Obama’s $4000 College Plan and Other proposed Changes February 26, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in General Obama, Obama in 08.Tags: Community Service, Military, nonprofit, University
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Here is a General Outline of Obama’s Plan for Change in the United States. From Military to Education he’s got a map for it all. Who says he doesn’t actually explain where he stands?
The Problem
Americans Not Asked to Serve After 9/11: President Bush squandered an opportunity to mobilize the American people following 9/11 when he asked Americans only to go shopping.
Insufficient Federal Support for Service: While more than 500,000 people have served in AmeriCorps, the program turns away tens of thousands of applicants a year because of limited funding.
Need for More R&D in Nonprofit Sector: Research and development in the nonprofit sector is limited and there is a disconnect between charitable foundations that can fund innovation and the organizations on the ground that can test new concepts and bring them to scale.
The Plan
Enable All Americans to Serve to Meet the Nation’s Challenges
- Expand Corporation for National and Community Service: Obama will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000 and he will focus this expansion on addressing the great challenges facing the nation. He will establish a Classroom Corps to help teachers and students, with a priority placed on underserved schools; a Health Corps to improve public health outreach; a Clean Energy Corps to conduct weatherization and renewable energy projects; a Veterans Corps to assist veterans at hospitals, nursing homes and homeless shelters; and a Homeland Security Corps to help communities plan, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
- Engage Retiring Americans in Service on a Large Scale: Older Americans have a wide range of skills and knowledge to contribute. Obama will expand and improve programs that connect individuals over the age of 55 to quality volunteer opportunities.
- Expand the Peace Corps: Obama will double the Peace Corps to 16,000 by 2011. He will work with the leaders of other countries to build an international network of overseas volunteers so that Americans work side-by-side with volunteers from other countries.
- Show the World the Best Face of America: Obama will set up an America’s Voice Initiative to send Americans who are fluent speakers of local languages to expand our public diplomacy. He also will extend opportunities for older individuals such as teachers, engineers, and doctors to serve overseas.
Integrate Service into Learning
- Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation’s Schools: Obama will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. He will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience. Green Job Corps: Obama will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields.
- Expand YouthBuild Program: Obama will expand the YouthBuild program, which gives disadvantaged young people the chance to complete their high school education, learn valuable skills and build affordable housing in their communities. He will grow the program so that 50,000 low-income young people a year a chance to learn construction job skills and complete high school.
- Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
- Promote College Serve-Study: Obama will ensure that at least 25 percent of College Work-Study funds are used to support public service opportunities instead of jobs in dining halls and libraries.
Invest in the Nonprofit Sector
- Social Investment Fund Network: Obama will create a Social Investment Fund Network to use federal seed money to leverage private sector funding to improve local innovation, test the impact of new ideas and expand successful programs to scale.
- Social Entrepreneurship Agency for Nonprofits: Barack Obama will a create an agency within the Corporation for National and Community Service dedicated to building the capacity and effectiveness of the nonprofit sector.
Clinton mans the Front line Against Obama in 08 February 26, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in General Obama, Obama in 08, Primaries.Tags: Campaign, Clinton, Obama
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Although Clinton rarely mentioned Obama by name, her jabs were no doubt intended at her opponent. “To me, this is not theoretical,” she said. “This is very much who I am, what I have done and what I will do. The American people don’t have to guess whether I understand the issues, or whether or not I need a foreign policy instruction manual to guide me through a crisis or whether I have to rely on advisors to introduce me to global affairs.”
Hillary Clinton took a break from campaigning in March 4th primary states to deliver what her campaign called a “major foreign policy speech” today, but her remarks were aimed more at discrediting the experience of Barack Obama.
Aside from knocking his experience, Clinton also dusted off comments Obama, in 08, made months ago, when he said he would personally meet with leaders of rogue nations like Iran and North Korea. “I will not be penciling the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, or Cuba on the presidential calendar without preconditions until we have assessed through lower level diplomacy motivation and intentions of these dictators,” she said, framing Obama’s comments as foreign policy inexperience. “We simply cannot legitimize rogue regimes or weaken American prestige by impulsively agreeing to presidential level talks that have no preconditions. It may sound good, but it doesn’t meet the real world tests of foreign policy.”
