cross-posted @ This Week With Barack Obama & One Million Strong
obama endorsed by gov. bill richardson in portland, or
obama links effects of war costs to fragility in the economy
Voting Registration Deadlines for the Following States
Pennsylvania: Deadline March 24th. Form must be received on Monday, March 24th to your local county office, here is the form and a list of county offices to drop your form off.
Indiana: Deadline April 7th. Form must received on or by April 7th to your county office. All mailing information and form with addresses to your county office is available here.
North Carolina: Deadline April 11th. Form must be received on or by April 11th. Download form in English, here. Download form in Spanish, here. Registration form must be postmarked, faxed or hand delivered to your county office by April 11th. Here is the list of county offices to mail or hand deliver your registration form to here.
Kentucky: Deadline April 21st. All registration forms should be submitted to your county and received by April 21st. Download registration form here. List of counties to mail form here.
West Virginia: Deadline April 22nd. All registration forms must be submitted on and received by April 22nd. Download the registration form here. Forms must be mailed or hand delivered to your local county office, list of county offices here.
Oregon: Deadline April 29th. Registration form must be received by April 29th, the downloadable form and where to mail to your county is available here.
Montana: Deadline May 5th. Registration form must be received by May 5th. Registration form and your county address is available here. Additional information is here.
South Dakota: Deadline May 19th. Downloadable form here. Fill out the form on-line, print and send here. List of counties to mail your form is here.
Sunday’s News
Obama to Clinton: Your Turn
As Campaign Drags On, Aides Put Lives on Hold
michelle obama, valerie jarrett and marty nesbitt awaiting obama’s speech on race
Democratic superdelegates hope the end is near
Lacking a clear road to a Democratic presidential nominee, the party’s uncommitted superdelegates say they are getting more concerned about the risks of a prolonged fight between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama and don’t know how to solve the problem.
Interviews with dozens of undecided superdelegates – the elected officials and party leaders who could hold the balance of power for the nomination – found them uncertain about who, if anyone, would step in and help guide the contest to an end that would not weaken the Democratic ticket in the general election.
While many superdelegates said they intended to keep their options open as the race continued over the next three months, the interviews suggested that the playing field was tilting slightly toward Mr. Obama in one respect. Many of them said that in deciding whom to support, they would look to the essential principle advocated by Mr. Obama: reflecting the will of the voters. continue
Barack Obama delivering “A More Perfect Union”
On Tuesday, March 18, 2008, Barack Obama gave a speech titled, “A More Perfect Union.”
This speech was brought on by the repeated questions about the snippets of Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s past sermons at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Anyone who is not familiar with the church or pastor does have valid questions if you only saw the snippets of prior speeches.
I always knew that Barack Obama would have to give a race speech. I also knew that he was the only one qualified to address the issues on sides, black and white, being bi-racial and living in both worlds.
It was an honest, real and stellar speech, one that will be remembered for many years to come. But politically what does it mean? Well, a number of things. It means the 527s of the GOP are salivating at the mouth to make the general election about race and not about the failed presidency of George W. Bush. It also means that we, as Americans have a choice. To continue to get caught up in wedge issues and fall for the race baiting or to reject it and elect a leader who can heal the divide in this country.
I am not afraid of the 527s or their race baiting to come. Why? Because they are pidgeoned holed. They cannot see outside a racial context that is larger than this. People are losing their homes, right now, on the streets. People are losing and have lost jobs due to the weak trade agreements in this country, these jobs will never come back. Many are not getting raises, have not in months or years, but inflation and the cost of everything does not go down but up. Utility prices are astronomical right now; there are millions of Americans without heat, lights because they cannot afford it. The infrastructure in this country is collapsing daily, as we saw with the Minneapolis Bridge fiasco. And no one could explain how a bridge that was granted safe suddenly collapsed. We are complicit, as a country, to continue to provide corporate welfare to the same companies that do not care about Americans and their jobs, case and point, bailing out Bear Stearns. College is becoming unaffordable for many in this country. For the young, if your parents do not have the means, rich many are left without a chance to further their education. Healthcare in this country is becoming so expensive that it is becoming a class divide of rich and poor. The Iraq War is the elephant in the room, the largest one sucking all the oxygen and money from this country. We are in a war that is bankrupting our very existence as a country, yet this president is stubborn, ignorant and too in bed with his cronies to care for the good of the country. Lastly, we have a government that is dysfunctional, hardened by partisan hirings and tactics, mired with hardness in congress and has not worked for the good of the country in many years.
