Dear Supporter,

Barack has been traveling across the country asking people to speak out and let their Senators know that it’s time to end the Iraq war.

One Republican colleague has already called this "not Senatorial". But this isn’t about Washington etiquette, it’s about bringing our troops home.

This isn’t a game. We need just 16 additional votes to override the president’s veto and bring to a close this sad chapter in American history.

It’s going to take some convincing, but Senators need to hear from people in their states that they can join us to bring a responsible end to the war.

That’s where you come in. There are 20 incumbent Republican Senators facing re-election battles in 2008. They will have to make clear very soon whether they will continue to block efforts to bring the troops home.

Now is the time to hold them accountable for their choices on the war. Their constituents are making their voices heard, but they need to hear from all of us. Will you speak out now and add your voice to the growing public pressure to end the war?

http://my.barackobama.com/16votes

But don’t stop there, keep the pressure on.

On Saturday, May 19th, we’re taking the message to the streets. Come join Barack and hundreds of others for our first statewide canvass in New Hampshire.

Barack will kick things off Saturday morning in Manchester. Then we will fan out across the state to talk to New Hampshire voters about the 16 votes that can end the Iraq war and how their Senators can help. It’s time to end this war, and it will take all of our energy to do it.

Will you join us to help make it happen on Saturday, May 19th?

http://nh.barackobama.com/canvass

No one of us can do it alone, and it’s not going to happen tomorrow. But a movement to create the kind of change we need starts with you.

Thank you,
David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Obama stirring in his KC visit
Kansas City Star - MO,USA
After candidate Barack Obama’s impressive showing last weekend, the buzz is only going to grow louder. First of all, Clinton should just go ahead and …

It was clear from the outset that Obama brought his A game. While fatigue was blamed for a few flubs he made on the campaign trail in recent weeks, Obama seemed energized Saturday.

After a few opening remarks, he found his rhythm, his cadence.

“Politics seems as if it’s become a business and not a mission,” Obama said. “It seems that power is always trumping principle, especially in Washington. It seems our leadership is long on rhetoric but short on substance.”

The crowd’s response seemed to rise each time he mentioned a theme associated with middle America.

“We’ve had a government that basically ignores the realities of ordinary people,” Obama said. “They say the economy has never been so good … even though families are living from paycheck to paycheck. People are trying to figure out everything from how to fill up the gas tank to saving for retirement to sending their kids to college. People are living hand to mouth, trying to make ends meet.”

Of course, his disdain for the war in Iraq drew vociferous applause.

“We have a government that thinks that our foreign policy can be determined by ideology and bluster instead of strategy and foresight,” he said.

Yet, it was when he invoked a sense of optimism reminiscent of the 1960 presidential campaign that he seemed the most genuine.

“I just get a sense that a new wind is blowing,” Obama said. “The American people are paying attention like they haven’t paid attention in a lot of years. People are standing up all around this country saying, ‘We want our country back.’”

No one in the audience was left feeling cheated.

“You can tell in peoples’ faces that they really were feeling for what Obama’s message was,” said Nancy Pinkston, a student leader with University of Missouri Students for Obama. “So many politicians can talk the talk. But Obama’s the real deal.”

Sarah Taylor, another supporter, was not disappointed either.

“He has incredible charisma,” Taylor said. “He’s got a broad appeal. I think he’ll be a real strong contender. I want to support someone who’s different.”

Obama was on his game in Kansas City. It was as if he were 10 for 10 from the field.

But no one should underestimate Hillary Clinton, especially when she has her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in tow. But minus Bill, she would have a hard time in Kansas City drawing a larger, more diverse and more enthusiastic audience than the one Obama drew last weekend.

Senator Obama Leads In South Carolina
AHN - USA
… a new poll shows Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is running in second place against fellow Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) in South Carolina. …

Obama scores points with workes on health care, Iraq
NorthJersey.com - Hackensack,NJ,USA
A union crowd gave Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama repeat standing ovations Monday as he called for universal health coverage, …

Over the course of more than an hour, Obama said he supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country, opposes private school vouchers, supports legislation that would lower barriers to unionization and favors more research on alternative energy sources. The crowd was particularly pleased with his unqualified call for a phased withdrawal from Iraq, starting "last week."

"If we organize, we can bring an end to a war that never should have been authorized," Obama said, raising his voice over cheers. He added, "I’m proud that in 2002 I stood up, when it wasn’t popular to be against this war."