Obama has been quoted as saying he would take unilateral military action without the permission of a sitting government in order to take out Osama bin Laden, which drew criticism at the time. “One thing the American people can be sure of, I will not broadcast threats of unilateral military action against a country like Pakistan just to demonstrate that I am tough enough for the job,” Clinton said.
She wrapped up her remarks by telling voters that there is a clear distinction between herself and Obama. “He wavers from seeming to believe that mediations and meetings without preconditions can solve some of the world’s most intractable problems, to advocating brash, unilateral military action without the cooperation from our allies form the most sensitive region in the world,” she said. “Electing a president should not be an either or proposition when it comes to national security. We need a president who knows how to deploy both the olive branch and the arrows.”
Clinton stood on stage with 10 American flags, warning the audience that electing a president with little foreign policy experience could be harmful to America. “We’ve seen the tragic results of having a president who didn’t have either the experience or the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our national security,” she said. “We can’t let that happen again. America has already taken that chance one time too many.”
Secret Service Failing Obama in 08 Elections February 23, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in General Obama, Obama Support.Tags: Obama, Seceret Service, Security
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Security details at Barack Obama’s rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena, reports the Star Telegram.
Dozens of police officers have voiced concern over a security stand down order issued by federal officials at Barack Obama’s rally in Dallas yesterday afternoon.
The security concerns come on the back of warnings last week by British Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing that caused a media storm. The The 88-year-old novelist predicted the assassination of Obama if he becomes the first black U.S. president.
Lessing said: “He would probably not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would kill him.” going on to comment that it would be better if Hillary Clinton became America’s first woman president with Obama, in 08, as her running mate.
As researchers of the JFK Assassination will be aware, in addition to those who have looked into the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, a secret service stand down at a large public event should set alarm bells ringing.
Police officers and security officials were surprised when they were told to stop using metal detectors and to stop checking bags at the entrance to the arena.
The Star Telegram article continues:
Doors opened to the public at 10 a.m., and for the first hour security officers scanned each person who came in and checked their belongings in a process that kept movement of the long lines at a crawl. Then, about 11 a.m., an order came down to allow the people in without being checked.
Many officers subsequently complained as they believed a lapse in security had occurred with thousands of people entering the arena without even cursory inspections.
Islam and Obama in 08: Muslim Rumors Swirl February 11, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in General Obama, Obama in 08.Tags: Hussein, Islam, Muslim, Obama, President, Terrorist
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Barack Obama had a good weekend. For starters, he opened a lead of 84 pledged delegates and 200,000 popular votes by crushing Hillary Clinton in four straight contests–Nebraska (68-32 percent), Louisiana (57-36) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (90-8) on Saturday, followed by a surprisingly sizable win in Maine (59-40) on Sunday. He beat Bill Clinton to win best spoken audiobook at yesterday’s Grammy Awards. And he had the pleasure of watching as Clinton removed campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle (also chief liaison to Latinos) from her team–a sure sign that staffers and supporters are worried about Hillary’s wobbly bid. The good news will probably continue for the next ten days; Obama leads by at least 17 points in each of Tuesday’s Potomac Primary battles and is expected to win in liberal, educated Wisconsin and his birth state of Hawaii a week later.
All of which got me thinking about the general election. Sure, the Illinois senator is a long way from clinching the Democratic nomination. First he has to survive Ohio and Texas on March 4 and Pennsylvania on April 22–states that are rich in delegates and far more favorable to Clinton than February’s Obama-friendly face-offs. Even then, the fight will probably go all the way to the convention in August. But if Obama does get the nod, you have to wonder if he might find it tougher to peel off Republicans than his rhetoric suggests–especially against John McCain.
Over the past few months, it’s become clear that there are some shady people out there bent on spreading the claim that Obama is a “crypto-Muslim Manchurian candidate.” It started with a set of E-Mails which say that “Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background” and ask “Can a good Muslim become a good American?” And it has continued with trolls like “HolyRoller,” a monomaniacal individual now infecting the “He’s One of Us Now” comment board, where he’s busy posing questions like “To all you Obama supporters: Is he Shiite or Sunni?” and lamenting “how foolish we have become” now that “a large segment of our population wants one of the [Islamic] devils to be their President” The Obama campaign has been waging a determined, low-intensity war against the smear since January 2007, and the candidate himself has repeatedly weighed in. His typical response? “The American people are, I think, smarter than folks give them credit for.”
