Day Thirty-five, April 29

One of my favorite things about Obama is his willingness to stand up and say 'enough is enough'. In a way, this is one of the driving messages of his platform, his entire presidential campaign, the call to 'cut the crap, America' (but in much more eloquent terms). Whether it's the nation's desire for a speedy withdrawal from Iraq, to the flawed and failing No Child Left Behind Act, to politicians' opening their wallets to lobbyists and PACs, Obama knows when to quit. He has no problem with coming clean on these things out in the open, either. It's a rare and valuable quality in a politician. And perhaps today this is trait more pertinent than ever, as Obama has publicly denounced his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, for comments he made on Monday.

Saying he was "outraged and saddened" by Wright's recent comments, Obama has refused to stand by his spiritual leader since 1992. "The person I saw yesterday was not the person I met twenty years ago," he went on to say. The comments that the Senator is referring to occured Monday, when Wright suggested that it might have been possible that the U.S. Government engineered AIDS to harm the black community, and praising controversial Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan as "one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st century". When Obama viewed the video of this speech for the first time this morning, he wasted no time in disavowing himself from such incendiary comments. "When I say I find these comments appaling, I mean it" Barack said today in a press conference. After watching yesterday's press conference (or reading this transcript), it's clear that Wright is making some pretty racially and religiously extreme comments in the media, without much fear of reprisal. Or, as my mom put it to me today discussing this week's development over the phone, "he's gone off the deep end." No kidding, mom. But did he jump so far off that he'll be bringing down the Obama campaign along with him? After Barack's prompt response today, hopefully not.

But many will wonder, is this merely a political tactic for Obama to regain (or avoid losing any more) clout with middle America? While he no doubt had this in mind while composing his responnse, after listening to the speech he gave today, this is surely a secondary consideration--or less--for Obama. In his somber, almost frustrated tone of voice, Barack seems to be wrestling with his conscience, suggesting just how much of he's put his personal life at stake by moving away from Reverend Wright like he has. But these are the words of a man who's fed up, not with having the limelight taken away from him, but with having the rants of a madman repeated as if they were his own.

One can only imagine what Wright's reaction to Obama's words will be, although we probably won't have to wait long to see just what he'll have to say, and how this will dampen the Obama campaign. The pastor has already done his damage, and the worst is probably behind us, we can be glad. But I think the courage that Barack has mustered to do this, to turn his back on an estranged , is a testament to his 'enough is enough' mentality. Wright has already spoken his piece several times over, and now there can be no doubt that he is not preaching for the most famous member of his church ever again.

Day Thirty-four, April 28

Obama graces Fox News with his presence? Stranger things have happened, I suppose, but yesterday, that's just what the Illinois Senator did, providing an interview with Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday. But the mere fact that the words 'Obama' and 'FOX News' are in the same sentence isn't the most interesting part. Wallace has actually had a little bit of a sordid history with the Senator. For instance, on March 21, Wallace phoned into that delightfully tacky 'Fox and Friends' show to ask the hosts to lighten up on Obama in the aftermath of his 'typical white person' comment last month (and man, just look at those cross-eyed hosts, folks). However, this pardon came at the same time Wallace started a new feature on his show, the so-called 'Obama Watch', a countdown clock tallying the days since Obama promised Chris he would make an appearance on his show. The Daily Show gives a fair and balanced glimpse of the phenomenon here. 'Put up or shut up,' Wallace's timer seemed to beckon to the Senator.

And put up Obama did, for almost forty minutes, even. Answering straightforward questions on issues as pressing as his loss in the Pennsylvania primary to the remergence of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Wallace pulled no punches, and Obama dealt with them swiftly. Maintaining a surprisingly relaxed tone, Obama answered the questions handily, (and, frankly) in an intimate setting that is more becoming than a stadium backdrop for right now. Obama was willing to walk into the lion's den of FOX News, and he came out without a scratch. Perhaps best of all, Chris Wallace had his field day, and can retire his countdown for good. Now we can finally stash that stupid counter and start counting the days until its honoree is the official nominee of his party.

Thanks for sticking to your word and keeping to the straight talk, Barack. You can read a transcript of the interview here, or watch a four-part video capture compliments of Youtube user yd2008:

Interview Part One
Interview Part Two
Interview Part Three
Interview Part Four

Day Thirty-three, April 27

In the second half of yesterday's post, I promised that in today's update I would be continue rambling about Obama's fuel policy, and ramble on I shall. What I'm specifically refering to is Senator McCain's proposed 'gas tax holiday', and Senator Obama's immediate opposition to this proposal. As he outlined in his economic policy speech ten days ago, McCain says that by eliminating the $.18 per gallon tax on gasoline from Memorial Day to Labor Day, we'll get a break on filling up our cars, which will even stimulate a fragile economy. Not so fast, says Barack. Calling the proposal the "latest scheme" by McCain, Obama quickly went on record and spoke out against such a deceptively quick fix on a mounting problem. "I’ve said I think John McCain’s proposal for a three-month tax holiday is a bad idea,” Obama said, as reported in last mon's Wall Street Journal. And he's right. By cutting taxes of eighteen cents on the gallon, individuals receive less than a five-percent discount with the current price of gas, and resulting in a savings of roughly $28 per consumer. But hey, that's almost $30 more I can spend on Obama stickers and placards, right?

This isn't even considering the amount of damage such a tax holiday would deal to our country's already weakened infrastructure. Senator Obama handily referenced the effects of such a scenario in his speech in Anderson, IN, slyly asking, "Remember that bridge in Minneapolis?".