One of Obama’s chief rivals for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, voted to authorize the invasion, which necessarily complicates her stance on the war.

New Jersey is supposed to be Clinton country: Polls put the New York senator in the lead for the nomination among New Jersey Democrats, and she also has won the endorsement of Governor Corzine and other party leaders in the state.

However, during his swing through the state Monday, Obama gained some endorsements of his own from the mayors of the state’s two largest cities, Newark’s Cory Booker and Jersey City’s Jerramiah Healy. Democratic Assemblyman Gordon Johnson of Englewood also announced his support for Obama on Monday.

"I believe he is a breath of fresh air," Johnson said. "I believe he is what we need."

Barack Obama: Obama Bill on Climate Change Education
All American Patriots (press release) - Taeby,NA,Sweden
May 14, 2007 — WASHINGTON, DC – US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) was today joined by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) in introducing …

U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) was today joined by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) in introducing legislation that would create a national education program to build awareness about the causes and effects of global climate change. This bipartisan bill, the Climate Change Education Act, will educate students and all Americans about the troubling consequences of climate change, greenhouse gases, and carbon emissions, as well as suggest steps they can take to conserve energy and reduce their environmental impact.

“The power to fight back against climate change lies in the hands of all Americans,” said Senator Obama. “As we develop national solutions to reduce carbon emissions from our factories and motor vehicles, every student should know that lifestyle choices like changing a light-bulb or driving a fuel-flexible car can help our progress.”

Obama Proposes Changes in Student Loans
ABC News - USA
Barack Obama, D-Ill., gestures as he speaks to a large gathering of mostly union members Monday, May 14, 2007, in Trenton, NJ The town hall-style meeting …

Missouri happy to show Obama the money
Chicago Sun-Times - Chicago,IL,USA
Why did Barack Obama fly to Missouri last weekend, stopping briefly in the state’s biggest urban centers, St. Louis and Kansas City? …

But looking around the ballroom one could also see that the crowd here was in many ways a cross-section of America: babies, seniors, young, black, white, students, and the curious. "Missouri is close to the median of the United States in terms of the economy and the population," John Petrocik, head of political science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, explained to me later.

In this state, plunk in the middle of the continental U.S., there remain traces of a southern tradition, a rural white population in the Ozark mountains, a rust-belt industry in St. Louis, a large Christian conservative population and important universities. Missouri is an atypical Midwest state that has it all; it is a microcosm of the USA. As Petrocik says, it wasn’t a bad place for Obama to have "an off-Broadway tryout."

And, yes, it is a swing state where shifts between Democrats and Republicans are not rare occurrences. Missouri has more often voted for the winning presidential candidate than any other state, whether he’s Democrat or Republican. It is the state of Harry Truman but it elected George W. Bush the last time around. As the state slogan suggests: "Show Me." And that’s likely what Missourians were asking of Barack Obama, the first Democratic presidential candidate to visit their state: "Show Me" before I give you my vote.

Obama names NH co-chairs
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA
Three former Congressional candidates and a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair will head up Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in the state where …

Poor grades help Barack Obama learn about campaigning
McClatchy Washington Bureau - USA
Barack Obama of Illinois is going to school on the presidential campaign trail, and he just got a lesson from what’s arguably the most important trade union …

"There was a view that Senator Obama seemed to be a little somber, a little sobering," Schaitberger said, referring to a survey he took of the roughly 1,000 union leaders who heard Obama and 10 other candidates that day. "The issues he shared weren’t necessarily on point.

"Senator Obama was probably not overly pleased with my opinion," Schaitberger added. "But I was being honest."

…

On Friday, Obama got a chance for a makeover. The firefighters invited him and the five Democrats who did well to meet for follow-up interviews with about 80 union leaders gathered in Portsmouth, N.H.

…He got more specific about firefighter issues and ended up with a much better grade.

"Obama did a much better job," Schaitberger said. "He was more on point. He acknowledged this. He made it clear that he really wanted to pursue our support. Today was a very different presentation."

Obama Joins Booker and Healy to Call for Creation of Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
TETERBORO, NJ–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Barack Obama joined Mayor Cory Booker of Newark and Mayor Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City today to call for the creation of …

___________________________________________________

Begun in January 2007, the Barack the House Link Party is a regularly produced compilation of news items highlighting the many reasons why Barack Obama will be a great President of the United States.