He’s mostly right. If Obama wins the Democratic nomination, he’ll have plenty of time before Election Day to tell voters that he’s been “a member of the same church, the same Christian church, for almost 20 years”–enough, I’m sure, to reach all but the most willful bigots (who probably wouldn’t vote for him anyway). But what if correcting the record isn’t the problem? After a few months on the trail, I’m starting to suspect that swing voters worried about terrorism won’t be willing to “take a risk” on someone who has ANY links to the Muslim world–as irrelevant as those links may be. Over the past two months, I’ve had at least a dozen people respond to my rote question–What do you think of Barack Obama?–by worrying aloud about his “Muslim background.” I’m always quick to tell them that he’s not a Muslim, but it rarely makes a difference. Take Vicki Hercsky, 47, a teacher from Boca Raton, Florida. “Obama, I don’t even know how he got where he is,” she told me after a Rudy Giuliani event late last month. “Why do you say that?” I asked. “He’s Muslim,” she replied, matter-of-factly. I stammered. “Well, um, his father was raised Muslim but was an agnostic by the time Barack was born,” I said. “Obama is a Christian.” Hercsky wasn’t swayed. “Yeah, but he has it in his blood,” she said. “You can’t take away what’s given to you. It’s given to you for a reason, and that’s who you are. That’s who he is.” I’m not sure what she meant by “it,” or “who he is”–and I’m not sure I want to know.
In a general election battle, the macho, militaristic McCain would make a mighty effort to focus voters’ attention on national security. He’d contrast his experience–“I’ve been involved in every major national security issue for the last 20 years, and in some ways the last 40,” he’s fond of saying–with Obama’s rather light foreign policy resume. And he’d deploy the phrase “radical Islamic extremism” whenever possible. In that kind of contest, Obama doesn’t want moderate Republicans–voters he hopes to add to his “coalition for change”–wondering whether he’s “an Islamic sympathizer,” in HolyRoller’s ignorant formulation, or even listening to Rush Limbaugh repeat “Hussein” (the senator’s middle name) over and over again. It’s not like national-security voters need to believe that Obama is a practicing Muslim; they just need to suspect that he’s not as strongly “anti-Muslim” as McCain. I’ve seen how easy it is to sow those seeds of doubt–and how tenaciously they blossom. To decide solely on such irrelevant innuendo would be stupid. But people do stupid things when they’re scared, and after hearing what I’ve heard on the trail, I’m not so sure that some of them wouldn’t decide that way regardless.
This article was taken from Newsweek’s blog by Andrew Romano in part. Some aspects have been changed but has been kept mostly intact. It is a very good insight into the troubles Obama is currently dealing with regarding rumors and slanderous campaign tactics.
Obama and Clinton: Super Tuesday February 5, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in Obama in 08, Primaries.Tags: California, Clinton, Democrat, Obama, Primary, Tuesday, Vote
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When polls close at 7 p.m. New York time, one sign will be whether Republican Mitt Romney, 60, is winning Georgia’s evangelical Christian voters, a bloc he needs to continue his battle against Arizona Senator John McCain, 71. A loss in Georgia, one of Romney’s stronger states, may presage a sweep for McCain.
Georgia also looms large for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The state’s African-American population is as about as large proportionally as South Carolina’s, where Obama won a 29-percentage-point victory over Hillary Clinton. Obama wants to duplicate that success with a heavy turnout and overwhelming black voter support.
Over the next 90 minutes, returns will come in from 10 more states, including primaries in the Northeast. Anything other than victory for New York Senator Clinton in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Delaware would be a coup for Obama, an Illinois senator.
“If Clinton loses New Jersey that’s a huge, huge problem for her,” said G. Terry Madonna, a professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “We’ll know almost immediately that she has a problem” in the rest of the contest.
Voters in Georgia, where the first results are likely to emerge in today’s 24-state presidential nominating process, may give clues to the outcome of the Super Tuesday primaries.