The 'hopeful' moral of today's story is this: here's just one (great) example of how far Obama is willing to stick his neck out to speech the truth to Americans, at possibly serious expense to his campaign. Outside of the extremely rich, to which "high gas prices are mostly an annoyance", as Barack said in his address yesterday, everyone who drives a vehicle in the country is feeling the burn now more than ever whenever they gas up their cars. Trimming a little bit off the cost of gas--even if it didn't amount to that much in the long run--would still feel pretty good right now, and even better come July. But Obama has wasted no time in making it painfully obvious that such a deduction is not only misleading, but does nothing to fix the fuel crisis in the long-run. “We’re talking about 5 percent of your total cost of gas that you suspend for three months, which might save you a few hundred bucks that then will spike right up,” Obama said last week in an address at a community college in Pennsylvania. “Now keep in mind that it will save you that if Exxon Mobil doesn’t decide, ‘We’ll just tack on another 5 percent on the current cost.'” Considering how frequently gas prices have jumped in just the last week, such a scenario is not difficult to imagine.

Along the lines of those $600 checks from the fed that we'll be getting in the next few weeks, a holiday on gas taxes is a short-term 'solution' to a long-term problem, and one that we'll all be feeling long after the Memorial Day weekend this September. Instead of taking the road to good P.R. and supporting the tax suspension (like Senator Clinton has done), Obama has shown the serious face this country will need in order to come to terms with our dependence on oil, and the unrelenting rise of fuel costs. Loosening the belt on the economy may relieve some pressure temporarily, but it doesn't mean we're actually trimming back the fat, which is something that Obama has made clear on this and other issues. The only way we'll combat the unyielding rise on the price of gas is by limiting our dependence on it, and I'm glad to see Obama standing up for the real solution to this growing problem in our world.

Days Thirty-One and Thirty-Two, April 26

So yet again I've allowed my work and social life (or glaring lack thereof) to interfere with my daily posting on the blog, and missed putting up a post yesterday. To be honest, with the way my favorite candidate was starting to wage war with the Hillary camp towards the deadline in the Pennsylvania primary the last couple weeks, the situation was getting a little grim. When you turn on the news (or Google or Youtube) and are confronted with the guy who's fighting against politics as usual trying to poison the well of his opponent, it makes a task like this one considerably more difficult to believe in. Hope was getting a little harder to come by.

That's the primary reason why I'm so impressed by this post by Alec MacGillis. His blog, The Trail, follows a similar schedule and content outline as this one (although his writing is admittedly much less subjective, and more widely read than mine), and in this afternoon's post, he addressed the very same trends that has been disturbing Obamaphiles around the country. I know I'm not the only one who was counting on Obama to clean up his campaign's act after we fell short of victory in Pennsylvania last week, and MacGillis is proving that he's already doing just that. By highlighting the policy and philosophical differences between himself and John McCain, and subsequently lightening up on Hillary, Obama is regaining his cred with those who already support him, while giving him renewed appeal to the presently unaffiliated. Speaking at a town hall meeting in Anderson, Indiana last week, Obama told his audience, "If you watched the last few weeks of campaign, you'd think all politics is about is negative ads and bickering and arguing and gaffes and sideline issues. There's no serious discussion about how we're actually going to bring jobs back to Anderson, that's not what's being debated. That's the politics we've gotten used to over the last 20 years, and I'm tired of that politics because it doesn't solve problems."

This newly rejuvenated 'good guy' quotient in Obama couldn't come at a better time, either. With the Indiana primary just ten days away, and economic factors like gas prices and food rations looming large in headlines around the country, the time for slinging mud with/at Senator Clinton is over. And as MacGillis' investigation seems to suggest, Obama realizes this, and is already washing his hands for a cleaner campaign in Indiana and North Carolina. It seems like a new trend could be ready to come around in Obama's campaign machine, where instead of just inundating his speeches and interviews with the 'hope/change/repeat' rhetoric, he can really take time to elaborate on his core issues. The time is ripe for this shift in gears, as more and more Americans are refusing to buy hype (or hope) alone as a reason to vote Obama this November. And if he plays his cards right, one of the stances that could pan out big for Obama is his economic platforms.

This week, as gas prices rose to a record high three times, one of the most hotly-debated issues of the summer (and the election, if prices continue to rise) will undoubtedly be fuel prices. Yesterday it took nearly fifty dollars to fill up my fourteen gallon gas tank, a new record. A scary proposition, and one that the vast majority of Americans share, and are equally nervous about as gas prices refuse to relent. Americans want answers for both the short- and long-term about how we'll solve the fuel problems this country faces, and will continue to face in coming years. In a speech in Indianapolis yesterday, Barack talked straight about why gas prices are rising steeply today, as a result of decades of political inactivity in the nation's capitol. "Unless we're willing to challenge the broken system in Washington, and stop letting lobbyists use their clout to get their way, nothing else is gonna change. And the reason I'm running for President is to challenge that system," Obama said. He also gave a straightforward and compelling series of solutions to the fuel crisis, focusing on reforming the way Congress and the oil industry do business together. By implementing a 'windfall profit' tax on gas companies while assisting middle-class Americans with taxes paid on gas, Obama outlined his short-term plan to assist working citizens combat the price of gas. In the wider scheme of things, Obama maintained his stance that change "won't happen overnight", but that we need to rethink energy factors like fuel sources, our consumption of it, and raising our fuel and emissions standards. This comes at a time where Obama is actually being put in the political crosshairs for similarly-realistic comments on the futility of eliminating the gas tax this summer (more on that in tomorrow's post). In the meantime, here's a video of that speech in Indianapolis:

Day Thirty, April 24

To celebrate one month of 'publication', I thought I'd post one of the most thought-provoking articles I've ever read about Barack Obama tonight. From the 'What if...?' file, comes this article by Chris Wilson, bluntly titled 'Drop Out, Obama'. There's more to it than just the defeatist headline, however. In the article, Wilson speculates what would happen if Barack conceded victory to Clinton and "regain his messiah creds by making the ultimate sacrifice to the party." It doesn't get much more united than that, does it?