It’s also intended as a resource for people working to ensure that accurate and positive information about Barack gets out to the public. If you’re interested in helping out with this effort, please consider joining the Obama Rapid Response group at my.barackobama.com.

Obama does it Truman style — giving ‘em hell over Iraq
Chicago Sun-Times Sun, 13 May 2007 2:20 AM PDT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This is former President Harry Truman’s stomping ground, "give ‘em hell" country, and that’s exactly what Barack Obama did Saturday afternoon: He rousingly gave ‘em hell.

This is former President Harry Truman’s stomping ground, "give ‘em hell" country, and that’s exactly what Barack Obama did Saturday afternoon: He rousingly gave ‘em hell.

He played off the enthusiasms of a fervent crowd of 2,000 in a downtown hotel ballroom to lambaste President Bush’s policy in Iraq, noting the Democratic effort to use legislation to bring troops home in a phased withdrawal is meeting an impenetrable stone wall: the president’s veto.

"I don’t think we are going to change George Bush’s mind," Obama said. "He doesn’t seem to be someone who examines the facts."

Obama has been arguing all along that the solution to the war in Iraq is a political one and the lengthy presence of American troops will do nothing to solve the impasse among the various Iraqi ethnic groups. He asserts the solution is political, not military.

…

Obama reiterated his own theme that Americans need to find a unity of mind amongst themselves and also to reach out to the rest of the world to resolve issues such as global warming, the debacle in Darfur and nuclear proliferation. We need to mend our relationships abroad, he explained.

"The day this president steps down, the rest of the world will breathe a sigh of relief," Obama said.

He also called for the closing of Guantanamo — the American military base in Cuba where putative al-Qaida terrorists are imprisoned: "Why don’t we say we don’t do torture, we don’t do rendition, that’s not who we are as a people."

He concluded with another theme he regularly invokes: that America needs to be transformed into a country that expresses humanity and "core decency" so it can remain a "beacon of hope" to the rest of the world.

Trail is new place for Michelle Obama
Concord Monitor - Concord,NH,USA
Barack Obama of Illinois, said he is running for president. After she ends her duties as vice president of community and external affairs at the University …

Glamour, grit and homespun charm: Mrs Obama gets another day job
Times Online - UK
Michelle Obama, the Harvard-educated African-American wife of the Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, announced yesterday that she was quitting …

Obama assails private Medicare plans
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA
DES MOINES, Iowa –Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Friday proposed cutting government subsidies to private insurance companies under …

Grassley-Obama sparring continues over veto override
DesMoinesRegister.com - Des Moines,IA,USA
Washington, DC - Barack Obama and Iowa’s senior US senator continued to spar Friday over a call to bring troops home from Iraq. …

Corporate gifts to Obama? It never happened …
Chicago Sun-Times - Chicago,IL,USA
I have watched Barack Obama since he entered the state Legislature many years ago. I have compared him and his ethics with those of people I have known in …

Corporations did not give any money to Obama and they are not going to have any hold on him in his public life. I have watched Barack Obama since he entered the state Legislature many years ago. I have compared him and his ethics with those of people I have known in political arenas over the last 50 years that I have been active in public life. He is in the mold of the late Senators Paul Douglas and Paul Simon. The only "Inc." you can put after his name is if you are starting to spell the word "incorruptible."

Jesse Jackson Jr. asks black Dems to back Obama
The Decatur Daily - Decatur,AL,USA
Barack Obama in the state’s presidential primary. The ADC, the state’s oldest and most influential black political organization, will not formally endorse a …

Jackson said it’s time to come together and build a more perfect union.

Instead of questioning whether a candidate is “black enough,” some people need to let go and move on, Jackson said.

That would mean some people will have to stop holding onto the past and start looking to the future, he said.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are black, white, rich or poor,” Jackson said. “We need to build a more perfect union for everybody.”

The ADC convention theme was “Taking Back Alabama in 2008.”

ADC Chairman Joe Reed said he looked forward to October when the group will meet in Birmingham to make its endorsements.

Obama’s candidacy raises, answers myriad concerns
The Argus - Fremont,CA,USA
THE PICTURES I took at the Oakland rally for Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama include about four of the Rotunda building across from where he …

In recent weeks, Obama has been gaining in the polls. Most show him making steady progress.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has been running a parody that calls Obama "the Magic Negro" white liberals can support and assuage their racial guilt. Some have called it offensive, particularly with the increase in hate mail and Web postings. Obama’s campaign has called it simply dumb.