Idaho
“I was laughing when I saw he was in Idaho,” said Ronald Platt, an Obama supporter and longtime Democratic Party activist. “But they’ve got caucuses. Most people feel he’s going to win Idaho just like he’s going to win Alaska.”
If McCain wins most of the states where he’s favored, he may become the overwhelming favorite to secure the Republican nomination, leaving the Democratic race unsettled.
“The nominating battle between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama is likely going to continue” well past Super Tuesday and “certainly through the primaries of March 4,” Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s communication director, said yesterday.
After Super Tuesday, the Republicans and Democrats will compete in primary contests in states and the District of Columbia into June. Democrats hold their nominating convention in August and Republicans have theirs in September.
Bellwether
Other states closing their polls at 8 p.m. include Missouri, which is closely contested in the Democratic race. On the Republican side, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, 52, is vying for support from social conservatives. Missouri, long a bellwether in presidential politics, has the racial and economic diversity to make it a microcosm of the country.
Huckabee is also considered a factor in the primary in Tennessee, where polls close at 8 p.m.
Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, campaigned in Tennessee in the past week and she had a substantial led in recent polls. A half hour later, the voting ends in former President Bill Clinton’s home state of Arkansas, where his wife has a broad network of support.
Also closing at 8 p.m. will be Illinois, Obama’s home state, followed an hour later by New York. Obama, 46, and Clinton, 60, have secure bases at home. The telling sign will be who wins the home state by a larger margin.
McCain is favored in New York and Illinois as well as in Arizona, a state he has represented in the Senate for more than two decades. In Arizona, where polls close at 9 p.m. Eastern time, the Democratic race is close.
California Prize
At 11 p.m. New York time, all eyes will be on California, the most populous state and the biggest prize on Super Tuesday, with 370 delegates awarded in the Democratic race and 170 in the Republican contest. McCain has won the endorsement of the state’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Obama has been chipping away at Clinton’s margin in California, though Clinton may have captured a greater proportion of voters who cast their ballots early. California allows voting weeks in advance.
The nine caucus states will trickle in through the night, with Alaska voters dispersing by 1:30 a.m.
Obama has invested time and money in caucus states such as North Dakota, New Mexico, Alaska, Kansas, Minnesota, and Idaho.
Winner Take All
On the Republican side, former Governor Romney is banking on holding his home state of Massachusetts. McCain is favored in Connecticut and New Jersey, states that are important because the winner takes all the nominating-convention delegates. Given that system in those states and in New York, McCain has said the Republican contest may be settled today.
Under Republican rules, it takes 1,191 delegates to secure the party’s nomination. McCain has a chance to win a large number of delegates because more than 1,000 are at stake today.
“We might not have to wait until California to know whether McCain is having a good night,” said Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center in Washington.
Democrats divide the delegates by congressional district, making a sweep more difficult. Most experts predict that Clinton and Obama will come close to splitting the 1,681 delegates up for grabs in 22 states today. Under the Democrats’ system, a candidate can lose a state’s popular vote and still accrue large numbers of delegates; 2,025 are needed for nomination.
Obama Gaining Record Donations February 1, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in General Obama, Obama in 08, Primaries.Tags: Campaign, donate, donor, Obama
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The Following was sent to my Email this morning and I thought it might be interesting to some to see. The popularity of Barack has been rising lately and over the months we have seen a drastic increase in the fiscal support he has received as well. I now think that it is completely plausible that he will be reaching his goal of 250,000 later this evening and what a resounding voice of confidence that will be from his campaign.Friend —
I have some news for you today.
In the hours before Iowans went to their local caucuses four weeks ago, the 500,000th person donated to our campaign.
It took us nearly a year to grow that unprecedented base of individual donors. We rejected donations from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs and relied on ordinary people to take ownership of this campaign — and the result was more donors than any presidential primary campaign has had in history.
Here’s the news today: so far in January alone, more than 224,000 people have given to this campaign.
If we can reach 250,000 donors for January by midnight tonight, it will show the undeniable strength and incredible momentum of our grassroots movement.
If you give today, another supporter like you will match your donation. Make your first online donation now:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
These 224,000 people are giving whatever they can afford — more than ninety percent of our donors this year have given $100 or less.