What Wilson suggests, is that by dropping out gracefully now, Barack can have a much better chance of winning the nomination in 2008, as his followers will surely not cling to Hillary in November (in spite of what exit polls in Pennsylvania indicated on Tuesday). Is it worth putting our hopes for Obama--and our country--on hold for four years so we can have an assured victory in 2012? Will the Hope Train still be pumping steam if such a scenario prevailed? Hard to tell. But it's something to think about...

Day Twenty-nine, April 23

In case anybody missed it (I did--we don't have Comedy Central), Obama made his third appearance on The Daily Show With John Stewart on Monday. Here's a capture of the appearance, courtesy of The Daily Show's Indecision 2008 website:

Part uno!



Part dos!



It's appearances like this (note: McCain and Hillary have also showed up on the show) that make me think about how much the American political process, campaigning in particular, has changed in the last 50 years. Just imagine the novelty of being able to watch Kennedy and Nixon's debate on TV, and how Nixon's ugly mug was enough of a chip against him to see him narrowly lose the election. Now compare that to how politicians are not only out there campaigning in ways never thought possible as recent as ten or fifteen years ago. The media's eyes are always on the candidates now, it feels like they have no choice but to be 'on' every hour of every day during this race. That's why it's assuring to see Barack in such a composed but warm and laid-back state on an appearance like this. We all love to watch the man speak, but sometimes, it's just as nice to see him do it from behind a desk instead of a podium. Plus, just look at him talk with those hands!

Day Twenty-eight, April 22

So today was the big day, and Obama came in second. No surprises there, as even the man himself wasn't predicting a win in the Keystone State as recently as this Sunday. But this loss shouldn't even be that disappointing to Obama's supporters, or at least, if you were following the news. It might sound like sore loser talk, but the truth is that Barack's campaign had acknowledged that they were fighting a war of attrition every step of the way, trying to get Clinton's margin of victory slimmed down, if not stumped. And there's something to be said for winning a battle of the margins, especially when forecasts in March put Hillary as far as 25 points ahead of Obama. We only lost it by ten measely points, folks. She netted a whopping 16 delegates over Obama, who still leads by 138 delegates overall. Onwards and upwards, I say, pack the wagons for Indiana.

So instead of posting one of the countless articles accounting for Hillary's victory in Pennsylvania today, or any one that might recount the same polling statistics I so readily rattled off in my introductory paragraph, I thought I'd go with something more worthwhile. Today I dug up this article in the Associated Press, 'Party switchers lean toward Obama, exit polls show'. The headline's enough to raise a few eyebrows on its own, but the meat of the article packs some real surprises. For instance, it's interesting to know that almost a tenth of those who voted in today's primary were recently registered Democrats, about half of them former Republicans. But it's downright startling to find out that one fifth of Obama's supporters are among their ranks! So much for the 'voter switcheroo' to bring down Hillary idea, eh?

Another suprising statistic is that Clinton managed to split the 'under 30' vote, a constituency that has heavily favored Obama in previous contests. Perhaps the most unexpected--as well reassuring--number to come out of the pollshowever, is that rural voters preferred Clinton in roughly equal numbers to urban dwellers. We can then infer that, although the damage has been done by 'bittergate' (I hate using that word), that the effect of that one statement has subsided, at least in Pennsylvania, the state where it probably could have hurt him the most. On a day where it seems like only one set of numbers matter, it's the digits behind the headline that could make the biggest difference for Obama's campaign in the long-run.

Day Twenty-seven, April 21

Earlier this afternoon, while examining the results of my daily Google search for 'Barack Obama news', I couldn't help but feel a little disheartened by most of the headlines that filled my screen. "Insults hit new low as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama face showdown," The New York Times. "Obama and Clinton, wrestling in the raw," The Washington Post. I sighed out loud. Was this really the most exciting headlines today, on the eve of one of the most decisive elections this year?

More than any other primary or caucus in this race so far, the Pennsylvania election is one that has short-circuited some of optimism and 'new politics' that make Barack such a unique, inspiring candidate. Knowing that today's post would probably not be found in this pile of disheartening news articles, I turned to Youtube in search of some brighter fare. And after looking at a couple cheeky videos (not one cheekier than the musical tribute from yesterday's post, however), I happened upon this gem: Barack's speech in Philadelphia. Taped last Saturday, in front of an audience of 35,000 supporters, this video is a diamond in the rough, as it's been an admittedly rough six weeks in Pennsylvania for both Democratic candidates. But unlike the recent swipes at Hillary's electability or retaliatory TV ads, this speech is an immediate reminder about what makes Obama so damn hopeful in the first place. He speaks his mind on his flag bearing issues (education, economic reform, troop withdrawal), but more movingly, he talks about just how crucial this year's election will be in the history of America. The little time he does spend talking about Hillary and McCain, he actually pays some respects to both his competitors, something he's shown less and less in recent weeks of the campaign. That's the Obama we love, and here's something for his supporters to hold on to!

When watching the video, it's hard not to be reminded what's at stake in this election, and more importantly, what hopes so many Americans have staked in Obama. The speech is humble but powerful, and goes out on an uplifting note. In a word, it's inspiring. While I'm sure I haven't been the only person that's been disappointed in the recent downturn of Barack's campaign tactics, I also refuse to buy into the media's suggestion that he's already cashing in his chips as the 'good guy' candidate. If we must keep our faith in the power of progress, the following is all the proof you need:



Pennsylvania, don't let us down.