I have another take on the racial angle. The Limbaughs of the world would dismiss it as white liberal guilt, but I wonder if electing a black man as president wouldn’t help our country begin the process of racial healing. It wouldn’t negate the need to continue the work to eliminate entrenched discrimination and racial disparities in health, education and wealth.

However, if we can send a black man to the White House and he can serve his term or terms, we’ve made progress I didn’t think I’d see in my lifetime.

Obama’s half-sister helps kick off local campaign
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Honolulu,HI,USA
Hawaii-born presidential candidate Barack Obama sees Hawaii as "a fabulous model for the kind of America I hope this campaign will bring about." …

"He was instrumental in helping me make good decisions, and reminding me of my strengths," she said.

Race and Obama’s Kenyan heritage have been the focus of many discussions around his candidacy, and Soetoro-Ng said it gets frustrating because Obama comes from a culturally diverse family.

"I think to focus on that is to cheapen things," she said. "He has enough complexity so that when he acts or speaks, he’s thinking of people of all races and creeds."

Locally, the campaign hopes to recruit as many as 7,000 supporters to join the Hawaii Democratic Party and vote in the Feb. 19 precinct caucus, campaign coordinator Andy Winer said.

More than 100 people showed up at yesterday’s kickoff and planning session.

State Sen. Clarence Nishihara said Obama reflects Hawaii’s aloha spirit.

"Internationally, if people find you come from Hawaii, somehow they think we’re something special, something out there," Nishihara said. "We provide a different kind of American … the kind we need to work toward."

The easy case for President Obama
St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg,FL,USA
Anyone who underestimates the Illinois senator’s …

In a crowded field where at least 20 states may vote on Feb. 5, 2008, campaign money can’t be underestimated. As the field of aspiring Hillary alternatives winnows, that only helps Obama.

"We’re going to be competing everywhere on Feb. 5. The only other person that can say that is Hillary, " said Miami lawyer Kirk Wager, Obama’s Florida finance chairman.

Given his lack of experience on the national stage, Obama, of course, must hope that the 2008 election is more about change than it is about the war on terror. But even there judgment may trump experience; unlike his leading rivals, Obama opposed invading Iraq from the start.

"I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. … I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaida, " Obama said in 2002.

"In some ways, Obama’s redefining what experience is. His line - ‘look what experience has gotten us’ - I think that resonates, " said Bernie Campbell of Tampa, a veteran Democratic consultant who sees Obama as a strong contender.

"He’s got a message that competes, he’s got a staff that competes, and he’s got the money that competes, " said Campbell.

Once he beats Clinton in the primary, the general election looks almost easy given the state of the Republican image lately. That Obama is winning over his share of Republicans at the same time he’s pulling liberals from Clinton’s camp, shows how strong he could be in the general election.

Never underestimate the strength of a candidate that a broad array of people feel good about supporting. Barack Obama, the embodiment of the American dream, may prove the perfect candidate for an electorate hungry for optimism.

Newark mayor to back Obama
Chicago Tribune Sun, 13 May 2007 3:53 AM PDT
Sen. Barack Obama will pick up a significant endorsement Monday when Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, N.J., is expected to formally announce his support for the Illinois Democrat in the 2008 presidential primary.

Obama Draws 3000 in Missouri
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama urged about 3000 supporters Saturday to help send members to Congress who will oppose the war in Iraq. …

Ireland Claims Obama as Its Own
Washington Post Sat, 12 May 2007 7:23 PM PDT
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is the talk of the tiny Irish village of Moneygall.

_________________________________________

The Barack the House Link Party is a regular compilation of news items that highlight the many reasons why Barack Obama will be a great President of the United States.

It’s also intended as a resource for people working to ensure that accurate and positive information about Barack gets out to the public. If you’re interested in helping out with this effort, please consider joining the Obama Rapid Response group at my.barackobama.com.

Dad - Home-built Kayak ~ 1940

Mrs Obama steps into the spotlight
Times Online - UK
The wife of Barack Obama, the presidential candidate who is tussling with Hillary Clinton to become the Democratic choice to succeed President Bush, …

And in recent weeks Mrs Obama, who is tall and striking, has also deployed alone on the campaign trail, making speeches in churches in Illinois and Carolina. In a letter sent to potential donors earlier this month she wrote: "I’m now one of those ‘other’ kind of people Barack talks about — the people who believe democracy can live up to its promise, who are not just willing to do their part to make it work but who are enthused about the prospect."