All listed above is what the Republicans must defend. And right now, show me a path as to how they can. We can be afraid all we want, but I am not. Reverend Jeremiah Wright represents a generational divide in this country that is not representative of many Americans, black, white, asian and hispanic. I am not going to blame Barack Obama for words his pastor said; he is not responsible for that. If so, we need to start digging up the sermons of McCain’s minister and surrogates, Hillary Clinton’s pastorate problem and her surrogates.
In the end, if all the GOP has is a race baiting tactic, they will come off looking as the party of hate, bigotry, anger, bitterness and racists. If that is the image, which will be broadcast worldwide, that they want to show, go ahead. This campaign is not just being watched by local eyes, but worldwide eyes. This is the country that does not tolerate all I wrote above, but have allowed the GOP to divide and separate this country as no one else has.
If you are tired of the entire above, no need to worry, because there are in the tens of millions who are tired of this too.
video of “a perfect union”
Democrats risk losing a generation
If — and it’s still an if — the numbers just don’t add up for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic presidential nominee, but the party, through its arcane rules and superdelegates process, gives it to her anyway, Democrats will pay dearly, for a generation or more.
Instead of re-establishing themselves as the party in power for perhaps the next 20 years, Democrats could be effectively handing the White House to Republican John McCain and alienating up to 30 million young voters who have gotten engaged in politics this year for the first time because of Barack Obama. If these voters feel that Obama has been cheated out of a chance to run for president, they and the hordes more of them becoming eligible to vote in the years ahead, will not easily return to the Democratic fold. Even if they like the party’s principles, they will distrust its processes.
In this scenario, Clinton mitigates the damage only somewhat by choosing Obama as her vice presidential candidate — a role he has said he doesn’t want anyway.
More likely, young voters sit out the election (as they have in the past) and McCain wins and Democrats dissolve again into their bickering, finger-pointing ways while an emerging generation that desperately wants to see a stronger, safer and better America backs out of the political system. continue
The Blueprint for Change
What Obama Means
Obama Gains 14 More Delegates
In the Clinton-Obama Race, It’s the Pollster vs. the Ad Man
Clinton, Obama backers tone down rhetoric
Obama’s Speech on Race Played Well, a Poll Finds
A national poll released Friday showed that voters who had heard or read about Senator Barack Obama’s speech this week on race relations and on his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. broadly approved of it.
Seven in 10 said Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, did a good job talking about race relations, and as many said he did a good job explaining his relationship with Mr. Wright, according to the CBS News poll.
More than 6 in 10 said they mostly agreed with what he said about race relations in the United States, including a broad majority of Democrats and independents. A national poll released Friday showed that voters who had heard or read about Senator Barack Obama’s speech this week on race relations and on his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. broadly approved of it.
Seven in 10 said Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, did a good job talking about race relations, and as many said he did a good job explaining his relationship with Mr. Wright, according to the CBS News poll.
More than 6 in 10 said they mostly agreed with what he said about race relations in the United States, including a broad majority of Democrats and independents. continue
Three new Obama ads in Pennsylvania
The Obamathon (2.0) Begins by Populista
Rifling Obama’s passport file by smintheus
Barack Obama Nedds You. NOW. by kath25
obama at american dream pizza in corvallis, or
must reads:
Let’s Face It….by wmtriallawyer; Obama brought me to tears by RFK Lives; Obama’s ripple effect working by chiri; The Pros and Cons of the Fed’s Action Last Week by bonddad; White House” Computer hard drives tossed The Baculum King; Media Drip: The Way this Ends by BooMan23; Media Narrative and Hard Financial Facts Turning Against Clinton by DHinMI; Obama’s Promise–And Its Limits by teacherken; Carville: “Richardson a Judas” by CKDexterHaven; Murder By Spreadsheet: Amputees have it it real bad by nyceve; Pat Buchanan: Slavery Best Thing to Happen to Blacks by D Wreck; Overheard on the bus by dmsilev; Is Hillary Positioning for 20112? by Cenk Uygur; Obama Encounter in Salem, OR: Wow! by mamabigdog; My last Black Kos week in review diary by dopper0189
The accent of Barack Obama, Mr. Charisma
Race, Reconcilation & American Unity: Barack Obama Speaks by Maureen
Ultimate Delegate Math by Chris Bowers
Not This Time by TocqueDeville
governor bill richardson, (d-nm) endorses obama
UFCW Local 1776 Endorses Obama
The Obama Bargain
Bill and Hillary Clinton and the 22nd Amendment by kid oakland
Discovering Obama
obama in medford, or townhall meeting
Obama Statement Congratulating Taiwanese President-Elect Ma Ying-Jeou
On March 22, the people of Taiwan went to the polls for the fourth time in 12 years to elect their President. I offer my congratulations to President-elect Ma for his victory, and best wishes for his presidency.