Day Twenty-six, April 20

A couple of weeks back, the gods smiled on me and this blog when Mark Hamill endorsed Obama's run for presidency. Now my other main love in life has gone and done the same, as Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has re-recorded a stunning version of the band's 1984 hit, "I Wanna Rock". The newly reformatted title? "I Want Barack". Since this video defies explanation, I'll let French do the talking--er, rocking--for me:



And hell, since the original video is a gem unto itself (cue "What do you wanna do with your LIIIIFEEEE?" flashbacks), here's the original:

Day Twenty-five, April 19

Today's feature comes from a source that, I will admit, must be taken with at least a few grains of salt: bloomberg.com. Since New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is one of the primary suspects in candidates Obama might pick for his VP, a lot of the pro-Barack articles that come up on Google are from that site. But that having been said, this feature by Julianna Goldman is too good to resist. Predicting an oncoming sweep of superdelegates and other Democratic party big cheeses, Goldman reports on some big names that have recently given their support to the Illinois Senator. Like former Senators Sam Nunn and David Boren, two conservative leaning congressmen on the left. Or Bill Clinton's labor secretary, Robert Reich, who said he'd heard enough of the name-calling coming from Clinton's side of the fence. It's enough to make a former officer for the Clinton family think twice about reenlisting, evidently.

For anyone who's supporting Obama, but recognizes that sheer hope and goodwill won't put the man in office, this sort of sway is what his campaign has been counting on to help seal his candidacy. Unaligned Democratic strategist Steve McMahon described the outpouring for Obama as "the canary in the coal mine for the Clinton campaign. What they're saying reflects what a lot of people are thinking but not yet saying.'' Considering that many superdelegates and other influential Democrats are making a point about Obama's resistance to mudslinging and other 'dirty' political tactics, this in itself is a sign of hope. Although it's died down in light of recent superficial attacks on him, a previously common accusation was how hard it was going to be for Obama to convince the majority of Washington to clean up their act and act in a bipartisan fashion. However, with how many of his supporters are now citing his style of clean politicking as an influence in their decision, that argument is fading fast. By constantly rerouting the 'hope train' to higher ground, the Obama campaign is successfully picking up speed and boarding some very welcome passengers along the way.

Day Twenty-four, April 18

It's superficial. It's silly. It's actually kind-of stupid, but I do it, too: I get excited when I see an 'Obama '08' sticker on the back of somebody's car. Or a placard on their lawn, or a copy of The Audacity of Hope on their bookshelf. That's all it takes to feel like my best friend lives down the street, or is waiting at the same red light as me. And it happens a lot in Colorado. Around Denver, you'll spot the occasional Hillary bumper sticker, and John McCain's name is virtually nowhere to be seen, but it seems like Obama supporters are coming out of the freaking walls. That's what Libby Copeland's article from Sunday's Washington Post is all about: the signifier of Obama pride, the 'O' sticker. The entertaining feature covers not only the pride one feels in spotting another Obamaniac on the street, but the extra sense of esteem that one gets in sporting an especially worn sticker or button sporting the candidate's name. It's the pride that only comes with the wear and tear of being an active supporter out on the campaign trail, Copeland explains. Howard Park, a Obama supporter from Washington, D.C. explains it thusly: "It kind of shows we were here in the beginning," not like "the new, mint-condition sticker people." Like many successful presidential runs before him, the omnipresence of Obama's name on buttons, banners, signs, and--of course--stickers is all the required proof of his popularity, and the grassroots effort that's helped put him where he is today.

Day Twenty-three, April 17

Last night was the twenty-first debate between Hillary and Barack, and I was at work while it aired on ABC, so unfortunately, I had to miss it. Though from what I've read today, maybe that's a blessing in disguise. Newspapers are saying that Obama was on the defense for most of the debate, and the questions pandered to past issues such as Jeremiah Wright and Senator Clinton's 'sniper fire' claim. Perhaps it is for the best, then, that Obama is hinting that he will be focusing his efforts on campaigning--not another lackluster debate--for the remainder of the run with Hillary (cnn.com reports). "I'll be honest with you, we've now had 21," Senator Obama said at a campaign stop in Raleigh, NC today. "It's not as if we don't know how to do these things. I could deliver Sen. Clinton's lines; she could, I'm sure, deliver mine." Americans who watched the debate, both in person and at home, wasted no time in weighing in on the superfluous nature of the questions from moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulus.

Barack also spoke about his frustration in getting to the point of the debates: the issues that most affect voters. "Last night, we set a new record, because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking -- until we started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people," he said. You can click here to see the entirety of Barack's speech to his North Carolinian rally, which, frankly, has a few 'less-than-hopeful' moments to speak of. I'm a little worried that the blunt force of his opponents are getting the best of him already, and he's starting to retaliate a little more than I'd like to see. Regardless, here's to hoping that he can rise above this in-fighting, stick to campaigning, and wrap this thing up in the next couple of weeks with big wins in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and North Carolina.

Day Twenty-two, April 16

Today another pop star has decided to endorse Barack, but this time, he's a real-life hero, not an intergalactic one (see Day Sixteen). The Boss himself--Bruce Springsteen to the culturally uninitiated--has officially put his support behind the Illinois Senator, the Guardian reported today. "Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest," Springsteen said. This move couldn't have come at a better time, as Obama's opponents are still putting him on the ropes for his remarks that offended some Americans in areas most affected by industrial drought in the U.S. Springsteen's songs carry an especially heavy weight in states like Pennsylvania, where the predominantly-working class population will host its primary next Tuesday.

Thanks, Boss.