Michelle Obama: Campaigning her way
USA Today - USA
Barack Obama, is a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, but in an interview with USA TODAY, she admits she hasn’t thought much about …

Obama, 43, says she has overcome the qualms she once had about her husband’s political career and presidential ambitions. She says she’s comfortable being his emissary, collecting the concerns and hopes of the voters she meets and sharing them with him. A vice president of the University of Chicago Hospitals, she now works part time and limits her campaigning to day trips so she can make breakfast for their daughters — Malia, 8, and Sasha, 5 — and be home in time to tuck them in at night.

She used to have a cynical view of politics, she says, because politicians she admired — but won’t identify — were "afraid of taking a stand because they don’t want to lose their seat or their position."

"I never had doubt about what Barack could offer, and that’s what kind of spiraled me out of my own doubt," she says. "I don’t want to be the person that holds back a potential answer" to the nation’s challenges. She had to overcome concerns that her husband could get "chewed up" by the whole "messy business" of politics, she says.

Obama Renews Pressing Grassley on Iraq
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
INDIANOLA, Iowa — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama stepped up his pressure on Republican Sen. Charles Grassley on Thursday, arguing voters …

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama stepped up his pressure on Republican Sen. Charles Grassley on Thursday, arguing voters should urge the Iowa lawmaker to help override President Bush’s veto of a bill that would set a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

Obama addressed the issue during the eighth campaign swing through Iowa since he declared his candidacy for president.

"It isn’t personal," Obama told about 300 people at a town hall meeting at Simpson College. "I respect him greatly. But I said then and I say now that he needs to hear from you and people across Iowa who understand that it’s time to change course."

Obama has made his opposition to the war in Iraq a central theme of his campaign.

Barack Gets It Right On Limbaugh’s "Barack The Magic Negro" Parody
Huffington Post - New York,NY,USA
That’s how Presidential candidate Barack Obama responded when Paul W. Smith with Detroit’s WJR Radio asked him about the Rush Limbaugh’s parody song "Barack …

Obama didn’t take Limbaugh’s bait. Good for him. Obama understands that the continuing name calling from the right further confirms his skyrocketing viability as the Democratic nominee.

Obama also understands that talking about race is a scary thing in America. Especially for a politician. Race is a third rail issue that can end a career. Obama knows that race is a huge elephant in his room and both the Obama haters and the Obamaniacs are watching his every word on all things racial. Obama also understands that he doesn’t need to care what Limbaugh’s listeners think. They aren’t voting for him.

So, instead of a even criticizing Limbaugh, Obama deftly swats off the controversy with humor, which shows leadership. Obama knows to win that it’s not worth making Rush’s molehill more of a mountain. Like the Rutgers’s ladies, Obama is a class act.

Obama Has Harlem Locked
New California Media - San Francisco,CA,USA
Senator Barack Obama will have the Black vote solidly in his corner if street pundits along Harlem’s famed 125th Street are to be taken as a measure of how …

Senator Barack Obama will have the Black vote solidly in his corner if street pundits along Harlem’s famed 125th Street are to be taken as a measure of how African Americans are weighing their votes between the Illinois senator and New York’s Hillary Clinton. Coincidentally, top Harlem politician Bill Perkins today announced his endorsement of Obama.

Some of the people interviewed say they don’t want to see a Clinton dynasty, while others say she panders too much to the right with her stance on the Iraq war and unquestioned backing for Israel. At the end of the day, Obama will win Black votes because he’s the first Black presidential candidate with a realistic chance at winning the White House, many say.

Obama represents generational change
Coshocton Tribune - Coshocton,OH,USA
SAN DIEGO - As someone who could become the first African-American president, Barack Obama can’t help but make history - even the unwelcome kind. …

An Obama presidency would be a refreshing change and would almost certainly benefit from the fact that the candidate is not burdened by what he calls the "psychodrama of the baby boom generation" with its endless feuds, grudges and hard feelings dating back to the conflicts of the 1960s. If nothing else, it’ll be a nice change - from this point forward - not to hear every foreign policy challenge described as "another Vietnam."

OK, we get it. That war went a long way toward defining the baby boomers. But that doesn’t mean it has to define our nation’s foreign policy for the next century. It’s time to bury those ghosts.