But what’s even more inspiring is that they are also making phone calls, knocking on doors, planning local events, and even serving as Precinct Captains in the 22 states that will vote on Tuesday.
These are not just donors — they are organizers doing the kind of local, grassroots organizing that is the foundation of real change. Together we are seizing this moment to upend the tired politics of the past and usher in a new era of active citizenship in our party and in our democracy.
From our historic victory in Iowa in the first days of 2008 through our resounding win in South Carolina last Saturday, January has been the most critical time of the campaign so far.
Hitting this goal of 250,000 donors will close out this historic month. And the fresh momentum and energy will carry us through the 22 state contests on February 5th and beyond.
This is an incredible moment, and I hope you will take time now to help reach this goal:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
Thank you for being part of this,
Barack
Obama Loses Florida to Hillary: Despite No Awarded Points January 30, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in General Obama, Primaries.Tags: Clinton, Florida, Obama, Voters
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Senator Clinton sought to emphasise her performance in the state, declaring it a welcome victory. The New York senator, fresh off her lopsided loss to Barack Obama in last weekend’s South Carolina primary, arranged a rally in the state as the polls were closing, an evident attempt to gain campaign momentum.
“I am thrilled to have had this vote of confidence that you have given me today and I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure not only are Florida Democratic delegates seated, but Florida is in the winning column for the Democrats in 2008,” she said.
Clinton and Obama collide next weeAmong the Democrats, Hillary Clinton won the primary beating rival Barack Obama in Florida.
However, this is just a symbolic win and it will have little impact on the Democratic presidential race.
Party delegates from Florida will not be allowed to participate in the national convention in November because of party sanctions.
The state delegates are being punished for going against the party schedule and holding polls on Tuesday. The national party wanted the polls to be held later in the year.
Despite that, the turnout was high. Some reports said about 2.5 million voters cast ballots, and nearly 400,000 people cast early or absentee ballots ahead of the primary.
k in a coast-to-coast competition for delegates across 22 states.
With split decisions in the Democratic contests so far, there is increased speculation that the nominating race will extend beyond February 5 when more than 1,600 delegates are at stake.
Bush’s Final State of The Union Address January 29, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in Obama in 08, Primaries.Tags: Bush, Economy, Iraq, Presidential Address, State of the Union, Troops
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With the presidents final State of the Union Address we saw him make many promises in regard to the economy and a statement saying that we should see a budget surplus by the year 2012. Well sir this came right after your proposal to make the current tax cuts permanent. I am not in office but I am pretty sure that the concept of trickle down theory never actual worked. Your rebates to the rich are only filling the pockets of the wealthy and not encouraging them to spend. In times such as these where markets fluctuate too much to predict with any level of certainty.
On to Energy security. According to our president we need to invest more in entrepreneurs and research and development for clean energy. Then he proceeds to say we need to invest in Clean Coal, Nuclear, and Batteries. Well all of those things are both hazardous to the environment and still use fuel sources that are NOT renewable. Then our president discusses the importance of reducing our green house gas emissions but yet still refuses to accept the idea of GLOBAL WARMING but rather encourages this Global Climate Change which is his way of saying well I wasn’t wrong on the Globabl Warming thing it’s just that it’s called Global Climate Change. Semantics sir Semantics. Then you profess trusting our scientists yet at the same time ignore the overwhelming scientific proof that Global Warming does exist. Nowhere is it getting colder sir only warmer so drop your semantical arguments and get with the program. No more double speak sir.
Next our president claims to have achieved great results and high levels of success with his NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. According to our president we are seeing record levels of reading and math scores with predominantly low income demographics. Well I think quickly we should take a look at how long this testing has been mandated and recorded. 8 years. I hope we start see improvement every year. That means that our educational system is doing something. BUT it does not mean that your bill has increased the quality of these schools. When a teacher is forced to teach a test we are encouraging our students to memorize and study only small examples of problems and reduce the level of critical thinking that takes place. We need to also find ways to increase the qualitative data as well as the quantitative data. Look at the amount of students attending college and the current GPA of those students. Are they prepared for the curriculum or were they only prepared for a standardized test?
