Summary: Obama HQ asked us not to demonstrate outside of the DNC Rules and By Laws Meeting on Saturday, May 31, 2008 in Washington, DC. The meeting may determine how the Florida and Michigan delegates are seated at the Democratic National Convention in August, 2008.
Obama HQ wants us to register voters in our local communities (not outside the hotel - smile) on Saturday during or after the DNC meeting. Watch the meeting live on CSPAN.
Join your local Barack Obama supporters and register voters on Saturday. There are voter registration events Saturday and they need YOU!
Voter Registration Drive - Saturday, May 31 2008
Instead of protesting, Obama HQ is encouraging Obama supporters from across the region to make a positive impact on Saturday, May 31 by joining the Vote for Change National Voter Registration and Mobilization Drive. Plan a voter registration drive.
Virginia Area Voter Drive - Saturday, May 31, 2008
Voter Registration events in the Virginia area on Saturday, May 31, 2008. See a map of voter registration drives already planned in VA on the Obama web site.
Find a Voter Registration Drive Near You
Please go to the Vote for Change National Voter Registration and Mobilization Drive web page.
Obama Campaign Said...
We can send a powerful message to the special interests that dominate the old politics if millions of people get registered to vote. Recent voter registration drives have registered more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 165,000 new Democrats in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Those numbers just scratch the surface of what's possible.
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Voter Registration Rules for Your State
1. Before you begin any Voter Registration, please read your state’s legal guidelines.
2. Following local guidelines ensures we empower the greatest number of people possible in our Vote For Change effort.
1. An Obama HQ Blogger says Obama supporters are being asked not to protest outside the DNC Rules and By Laws Committee Meeting on May 31 in Wash, DC. See part of the article, On the RBC Meeting: How to Make a Positive Impact this Weekend, below.
2. To hear the audio of Obama reps (Plouffe and Wilhelm, I think) saying it to reporters, more than once in a conference call, see the TPM article and go to the bottom of the page.
On the RBC Meeting: How to Make a Positive Impact this Weekend
By Christopher Hass, Obama HQ Blogger
May 28th, 2008 at 6:36 pm EDT
On Saturday, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee will meet in Washington D.C. to determine whether Florida and Michigan delegates should be allowed to participate at the Democratic convention in August. We look forward to the meeting proceeding smoothly—and we're asking that our supporters not demonstrate or disrupt the proceedings in any way.
Instead, we're urging supporters from across the region to make a positive impact this weekend by helping out with voter registration and organizational events taking place on Saturday.
Read the rest, visit the Obama site.
An ABC article quotes Plouffe.
Despite reports, Plouffe said they are "not encouraging" Obama supporters to gather in Washington, D.C. to protest Saturday's meeting, "We are not encouraging our people to gather and protest on Saturday -- obviously with the click of a mouse it would be pretty easy for us to get thousands of people there but we don't think it’s a helpful dynamic to create chaos and, in the interest of party unity, we're encouraging our supporters not to protest. We don't think a scene, as we wind down the primary season here, is helpful to bringing the party together."
To hear the conference call, go to the bottom of this TPM article.
David Plouffe, Obama campaign manager, quoted by TPM in a May 28, 2008 article called "Hillary Camp Invokes Florida Recount Debacle; Obama Camp Says They're Not Encouraging Protests" said...
(Article has an audio recording so you can hear it yourself. Follow link to TPM and look for the audio link at the botom of the TPM page.)
"We are not encouraging our people to gatger in protest on Saturday. Obviously with the click of a mouse it would be pretty easy for us to get thousands of people there." He added that they weren't doing that "in the interest of party unity."
Link to article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/tpmelectioncentral/~3/299980047/obama_campaign_manager_we_are.php
Summary: Obama Campaign requests we do not protest outside of the hotel where the DNC Rules and By-Laws Committee will meet on Saturday, May 31, 2008. But you can still participate, see below*.
As promised yesterday, I faxed the Obama Campaign requesting an official response to emails and blogs telling Obama supporters not to protest outside the DNC Rules and By-Laws Meeting on May 31st in Washington, DC.
I got a call today from Emily Jacobson of the Obama Campaign Political Department. She said the Obama Campaign requests we do not protest outside the meeting with Clinton supporters.
Unless you have a ticket to observe the meeting (you can still get one, see below)*, and I know some of you do (a full report is expected), the Obama campaign does not want us to take part in any protest outside the hotel.
*How to See the DNC Meeting
I just spoke with the DNC (202-863-8000), they shared a few ways you can participate if you do not currently have a ticket/pass...
