Endorse Obama
ABC News - USA
Timothy M. Kaine will endorse Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, perhaps as early as the weekend, two officials said Wednesday. …
Version 2.0 of the Barack Obama Web site ready for prime time
Chicago Tribune - Chicago,IL,USA
When I checked in on the campaign Web sites of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama a few weeks back, it was before the latter had announced he was in it …
Aussie does a favor for Obama
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Seattle,WA,USA
No doubt to most Americans, Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s well-publicized weekend attack on Barack Obama seems mystifying. …
Barack Obama’s On-Point Message Man
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
On Saturday in the Lincolnesque setting of Springfield, Ill., when Barack Obama delivered his full-throated appeal to the ideals of a new generation, …
Welcome to Obama’s family
Providence Journal - Providence,RI,USA
His sister, who married Obama in 1992, is in the middle of that campaign, but Robinson knows she was a great success story before she ever met Barack Obama. …
Obama rocks Granite State: And viva NH primary
Boston Herald - Boston,MA,USA
But when I turned up in New Hampshire over the weekend to cover the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama events, I walked right in. No ID. No credentials. …
Obama’s poker face comes into play
Telegraph.co.uk - London,England,UK
When he was a young state politician in Illinois, Barack Obama played his cards right. "He had the stone face," said Senator Terry Links, who hosted weekly …
I thought this was a joke, but no. It’s much much better than that.
From the official press release…
NEW YORK - Stephen Colbert may have no taste for the truth, but he does have a sweet tooth. Ben & Jerry’s has named a new ice cream in honor of the comedian: "Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream."
It’s vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel.
Announcing the new flavor Wednesday, Ben & Jerry’s called it: "The sweet taste of liberty in your mouth."
The Vermont-based ice-cream maker is known for naming its flavors after people such as Jerry Garcia, Wavy Gravy and the band Phish — which Colbert sees as a political bias.
"I’m not afraid to say it. Dessert has a well-known liberal agenda," Colbert said in a statement. "What I hope to do with this ice cream is bring some balance back to the freezer case."
Colbert, who spoofs flag-waving conservative pundits on his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report," is donating his proceeds to charity through the new Stephen Colbert Americone Dream Fund, which will distribute the money to various causes.
What: A live Burlington broadcast of WKVT’s “Live and Local,” devoted to media outside the mainstream
From the official press release…