Fifty years from now, people will look back and they won’t believe that during the 2004 presidential election - the first since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - the debate in America wasn’t really over the location of Osama bin Laden but over whether John Kerry was ever in Cambodia or whether George W. Bush spent the requisite amount of time in Alabama to maintain his status as a member of the Air National Guard. You would have thought we could have found something more urgent to focus on - like how best to combat the threat of global terrorism.

We need a new national mindset, and step one is to usher in a new generation of leaders. One waits in the wings.

Obama taps influential foreign policy experts
Chicago Sun-Times Thu, 10 May 2007 3:24 AM PDT
The inner circle of foreign policy experts advising Sen. Barack Obama is small but influential. If he is elected president, his secretary of state and national security advisers may come from this group.

For Obama’s presidential bid, Senate staffer Mark Lippert is the critical link between the campaign, the Senate staff and the senator. Lippert has accompanied Obama on the three international trips Obama has taken while in office. Lippert, who has a master’s from Stanford in international policy, has had a hand in every major Obama speech and statement on international affairs and deals with the senator daily.

Lippert, a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy Reserve, came to Obama after working on the Senate Appropriations Committee Foreign Operations Subcommittee for five years and has handled foreign policy and defense issues for the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

Besides Lippert, the core Obama group consists of three people who worked in President Bill Clinton’s administration: former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake and former senior State Department officials Susan Rice and Gregory Craig. They meet regularly in Washington. Lake was the NSA adviser during Clinton’s first term. Rice was the senior adviser on national security affairs for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004, an assistant secretary of state for African affairs and a special assistant to the president at the National Security Council at the Clinton White House.

Obama’s Economic Brain Trust Breaks With `Status Quo’
Bloomberg via Yahoo! News Thu, 10 May 2007 8:27 AM PDT
May 10 (Bloomberg) — Senator Barack Obama portrays himself as a new kind of leader who transcends conventional politics. Judging by the economists he has enlisted in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, he may just be.

May 10 (Bloomberg) — Senator Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) portrays himself as a new kind of leader who transcends conventional politics. Judging by the economists he has enlisted in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, he may just be.

Obama’s economic brain trust — a blend of up-and-coming academics and former officials in President Bill Clinton’s administration — displays a fondness for backing innovative solutions to the nation’s problems. Among them: offering ailing U.S. automakers aid in return for increased investment in hybrid cars and rewarding doctors for the improvements they make in patients’ health.

“They bring to the campaign some fresh thought on approaches that are non-status quo,” says Alan Blinder, a Princeton University economist and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve.

EXCLUSIVE: George Stephanopoulos Interviews Presidential Hopeful Barack Obama
ABC News Thu, 10 May 2007 9:53 AM PDT
Obama Sits Down for First Sunday Morning Interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos

Obama Criticizes Automakers on Fuel Economy
New York Times - New York,NY,USA
DETROIT, May 7 — Senator Barack Obama of Illinois delivered a stern message to Detroit auto companies on Monday, saying they had done little to lessen the …

Michelle Obama says husband has moral compass
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA
WINDHAM, NH –Presidential hopeful Barack Obama electrified his audience with his 2004 address to the Democratic National Convention and was heralded as the …

Voters pack Windham house party for Michelle Obama
The Union Leader - Manchester,NH,USA
WINDHAM - Michelle Obama, wife of presidential hopeful Barack Obama, stirred a house full of people yesterday with her personal stories of her husband and …

In Lincoln’s footsteps
Guardian Unlimited - UK
For even the most seasoned observers of American politics, Barack Obama is a phenomenon. In normal circumstances, it would be unthinkable for a politician …

I’ve met Barack on a number of occasions and consider him a friend. And I have been pleasantly surprised to see that his presidential bid has been met with such widespread warmth and enthusiasm. As Barack himself is frequently at pains to point out, all this excitement says as much about the mood of the American public as it does about the unusual talents of the junior senator from Illinois.

The British publication of his new book, The Audacity of Hope, therefore offers readers on this side of the Atlantic a window not just into the mind of one of America’s most exciting politicians, but into the political landscape of the post-Bush era.