1. Show up early and get a same day pass/ticket to be in the meeting or to observe the meeting from an overflow room inside the hotel;
2. If you are a guest, you can watch it on TV's the hotel will set up; and
3. Stay home and watch the live broadcast on c-Span or via a live stream on the democrats.org web site.
Please share this post with all Obama lists, friends, or anywhere else you think appropriate and give it a high rating so other Obama supporters find it.
Thank you,
Jackie an Obama Supporter, Volunteer and Contributor
President Carter Supports Obama?
A Nigerian news report about something former president Jimmy Carter said yesterday has led to speculation that he's at least leaning toward supporting Sen. Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Here's the quote: "We are very interested in the primaries. Don't forget that Obama won in my state of Georgia. My town, which is home to 625 people, is for Obama. My children and their spouses are pro-Obama. My grandchildren are also pro-Obama. As a superdelegate, I would not disclose who I am rooting for, but I leave you to make that guess."
Link to full article: http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/04/a-hint-from-car.html
Senator Barack Obama's Campaign Raises $40 million in March 2008 and had approximately 400,000+ contributors.
These numbers are not final but are those reported minutes ago on CNN (10:54 am ET).
UPDATE (10:59 am) Here is what is now being reported by USA Today.
Obama tops $40 million in March By MIKE ALLEN | 4/3/08 10:26 AM EST Updated: 4/3/08 10:26 AM ESTThe Obama campaign announced Thursday morning that more than 442,000 contributors gave his campaign more than $40 million in March.
That is less than the record $55 million Obama raised in February, but it's roughly twice what Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is estimated to have raised in March. She plans to release her totals later this month.
The campaign, which did not release an exact total, said more than 218,000 donors contributed to the campaign for the first time, and the average contribution was $96.
Campaign manager David Plouffe said: “Sen. Obama has always said that this campaign would rise or fall on the willingness of the American people to become partners in an effort to change our politics and start a new chapter in our history. ... Today we’re seeing the American people’s extraordinary desire to change Washington, as tens of thousands of new contributors joined the more than a million Americans who have already taken ownership of this campaign for change. Many of our contributors are volunteering for the campaign, making our campaign the largest grass-roots army in recent political history.”
The campaign's figures:
Total raised in March: More than $40 million
Contributors in March: More than 442,000
First-time contributors in March: More than 218,000
Average contribution: $96
Total contributors to date: More than 1,276,000
3/31/08
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Barack Obama has won the overall delegate race in Texas thanks to a strong showing in Democratic county conventions this past weekend.
Obama picked up seven of nine outstanding delegates, giving him a total of 99 Texas delegates to the party's national convention this summer. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the other two, giving her a total of 94 Texas delegates, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press.....
More here... Link
UPDATE:
Obama wins most Texas delegates
3/31/08
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Barack Obama has won the overall delegate race in Texas thanks to a strong showing in Democratic county conventions this past weekend.
Obama picked up seven of nine outstanding delegates, giving him a total of 99 Texas delegates to the party's national convention this summer. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the other two, giving her a total of 94 Texas delegates, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press.
More here...
Link
If you would like to have dinner with Barack and 4 other supporters in Phila (he pays for food and airline tix, if you have to fly in), make a donation at the link below and say your prayers.
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/dinner1?source=invite_DWB2
Oops, she's done it again! Bosnia sniper fire is more fiction than fact.
Congrats PA! It looks like we'll need more volunteers on election day. Hurray!
Mr. VanSickle said he has told elections officials in the state’s 67 counties to prepare for a massive turnout on primary day. “We’ve told them, whatever you’re expecting, increase it by 30 or 40 percent,” he said.
More than 120,000 new voters joined the rolls since Jan. 1. In addition, more than 86,000 others switched from other parties to register as Democrats, while only 12,000 switched registration to become Republicans.
Candidate financial standings as reported by New York Times on 3/22/08
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/politics/22funds.html
Annie - I found an article which mentions McCain's failure to release his tax returns, too. On March 17, 2008 Ariana Huffington wrote an article where she mentioned this largely ignored issue. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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"It's hard out there for a surrogate. Especially for a Clinton surrogate being asked why Hillary Clinton has not released the last eight years of her tax returns. As Congresswoman and Clinton surrogate Nita Lowey made clear on Meet The Press yesterday, the reason it's so hard to give a good answer to "Why hasn't Clinton released her returns?" is because there is no good answer. Lowey gave it a shot, but it wasn't pretty -- or particularly intelligible. When Tim Russert asked about the returns, she opened with the main talking point the Clinton campaign has been using for weeks: "It's my understanding that there are 20 years of tax returns in the public view from both Bill and Hillary Clinton." And she's exactly right. There are 20 years worth of returns that have been released.