Day Twenty-one, April 15

Seeing as how April 15 is every red-blooded American's favorite holiday, I thought I'd do a little research on Senator Obama's stance on taxes. On the 'Economy' tab of his own website, Senator Obama's first reference to taxes is the need to cut taxes to America's middle class. This includes the creation of a "Making Work Pay" tax credit, a rebate which will eliminate taxes for 10 million Americans. Barack even wants to make revisions to the tax procedure so that most Americans will be able to file their taxes in 5 minutes or less. Such a time-saving initiative would surely be a welcome change for many Americans this time next year. On a more serious note, I think that Obama's proposed tax cuts are part (albeit not all) of what it will take to save the US from plummeting further into economic trouble, since the middle class makes up not only the majority of Americans, but also those that are getting the blunt end of the repression stick right now.

The website, ontheissues.org, provides a (reader-friendly!) point-by-point review of Obama's voting record on taxes, coupled with relevant quotes from his Senate career. Key points of Obama's actions on tax reform include:

• Companies that are willing to outsource jobs overseas should not continue to receive tax cuts from the fed, while offering tax incentives to businesses that keep who keep their employees native.
  
  
• Obama is in favor of repealing President Bush's tax cuts in order to allocate money for welfare programs, particularly the adoption of universal health care.
  
  
• He has repeatedly voted against repealing the death ('estate') tax, keeping with popular Democratic opinion in Congress.
  
  
• On the website Citizens for Tax Justice, Obama has earned a 100% rating on taxation issues, indicating that he is strongly in favor of progressive taxation. As of December of 2006, 190 members of Congress (~40%) received an 80-100% rating by ctj.org.

You can read all the exciting details on the Senator's tax voting record by clicking right here.

Days Nineteen and Twenty, April 14

The Hope Train is starting to take a turn for the ugly, folks. Admittedly, the way that Barack has gradually let his guard down and compensated with attacks at McCain and Clinton is a little disheartening. Isn't the candidate that is supposed to change all this mudslinging for good? Even if he's started to give a few good jabs to his opponents lately, at least he's making them worthwhile, like in this interview with CBS' Maria Gavrilovic. Besides stating that he feels the relentless assault from Hillary is "toughening me up", Obama further commended Senator Clinton on her tenacious campaigning, saying that she "has been a formidable candidate. You know there aren’t very many figures in American politics that can sustain 11 straight losses and hang in a race, and raise $35 million dollars and in that sense she’s unique.” Oh, dear. Is this what the media refers to as a 'dick move'? Because it's a dick move with integrity.

For the day's second contribution (sorry about the doubling-up again, sometimes life gets in the way of blogging), I'm posting this video, from Barack's youtube page. Doug is a man from Belleftone, PA, population 7,000, and he explains a little bit about his town and why he's voting for Obama. Awesome picture of his son, too. The reason I find this video hopeful (if a little depressing at the same time) is because I think that the media has successfully turned the state of Pennsylvania on its head, depicting it, as James Carville once called the state, "Pittsburgh to the west, Philadelphia to the East, and Alabama in the middle." This is an unfortunate misrepresentation of the state, to think that anyone who a.) attends church or b.) owns guns is automatically turning their back on Obama because of what he said. Barack is trying to make it up to American voters over the damaging comments he made last week, but it's affirming to see small-town Pennsylvania man who isn't going to be swayed by a single comment. This video was posted today:

Day Eighteen, April 12

It's the kind of wishful thinking that makes the term 'tag team' a viable part of political jargon: 'Jimmy 'the Judge' Carter and Angry Albert Gore challenge Hillary 'Headhunter' Clinton to a handicapped match of POLITICAL PROPORTIONS. Next Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday!'

In a speculative piece that cannot but help but take me back to my salad days of wrestling fanhood, today Chris Stephen released this article, predicting that Gore and Carter will emerge in support of Obama in the coming weeks. The lengthy piece of writing pointed out how Gore and Carter have each been spited by the Clintons in the past, and the duo would stand to gain both personally and politically by tipping their hat to the Obama campaign. It's more than a little presumptive, and there's no way a blow like this would actually be made publicly before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, but this is still a move the Democratic Party could use to get their game face on for the November election.

This late in the year (halfway through April, already?), such a move is a desperately-needed powerplay to bring some sutures to the increasingly deep schism between Democratic voters across the country. If these two 'supermen' of the Democratic party did act in support of Obama, and swayed the remaining undecided super delegates as Stephens predicts, the party could finally combine their efforts to get their chosen candidate into office next year. In spite of how strongly I feel about Obama, even if the tables were turned, and Barack was on the run in terms of popularity, delegates, and media attention, I'd still be fearful for how long this Democratic race could be drawn out. If Hillary is serious about taking the contest all the way to the DNC in August--and who would dare to think that she isn't?--then we have four more months of in-fighting and divisiveness to look forward to. I've never been a fan of Gore or Carter in their presidential/vice-presidential faculties, but nothing would please me more than the two of them to apply the chokehold of rationality to Senator Clinton. Of course, if this is what it takes
to put Clinton away in the race, well, perhaps it's best put this way: Senator Clinton...LET'S GET READY TO CRUMBBLLLLEEEE...

Day Seventeen, April 11

Something short and sweet for tonight's post. It's been a while since I've done a video of Barack giving a speech, so here's one that might stir up some controversy between now and the Pennsylvania primary. This video, captured in Terra Haute, IN, is a response to recent criticism that McCain and Clinton have targeted at Barack for some comments he made regarding issues effecting voters in Pennsylvania. Some have taken issue with these statements, saying it shows Obama as being 'elitist' or 'out of touch' with struggles of the middle class in states experiencing industry fall-out (like Pennsylvania and Indiana). In the following video, Barack expands on his statement, but also defends it, by clarifying how he spoke from the heart, and also from a realistic, sympathetic point of view, representing the voters in Pennsylvania. I admire the bravery Obama showed here by sticking by his statement, standing up for the same classes he's supposedly condescending, and still fighting back against attacks from his rivals. Here's the video:

Day Sixteen, April 10

Luke: "But how will I know the good side from the bad?"