Can Oprah push Obama into White House?
Houston Chronicle - Houston,TX,USA
Barack Obama, D-Ill. In an interview on Larry King Live on CNN, she said she was backing the senator "because I know him personally." …

Obama stories prompt racist postings
Chicago Sun-Times - Chicago,IL,USA
Stories about White House hopeful Barack Obama on CBS News.com have been attracting so many racist comments that staffers were told they should no longer …

Obama’s backers can’t get enough
Detroit Free Press - Detroit,MI,USA
Barack Obama’s supporters in Michigan want to hear more specifics, more details, more of his plans for the nation. But mostly, they want him. …

REPUBLICANS DEFECT TO OBAMA
Free Market News Network - Pompano Beach,FL,USA
DISILLUSIONED supporters of President George W Bush are defecting to Barack Obama, the Democratic senator for Illinois, as the White House candidate with …

Obama urges Iowans to lobby congress to end the Iraq war
DesMoinesRegister.com - Des Moines,IA,USA
WATERLOO, IA — Presidential candidate Barack Obama called for Iowans to lobby their US senators to end the war in Iraq during a campaign stop here Sunday. …

For Barack Obama, Winning the White House Would Mean Bridging The …
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
Barack Obama’s white supporters, this is the dialogue of race, the parsing of perceptions and expectations as they watch their man campaign. …

Dear Supporter,

For too many people, politics is a bad word. It’s not surprising since for many people "politics" means talking heads screaming at each other on TV, or special interests stacking the deck in Washington.

We have an opportunity to change that. When politics gets local, when the person talking is your neighbor standing on your front porch, things change.

On June 9th, hundreds of thousands of people will have that experience as we take our campaign to the streets in all 50 states for a nationwide neighborhood walk.

We’re calling it Walk for Change, and its success depends on you. I’m asking you for something extraordinary. I’m asking you to lead a group of supporters in your community in a neighborhood walk to let people know about our campaign.

If you agree to organize a walk, we’ll mail you the materials you need to start a conversation with your neighbors about being part of this movement for change. But it can only happen if you’re willing to take the leap and put together a June 9th Walk for Change event where you live:

my.barackobama.com/page/content/0609create

It’s not common these days to reach out to a neighbor.

We’re more likely to nod quickly and smile when unloading the groceries or walking the dog than we are to stop and talk about the things that shape our common destiny.

But the great issues of our day shouldn’t just be topics to fill time between commercials on cable news. These challenges — ending the war in Iraq, solving the health care crisis, tackling climate change — affect each one of us personally.

And the solutions to each one will require personal investment from all of us.

That’s why it’s so important to create this dialogue in your community — to have a serious conversation about what matters most to your neighbors, and to share with them why this movement for change is personal for you.

We shouldn’t be afraid. Americans everywhere are hungry for change, and waiting for someone to show them where change will come from.

On June 9th, if you organize a Walk for Change event, that change will come from your community, and the person showing the way will be you.

Thank you.

Barack Obama

P.S. — As you read this, people across the country are planning their events using the My.BarackObama.com tools. If you’re not ready to host your own walk, there may already be one in your community that you can join. Use our interactive map to search for one near you:

my.barackobama.com/walkforchange

I just saw this mentioned over at Candleblog. But, apparently (former?) Seven Days writer Peter Kurth, whose Crank Call column has always been one of my favorites, spent two months in a British prison after an incident of air rage.

Here’s an excerpt…

My sins, in brief: When the cabin crew refused to radio JFK to see if I’d left my laptop at the gate and also declined to move me to another seat, “an altercation ensued” — not physical, but verbal, with the flight attendants becoming snootier by the minute and me becoming, well, let’s say, more American. I behaved badly in-flight, yelling at the crew, “I am an American citizen! You are our lapdog ally!” and other remarks of a vulgar and unhelpful nature. Very vulgar, I’m afraid: At one point I called that tired stewardess the worst thing you can call a woman — you all know what it is — but by then I was in full-blown air rage, something the airlines used to understand but, on the evidence, no longer do.

Finally, I went back to the galley and sat on what is called the “bustle,” which is where they keep those rubber slides should a plane go down in water and where, over many years of these flights, I’ve seen lots of people sitting and children playing without anyone making a fuss about it. But times have changed, and now parking your ass on the bustle constitutes “endangering an aircraft,” which is a very high crime under Britain’s new anti-terrorism laws, and can get you sent to prison for a minimum of two years. I was warned about this (so they tell me), but I still refused to move; and when we finally landed at Heathrow the next morning I was escorted off the plane by two of London’s finest — not the sort of “bobby” I remember from many years in London, but fully outfitted SWAT-team types, bristling with munitions and in no mood for smart alecks. They dragged me past customs straight to police headquarters at Uxbridge, an indescribably dreary, prefabricated suburb and corporate-operations center west of London, where “incidents” originating at Heathrow are all referred for jurisdiction.