“On matters of Justice we must trust in the words of our Fore Fathers.” He wants us to believe what our constitution says. Ok I will say I agree with you sir. DROP THE PATRIOT ACT. When did our Forefathers ever say that warrantless search and seizure was a good idea? When did it state that the use of a very ambigious label such as terrorist should be used in every possible scenario to invade the privacy of any citizen who dissents or distrusts in our current leadership? Sorry I must have missed that part of class. No I do not love Terrorists, I hate them as much as any other person, I will wait and hope for the safety of all of my friends and family in Iraq. But I do not think that it is necessary or constitutional to prey on people by labeling them without just cause. Drug Dealers are not terrorists, dissenters are not terrorists, protesters are not terrorists. You may not agree with the actions of many but treat them with a level of respect demanded by the Constitution of the United States.
Our president professes that when given the chance people will choose freedom over everything else. Well if that is the case then let them choose. Do not force democracy down the throats of the religious extremists. If they wish to rule their country by religious doctrine then help those who want to leave and let the rest stay. This would require us to open our borders though. If we wish to be the embodiment of freedom then we must allow ANYBODY to be free if they please. No I do not like the fact that many potential jobs will drop in their payment do to immigrants but this should force many of us to rise above a level of mediocrity.
On Iraq our president still insists that we are the victors thus far. A claim that our surge has worked and that we are ensuring that the “enemy does not return.” We are supposedly improving the daily life in Iraq and will not abandon the Iraqi’s who depend on us. I agree that we have helped a number of Iraqi’s in the wake of our invasion but we have also ruined the lives of many for reasons that did not exist. We are spending billions of dollars on a war that CAN NOT BE WON. “The American and Iraqi surges are achieving results that few of us could have imagined possible just a few months ago.” said our president. Sorry sir but I do not see the outcome you see. Our troops may be critical to the future of their country as you stated but they are also critical to the future of OUR country. They are critical to the future of OUR economy. They are critical to OUR safety. You say Al Qaeda can be defeated but it is not in Iraq where this will take place.
Beyond the rhetoric I am glad that we did not see a lot of nostalgia. I was not forced to sit through a dreamy afterthought of how our President viewed his presidency. We also got the good news of 20,000 troops coming home in the following months. Very good news. Just make sure that these troops are guaranteed their health and insurance upon their return. Do not ignore them and do not FAIL them. And I swear to God DO NOT SEND OUR TROOPS TO IRAN. The comments you made regarding Iran and the address you made to their leaders sound Eerily similar to the comments you made regarding Iraq. If you have any respect for our country sir PLEASE do not start another war. I do think it is great though, that you will allow the passing on of troops unused money for education and the like, to his family. This will encourage not only further education with our troops but to their families as well.
Advantage to Obama in 08 South Carolina Elections January 28, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in Obama in 08, Obama Support, Primaries.Tags: African American, Black Voters, Clinton, Obama, South Carolina
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“Before they started getting into the ugly stuff, I really wanted Hillary to win,” Bryan said as a stylist cut her hair inside a tiny salon at the corner of Sea Island Parkway and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. “I prayed about it, and I decided I was going to back Obama.”
As a black woman, Jeanettea Bryan had been waiting eight years to cast a presidential vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton, until the rhetoric in the Democratic primary got rough and racial.
Whoever was to blame for the nasty tone of the South Carolina race in its final days, it caused the 45-year-old nanny to question her loyalties.
Bill Clinton, Bryan says, was the one president who deserved a third term. Barring that, she’d wanted Sen. Clinton to run since her husband left office in 2000.
But reminders of America’s racial divisions run deep on this quiet sea island that’s home to many blacks descended from the slaves who worked its plantations. Bryan switched her support to the man who would be America’s first black president.
While blacks overwhelmingly favored Obama, the exit poll showed he got only about 25 percent of the white vote. The racial split raises fresh questions about whether Obama can win in states outside the South, despite his early victory in overwhelmingly white Iowa.
In South Carolina, scene of plenty of racially tinged campaigns, black voters who had been leaning toward Clinton turned against her after the mudslinging with Obama became more personal.
“African-American leaders took umbrage with the Clintons, who otherwise are seen as supporters of the African-American community, for what they saw as slights and insults” aimed at Obama, said Todd Shaw, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in racial politics.