Yoda: "You will know...when you are calm. At peace."
-The Empire Strikes Back

It's not every candidate that manages to get Luke Skywalker himself to endorse his or her candidacy. But somehow, yesterday, Barack Obama did just that when Mark Hamill spoke to students at Point Park University in Philadelphia, PA on his swelling feelings for the Illinois Senator. Hamill described Obama as a "once-in-a-lifetime candidate," but resisted the opportunity to compare him to his former mentor, Obama-Wan Kenobi. Best endorsement video ever:

Day Fifteen, April 9

One of the things that is unique about Hillary Clinton's campaign is that a lot of attention is being paid to her family. This is unavoidable in her case, and there have been some weeks in the race where it has seemed more like Bill is the one running the show on his spouse's campaign, instead of the other way around (at least now Hillary knows what it feels like to be the marionette instead of the puppeteer). Daughter Chelsea Clinton hasn't garnered as much press as her parents, but has still been a frequent sight on the campaign trail, whether traveling with mom and dad or fielding tough questions on her own. In the case of John McCain, the media is obviously more enamored with his spouse's age (he's 72, she'll turn 50 this year) and physique than they are with any actual accomplishments she's made. I'm a little surprised (and grateful) that the phrase 'trophy wife' hasn't been widely applied to Cindy McCain by now, especially since she's perhaps most noteworthy for her position as chair of Hensley & Co., the largest Amheiser-Busch distributor in the American southwest. Somehow, all of Cindy's appearances in the press have glossed over that fact. But I digress.

In the third and final campaign slot sit the Obama family. Besides the increasingly world famous man of the house, Barack, we have Michelle, his wife, and his two young daughters, Malia and Sasha. So far, although the Obama family have made periodic appearances along with Barack on the campaign trail and posed for the requisite family portraits, Obama's wife and children haven't gotten a ton of media attention. And the reason for that is quite simple: because they've got lives of their own. Unlike Bill who is giving Hillary the edge of having twice the Clinton coverage in the U.S., and Cindy whose main contribution to her husband's campaign is taking the cameras off McCain's grandfatherly grimaces, Mrs. Obama has a busy life outside of getting her husband elected to the presidency. Tonight I finished the penultimate chapter in The Audacity of Hope, titled 'Family', in which Barack cuts back on his bigger political visions to tell the story of how he and Michelle met started their family together. Barack describes his wife in a loving passage from the chapter (pg. 327):

"Most people who meet my wife quickly conclude that she is remarkable. They are right about this--she sis smart, funny and thoroughly charming. She is also very beautiful, although not in a way that men find intimidating or women find off-putting; it is the lived-in beauty of the mother and busy professional rather than the touched-up image we see on the cover of glossy magazines. Often, after hearing her speak at some function or working with her on a project, people will approach me and say something to the effect of "You know I think the world of you, Barack, but your wife...wow!" I nod, knowing that if I ever had to run against her for public office, she would beat me without much difficulty.
Fortunately for me, Michelle would never go into politics. "I don't have the patience," she says to people who ask. As is always the case, she is telling the truth.

It is this sort of assertion, which Barack makes more than once throughout his book, that makes me admire her dedication to her husband's campaign even more. She's not in a position to take a pitstop from work and her family to go devote her daily life to the Obama campaign. Still, she makes time to pull out stops like this one, visiting Winston Salem State University on Tuesday. Instead of taking an easy role as policy flagbearer or doting housewife, Michelle spoke to a packed house about some of the faucets of the Obama campaign that make it so exciting to be a part of. From the article: “The energy and excitement has not subsided (since) – not for one second,”. “Something different is going on; people are engaged, they’re focused and they know that we can do better and they’re hopeful, and that’s a good thing for all of us.”

As I stated earlier, Michelle's a busy woman, with the commitments and schedule of any working mother. Her is a short summary listing some of her accomplishments, past and present (source: Wikipedia and The Audacity of Hope):

• Michelle graduated from Chiacgo's first magnet school, Whitney Young High School, in 1981.
  
  
• She went on to study sociology at Princeton, where she graduated cum laude.
  
  
• At the age of twenty-four, Michelle earned her juris doctor from Harvard Law School in 1988.
  
  
• Met Barack at the Sidley Austin law firm after he was hired on (she was his mentor at the firm); they married in 1992.
  
  
• After leaving the firm, Michelle worked as an Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago, gaining experience working the public sector.
  
  
• Became Executive Director for the Chicago Office of Public Allies in 1993, an organization that enabled youth to work in non-profit organizations in the city.
  
  
• In 1996, Michelle served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, where she developed the University's Community Service Center.
  
  
• In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals, first as executive director for community affairs and, beginning May, 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs.

In addition to being able to accomplish all of this by the age of forty-four, Michelle is still working for the University of Chicago, albeit part-time to devote more time to raising her family. And on top of all that, she's still frequently making stops on the campaign trail or in the media to support Barack's run for president. According to Wikipedia, Michelle attended thirty-three events in eight days in February of this year, all of this in spite of her husband's repeated insistence that Michelle 'doesn't like to get too involved in politics'. Michelle's commitment to these functions, and her willingness to suffer the media with grace and her well-known sense of humor, is a testament to both her hard-working nature as well as her faith in Barack's vision for America. The Obama family currently resides in Chicago's south side, not Washington D.C, which puts added strain on Michelle's already astoundingly tough balancing act of career, family, and political campaigning.