It wasn’t until I got to the police station that I began to realize, slowly, the nature of the trouble I was in.

And it goes way downhill from there.

All I can say is, hey, better you than me, buddy.

No, I mean, wow, that sucks.

Antigua - Long Island, NY - 1954

It’s been a few days since I’ve been able to compile the Link Party. But, I want to start off with a very good article by David Brooks, which shows Obama to be a true deep thinker. But, the odd thing is the title (which is derived from the last line of the piece), which clearly conflicts with what Brooks writes about him. Totally gratuitous attempt at some kind of balance, it seems to me, but the piece is still very worth reading…

Obama Insightful or vacant?
By David Brooks, May 3rd, 2007

I was interviewing Barack Obama and we were talking about effective foreign aid programs in Africa. His voice was measured and fatigued, and he was taking …

I was interviewing Barack Obama and we were talking about effective foreign aid programs in Africa. His voice was measured and fatigued, and he was taking those little pauses candidates take when they’re afraid of saying something that might hurt them later on.

Out of the blue I asked, "Have you ever read Reinhold Niebuhr?" Obama’s tone changed. "I love him. He’s one of my favorite philosophers."

So I asked, What do you take away from him? "I take away," Obama answered in a rush of words, "the compelling idea that there’s serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn’t use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism."

My first impression was that for a guy who’s spent the last few months fundraising, and who was walking off the Senate floor as he spoke, that’s a pretty good off-the-cuff summary of Niebuhr’s "The Irony of American History." My second impression is that his campaign is an attempt to thread the Niebuhrian needle, and it’s really interesting to watch.

On the one hand, Obama hates, as Niebuhr certainly would have, the grand Bushian rhetoric about ridding the world of evil and tyranny and transforming the Middle East. But he also dislikes liberal muddle-headedness on power politics. In "The Audacity of Hope," he says liberal objectives like withdrawing from Iraq, stopping AIDS and working more closely with our allies may be laudable, "but they hardly constitute a coherent national security policy."

Oprah Endorses Obama
New York Times - New York,NY,USA
It’s a safe bet that Senator Barack Obama doesn’t mind playing second fiddle to the talk show icon, particularly when he has her endorsement at his disposal. …

Obama Reaches Out With Tough Love
Washington Post Wed, 02 May 2007 7:58 PM PDT
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is delivering pointed critiques of the African American community as he campaigns for its votes, lamenting that many of his generation are "disenfranchising" themselves because they don’t vote, taking rappers to task for their language, and decrying "anti-intellectualism"…

Obama security stepped up
Guardian Unlimited - UK
Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama (l) and Hillary Clinton take part in the first televised debate of the of the 2008 presidential campaign in …

Obama: Make Debate Video Public
Guardian Unlimited - UK
Barack Obama was close behind with $25 million. Strategists from both parties estimated last September that the White House race in 2008 could cost each …

Ford: Obama can win in South
Chicago Tribune Wed, 02 May 2007 4:54 AM PDT
Tennessee Democrat says race not hurdle Before Sen. Barack Obama was the rising star of the Democratic Party, there was Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee.

For Barack Obama, a careful courting of Jewish vote
Christian Science Monitor - Boston,MA,USA
‘Shoulder to shoulder with Israel’: Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, at a recent meeting of the National Jewish Democratic Council, pledged to defend …

Clinton, Obama to debate in NH
The Union Leader - Manchester,NH,USA
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton yesterday agreed to participate in the June 3 Democratic debate sponsored by the New Hampshire Union Leader, WMUR and CNN. …

Obama and wife impressive, inspiring
Urbana/Champaign News-Gazette - Champaign/Urbana,IL,USA
Here it was, more than 40 years later, and she had just finished listening to Michelle and Barack Obama address 1200 women at the Chicago Hilton. …

Obama’s wife ‘commands a room,’ seen as an asset in ‘08
The Washington Times Sun, 29 Apr 2007 10:01 PM PDT
There seems to be an instant connection people make with the wife of Sen. Barack Obama from the first words she speaks.