The people of Taiwan deserve our respect and admiration for this free and fair election, which is just the latest step in consolidating a democracy that has advanced over the last two decades. I hope the People’s Republic of China responds to this election in a positive, constructive, and forward-leaning way. It is important for Beijing to demonstrate to the people of Taiwan that the practical and non-confrontational approach that President-elect Ma promises to take toward the Mainland will be met with good faith and progress. The PRC should reduce the military threat to Taiwan by drawing back the missiles it has deployed in southeast China and by other security confidence-building measures. And on issues such as Taiwan’s observer status in the World Health Organization, where the health of all Chinese people is at stake, it should allow Taiwan greater international space.
The United States should respond to Ma Ying-jeou’s election by rebuilding a relationship of trust and support for Taiwan’s democracy. The U.S. should reopen blocked channels of communication with Taiwan officials. We should continue to provide the arms necessary for Taiwan to deter possible aggression. And we should encourage both Taipei and Beijing to build commercial, cultural, and other ties, laying the groundwork for a closer relationship and ultimately movement toward resolution of their differences. We should maintain our “one China” policy, our adherence to the three U.S.-PRC Joint Communiques concerning Taiwan, and observance of the Taiwan Relations Act, which lays out the legal basis for our relationship.
March 22nd was a good day for the people of Taiwan, for the forces of democracy around the world, and for peace and stability in the western Pacific. I will do all that I can to support Taiwan’s democracy in the years ahead. Link
Blues for Obama
Obama: Trust Me to End the War
Obama criticizes his rivals on Iraq
A Thinking Man’s Speech
Obama invites Pennsylvanians to join the party
Condoleeza Rice apologizes for passport breach
The Real Value of Obama’s Speech
Michelle Obama and Marti Nesbitt, listening to Senator Barack Obama’s speech in Philadelphia.
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icebergslim’s last word: the fat lady’s aria is completed
Time is up for Hillary Clinton, now it is about how she will leave this race. Will she leave with anger and rancor or will she exit with style and grace. This is something she must face.
Let’s face it. The Wright story was pushed by the Clinton’s they never disavowed that, in fact in a press conference Hillary Clinton was asked pointedly and she skipped answering the question. What was supposed to happen by pushing this story is the demise and fall of Barack Obama. It did not happen. In fact he turned this bad situation into an opportunity to talk candidly about race in America. He addressed it from both sides, by being a bi-racial man in America.
He gave a stellar speech, one to go down in history. He walked away tougher and grittier than before. Hillary Clinton limped back to her war room in angst and now has to face and wonder how to get out of this race.
No one can state that the Clintons did not weigh in their damage, from the Billy Shaheen snafu to just a few days ago Bill Clinton questioning Obama’s patriotism. Folks, the fat lady have completed her aria and it is TIME for the Clinton’s to leave the stage, exit right, please. Why leave? A few things, Michigan and Florida are history, no revoting for them, it is done. Hillary Clinton’s money advantage is null and void. There is no advantage, she is in debt and had only 3 million in the bank end of February compared to Obama’s 30 million. The Reverend Jeremiah Wright story was a hit for Obama in the polls, but his speech stopped the bleeding and he is now leading, again. Governor Bill Richardson not only endorsed Obama but came out publicly in stating he has the most delegates, the fighting need to stop and the party need to come together. Believe me, those are words Clinton did not want to hear. This is the opening of the doors to the train folks, all those superdelegates will be making announcements for Obama from now until Pennsylvania.
I know for many Clinton supporters this is something that no one wants to address or come to realization to, but it is the fact. Now we are waiting to see how Clinton leaves, with dignity and legacy intact, or as one who must be forced from the stage and will never be considered for a major political job in the Democratic Party, again.
The choice is up to her.
Time to donate to the only people powered, energetic, motivated campaign around. Donate to the The Obama Campaign.
see barack making his ncaa picks above? have you made yours? anyway this was a tough week that ended up being a brilliant week. the train is moving and watch many start to get on board. we have much work still to do, including phone banking, canvassing, etc. everything you need to know is right here in kath25’s diary. always remember the premise of barack’s campaign is to bring us together, not divide us or tear us apart. what happened these past few weeks will not only make barack a better candidate, but for us stronger supporters. ok, always remember to focus on obama, but not the drama…
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icebergslim1047 (at) hotmail (dot) com
This Week With Barack Obama