Barack Obama’s supporters chanted “Race doesn’t matter” at a Columbia rally Saturday after his landslide victory in South Carolina. But black voters here, the first primary state where they counted in large numbers, said the chance to send a black man to the White house mattered greatly, even if it wasn’t their first concern.
“African-American leaders took umbrage with the Clintons, who otherwise are seen as supporters of the African-American community, for what they saw as slights and insults” aimed at Obama, said Todd Shaw, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in racial politics.
An exit poll conducted for The Associated Press and the networks showed eight in 10 black voters backed Obama. They made up 55 percent of voters Saturday in South Carolina, which shattered its Democratic primary record with more than 532,000 ballots cast.
“It was pretty much a no-brainer,” said Warren Bolden, 57, a retired maintenance man who voted for Obama in Columbia. “I was raised in the Civil Rights era. I remember when it was said blacks couldn’t play quarterback in the NFL, they didn’t have the brain power. Our kids should see we can be whatever we want to be.”
He’ll have a tougher time in states such as California, where blacks make up a far smaller share of the electorate.
“His challenge will be to get larger shares of white Democrats,” Black said. “I think he’ll go back to his main issues and not talk so much about race. Now you would assume he’ll get the majority of African-American votes.”
Oddly, while Obama’s campaign has inspired hope in many black voters, his race has dredged up decades-old anxiety and fear in others.
Factory worker Loretta Miller, 54, limited her choices to Clinton and John Edwards when she went to her precinct in rural Orangeburg, site of the 1968 “Orangeburg massacre” in which state police fired on demonstrators trying to desegregate a bowling alley, killing three civil rights protesters and wounding 27.
She couldn’t bring herself to vote for Obama, “though I would love for him to win,” because she was too afraid Obama would suffer the fate of two other heroes of black Americans — John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
“Maybe I’m wrong, but I think we’re not quite ready for that, a black man being president,” said Miller, whose concerns were echoed by other black voters interviewed. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“It takes a lot of money to win the presidency, and I had my doubts about whether he could do it,” Wright said with a grin. “But when I saw Oprah, it was over.”
Kenneth Wright wasn’t sold on Obama at first. The self-employed house painter, folding his clean shirts and jeans at a coin laundry in Charleston, recalled previous black presidential hopefuls, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, as more symbolic candidates than serious contenders.
Obama seemed different to Wright after he drove 115 miles last month to see the Illinois senator at a campaign stop with celebrity supporter Oprah Winfrey. Wright found himself in a crowd of 30,000 people, and decided Obama had a real shot at the White House.
Mistakes for Obama in 08 Anger some Democrats as Race Tightens January 24, 2008
Posted by newyearskids in General Obama, Obama in 08, Obama Support.Tags: Democrat, Mistake, Obama, Obama in08, Vote
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Democratic race gets closer, poll shows
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is tightening as voters say they want both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on a national ticket, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows.Clinton leads Obama, 42 percent to 33 percent, down from the 24-point advantage she held in December. Three out of five supporters of each candidate say they would like Clinton or Obama to choose the other as a running mate.
Among Republicans, John McCain tops the field with 22 percent, followed closely by Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. The biggest change in the poll is the shift from former front-runner Rudy Giuliani, whose support plummets almost by half to 12 percent since a survey last month.
The poll of 1,541 adults included 1,312 registered voters and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for both groups. For the 532 Democratic primary voters, the margin is 4 points; for the 337 Republicans, it is 5 points.
Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child-welfare office on Chicago’s west side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed.
“I was not aware that I had voted no,” he said that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he “intended to vote yes.”
During his eight years in state office, Obama cast more than 4,000 votes. Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings, he said six did not reflect his true intent because he hit the wrong button.
The rules allow Illinois lawmakers to clear up a mishap if they suffered from a momentary case of stumbly fingers . But some lawmakers say the practice also offers a way to placate both sides of a difficult issue. Even if a lawmaker claims an error, the actual vote stands and the official record merely shows the senator’s “intent.”
A spokesman for Obama said the mistaken votes were not a meaningful issue. “Legislators often have just a few seconds to cast a vote, so after thousands of votes they’re bound to make a few mistakes,” Tommy Vietor said.
Make It Obama in 08 