I don't want to cheapen how inspiring a person Michelle is by making this a token 'great wife, Barack!' post, so I will be periodically create posts that highlight Michelle's media appearances or stops along the campaign trail. I'm keeping the focus of this blog on things that I think make Obama a unique, challenging and inspiring candidate, but the inspiring story of his wife and family are certainly at the top of that list. If you're old-fashioned enough to still subscribe to that 'behind every great man...' adage, to catch a glimpse of a truly great woman, look no further than Michelle Obama.

Day Fourteen, April 8

Right now, anyone who has their eyes on Obama is keeping at least one eye out for what will be happening in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22. Two weeks from today, one of the largest remaining political contests the Democratic party has yet to wage will play its part in determining which Senator is going to be on the ballot in November. A month ago, the situation was looking rather grim for Obama in the aptly-named Keystone State, but as countless publications are reporting today, the Illinois Senator has done much to turn his own ship around.

In order to kick off today's post I chose this article, posted today on Forbes.com. Starting out by reminding us just how far ahead Senator Clinton was a month ago (17 points in a poll back in March!), blogger Paul M. Murdock demonstrates just how hard Obama has worked to gain a fighting chance in Pennsylvania. With latest polls showing Hillary ahead by a mere 6 percentage points, Obama is on the tail of the margin-of-error victory that could give him the majority of delegates up for grabs. Considering that he's been outspending his rival's campaign by a count of three-to-one, perhaps this updraft of undecided voters is less surprising after all.

The most inspiring thing about this charge that Obama has mounted in Pennsylvania is the fact that he's managed to do it mostly by recruiting from the type of voters that Hillary has previously been able to keep in her pocket in this race. By reaching out to the white, middle- and working-class vote, Obama is showing the people of Pennsylvania that he not only sympathizes with a state hit especially hard by the recession, but he is willing to fight for them. In a campaign that has placed the importance of no state above any other, making this sort of a comeback is no small feat. Obama's message of economic reform and affordable health care is no more appealing than in Pennslyvania.

In the long run, I think that this month will play a major role in making the economy one of Obama's core issues, which will undoubtedly work out in his favor (and more importantly, it's just what America needs). If the Obama campaign can bring the economy to the forefront of the debates this fall (or if the Federal Reserve does it for him), this will give him a huge edge on McCain, who is holding little more than military experience and his promise to stay the course in Iraq as his trump cards. In a quote from an editorial in last Friday's Boston Globe, Obama emphasized the economic crisis, saying, "there's some very concrete issues that have to be dealt with in terms of disparities in healthcare, or income or joblessness, legacies of the past. So we don't want to paper those issues over." Click here to read the entirety of that editorial, by author Derrick B. Jackson.

Day Fourteen, April 7

In a move that would be more befitting of his opposing candidate-in-waiting Hillary Clinton, over the weekend, John McCain recognized Barack Obama as an "absolutely" qualified candidate for the Presidency. In light of Obama's recent exaggerations of McCain's unfortunate comparison between Iraq and U.S. occupation of Korea and Germany, this is a pretty considerable act of humility on McCain's part. It's a strange thing to live in a country where a candidate can admit that his own enemy is capable of the same job he's running for, but said good guy's own competition is still hesitant to admit his competency. Hopefully Senator Clinton's recent removal of chief campaign strategist Mark Penn will encourage her to make similar steps in rebuilding the bridges she's repeatedly torched with Barack this year.

Although I'd vowed to stray from the path of the cynic in the contents of this blog, I have to admit that this is a little suspect. Is McCain only giving Obama his due credit in a thinly-veiled attempt to improve his own likability among voters? As soon as Obama is confirmed as the Democratic Candidate, will the McCain campaign resort to business as usual? It's hard to imagine that old man McCain will make strides to stay out of the political mud once he's head to head with Democratic do-gooder Obama, but at least this is a fine place to start drawing the terms of a fair fight. John McCain, even if you don't have my vote, for acknowledging the blatantly obvious qualifications of the most-electable presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan (maybe Kennedy), you have earned my respect.

Day Thirteen, April 6

"Perhaps more than anyone else, the Native American community faces huge challenges that have been ignored by Washington for too long. It is time to empower Native Americans in the development of the national policy agenda."

--Barack Obama (quote retrieved from my.barackobama.com)

Since the days of Teddy Roosevelt, it's been a remarkably rare occurrence for an American president, let alone a candidate who hasn't made it to office yet, to speak plainly (or at all) regarding the multitude of social ills that plague the Native population in the U.S. With a few arguable exceptions, American Indians are easily the most overlooked minority group in the United States today, and after eight years of the Bush administration's lack of action towards Natives, it's hard to imagine a candidate who will stand up for change in long-standing conditions that have left many Natives in squalor for decades.

That's why I found this article, written by Jodi Rave and published in today's Rapid City Journal, so refreshing. In it, Rave outlines Obama's plan to shed some much needed light on the problems confronting millions of Indians in the United States. Obama outlined this plan in detail in a four-page American Indian policy statement. The article quotes Obama's chief of staff, Pete Rouse, as saying that Barack "has a good understanding for the problems of Indian policy, and federal Indian policy of the past." The Senator has some big promises (see below for summary), but has also let his actions do some of the talking for him when he acted as cosponsor on the renewal of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. In a statement released on on January 22, 2008, Obama said of the bill, “It is our country's moral imperative to address the significant health care disparities between the Native American population and the American population as a whole." Bill S.1200 was passed by the Senate in February, and has made its way to the House of Representatives for voting.

Notable features of Obama's Native peoples policy include the following:

• an Indian American policy advisor on his senior council
• a convergence of Indian tribes from around the U.S., to occur at least once annually
• the preservation of tribal languages
• aiding economic development on reservations (Obama is opposed to gambling funds as a primary source of economic support to Natives)
• offering comprehensive health care coverage to American Indians
• increased dialogue between Native and Federal governments, to encourage populations to help solve their problems at a local level
• developing a sort of tribal 'G8 summit' to create Indian policies

More information regarding Obama's support for American Indians can be found at tribes.barackobama.com.

Days Eleven and Twelve, April 5

My best friend from high school was in town over the weekend, so I missed a day on the blog. In the interest of pressing on, and tipping one shot of hope per day into this blog's swelling gullet, I'll be posting two items today to make up for lost time.

Yesterday being April 4, the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., I decided it would be fitting to include a post that did honor to the progression this country has shown since the death of Dr. King. Instead of resorting to a cheap attempt to parallel King's legacy with the still-growing fire of Obama's presidential campaign, I've instead decided to play to the subtler issues at hand, just as Obama himself did at a speech honoring the late doctor yesterday in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (a CNN article written about all three presidential candidate's responses to the anniversary is located read here). Instead of focusing primarily on how civil rights activists like Dr. King paved the way for Obama's political career, and his run for the presidency, Obama aimed his speech at our still-existing need for workers' rights and economic justice. Barack referred to Dr. King as a "modern day Moses" who fought for fairness not just for his fellow African Americans, but for all American citizens, and highlighted the need for economic stability and citizens' unity that looms over the United States today. Later on in the oratory, quoting Martin Luther King's late wife, Corretta, Barack tells his listeners how "it was never about me, it was never about Martin. It's about God's will, and God's plan for us." This touching speech can be viewed here on Youtube.

For my second item posted today, I'd like to post an article posted yesterday in the op=ed section Boston Globe. Author Tripp Jones, a (former) Hillary supporter, composed the article to call for unity inside the Democratic Party, and insist that fellow Clintonites recognize Obama as the eventual Party Nominee and give him their support now. Instead of simply selling out his faith in Hillary, Jones is admirable enough to call for . Tripp writes who currently support Hillary and "continue to believe that she would be an excellent president can play an important part in moving our nation forward by supporting Obama. We can spread the word that he offers the right leadership for these challenging times." That article, which is available for easy-forwarding to your favorite Hillary holster, can be read here.

Day Ten, April 3

After two days in a row composed of a lighter fare of content, I decided to pick up the pace and return to one of the core issues of this year's presidential election: the war in Iraq. In the past few months, trash-talking on the campaign trail has obscured this and other core debates that will play a major hand in determining the sway of non-aligned voters, and may swing enough weight to determine who's going to be calling the shots as commander-in-chief next year. Although he's been stressing it less than usual these days, Obama's fervant anti-war sentiment is a key issue that is swaying many voters to his side, as it is widely-acknowledged that the majority of Americans oppose the war and are looking for a timetable for troop withdrawal. Obama has been riding the platform of being the sole voice of reason in the three candidates, and the only person running today who didn't vote 'yay' in 2002 to give Bush the power to invade Iraq.

To be honest, I've heard him point out this position so many times now that I was beginning to get a little skeptical about just how strongly Barack opposed the war in the first place. After all, the U.S. was in a noticeably different state of mind just five years ago when the attacks on Iraqi soil were first launched. The horrific aftermath of 9/11 still fresh in our minds, America had taken on a 'kill-or-be killed' mentality in its early stages of the recently-declared 'war on terrorism'. It's no surprise to hear that the Senate voted 77-23 in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in October of 2002, effectively giving Bush the go-ahead for his war march. The majority of Americans believed that Iraq was developing WMD's, and action needed to be taken to oust Saddam Hussein in the interest of national security, human rights, or petroleum reserves. Barack himself has admitted that the case for entering the war was an effective one, and that he sympathizes with members of congress that were duped into voting for the war initiative. But has Obama always been as dead set as the war as he claims he is today? Or instead, if he were serving on the U.S. Senate in 2002, like Clinton and McCain were, would he have likely been swayed by the same evidence and convinced to authorize military action, like many of his colleagues swiftly did? I needed evidence to maintain my belief in this vital stance to Obama's integrity.

As I found out by reading Obama's speech from 2002, I believe the answer is no, he would have listened to his conscience, not Hans Blix or the swaying public opinion (as he has consistently done over the last six years, regarding the war). Barack delivered this speech on October 2, 2002, at the first prominent anti-war rally in Chicago, a little more than a week before the Iraq War Resolution was passed by Congress. This speech, having gained some relative fame since he delivered it on his campaign trail for the US Senate six years ago, is an example of Obama at his most passionate, his most courageous, his most controversial phase of politics so far. Instead of playing it safe and pandering to a war that--at the time--was seen as advisable, or at least permissible--by most Americans, and certainly most of Congress, Obama laid his political career on the line to speak out against a war he thought we should have stopped before it even got started. It is a rare speech that is both passionate and boisterous, but without a trace of hubris or political 'fluff' to be found. Instead of playing up his own hand, the speaker speaks plainly but eloquently in a furor to prevent an unjust war from happening. Here it is, a transcript Barack's 2002 speech on the impending Iraq War:


Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.

The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.

I don’t oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. 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-Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.

Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not – we will not – travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.

Transcript compliments of Wikisource.

Day Nine, April 2

I managed to catch this segment on yesterday's episode of the Today show before heading out to school...Ann Curry visited Obama on the Pennsylvania campaign trail before sitting him down and asking him some more 'personal' questions. This interview, besides revealing a touching moment over 'the most important thing' his mother taught him, also showed one of Obama's most reassuring opinions of all: ladies and gentlemen, he's a Stones fan.



Video courtesy of the barackobamadotcom Youtube channel, footage copyright the Today show, NBC 2008.

Day Eight, April 1

Happy April 1st, everybody!