What's missing are the last 8 years -- years in which Bill Clinton has been making money hand over fist, and involving himself in all kinds of interesting financial deals (see Ron Burkle, Yucaipa, and the ruler of Dubai). Lowey then quickly pivoted away from tax returns (clearly the 20 year line, as lame as it is, was the only arrow in her quiver) to make points about earmarks and the terrific work Bill Clinton's foundation has done on HIV/AIDS in Africa -- neither of which Russert had asked her about or have anything to do with tax returns.
Now, Nita Lowey is no slouch. She's smart and accomplished. But when you are sent into battle armed with little more than nonsensical blather, you are not going to end up looking very good. And Lowey didn't. And she seemed to know it -- her eyes belied a classic case of surrogatancholy. Hillary Clinton has repeatedly paired herself with John McCain as of late, making the case that they are candidates with a "lifetime of experience," so it seems appropriate that her refusal to release her tax returns is another thing they have in common.
While Clinton has been tossing verbal bouquets to McCain and attacking Obama for not being "vetted," Obama has been living up to his promises about making government more transparent. Not only did he release his latest tax returns in April 2007, he also just made public his list of earmarks, and sat down at the end of last week with the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times to answer all their questions about Tony Rezko.
The conclusion of the Tribune? "When we endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination Jan. 27, we said we had formed our opinions of him during 12 years of scrutiny. We concluded that the professional judgment and personal decency with which he has managed himself and his ambition distinguish him.
Nothing Obama said in our editorial board room Friday diminishes that verdict... Barack Obama now has spoken about his ties to Tony Rezko in uncommon detail. That's a standard for candor by which other presidential candidates facing serious inquiries now can be judged." It's a standard not being met by either McCain or Clinton.
As Sheila Krumholz of the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics said of Clinton not releasing her tax returns: "What is the holdup? She hasn't exactly made it clear as to what process is making it so cumbersome to just release them." Or as John Aravosis summed it up: "People with nothing to hide don't usually hide."
The main excuse we've gotten so far is that Hillary Clinton just has too much on her plate. "I'm a little busy right now," she said during the Ohio debate. "I hardly have time to sleep. But I will certainly work toward releasing, and we will get that done and in the public domain." That was three weeks ago. Two weeks ago, Howard Wolfson promised the returns would be released "on or around April 15."
But weren't the returns completed and filed a long time ago? Doesn't Clinton's accountant have time to print them out and make some copies (note to Clinton's accountant: many Kinko's are open 24 hours).
As Andrew Sullivan notes, "Did they file an extension for the past few years? If they didn't, the forms are available now." And it's not as if the Clintons have attempted to make a reasoned argument as to why the returns shouldn't be released -- something about there being too much scrutiny of public officials. Instead they've gone with Classic Clintonism: envelope themselves in lofty, good-guy rhetoric while utterly failing to follow-through. And then smearing their opponents, such as their absurd attack on Obama's campaign for "imitating Ken Starr."
The Clintons have obviously done very well during the Bush years -- well enough that she was able to loan her campaign $5 million at a critical moment. Is it really Ken Starr-like to want to know where that money came from? Or to ask for a list of the donors who have contributed $500 million to her husband's library? Or to ask what her policy as president would be regarding the transparency of huge donations from foreign interests to her husband's charitable fund (see the $31.3 million donation and additional $100 million pledge to Bill Clinton's foundation after he helped a Canadian mining mogul secure a massive uranium deal with Kazakhstan)?
As a New York Times editorial put it: "As a former president, Bill Clinton has been making millions annually giving speeches and traveling the globe. What is publicly known about his business dealings is sketchy, and clearer disclosure of them is required to reassure voters that Mrs. Clinton's candidacy is unencumbered by hidden entanglements."
In short, it's well past time for Hillary Clinton to be as "vetted" as she claims to already be -- and to have this vetting done now by Democratic voters rather than later by GOP hit squads.
She needs to live up to the standard she laid out for Rick Lazio, the opponent in her 2000 Senate race. At that time, she said it was "frankly disturbing" that Lazio was holding back on releasing his tax returns. What a difference eight years -- and tens of millions of dollars (some of them from questionable deals) -- can make."
-- Ariana Huffington, March 17, 2008
Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate this holiday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/us/politics/23churches.html?em&ex=1206331200&en=3272c643f75343bd&ei=5087%0A
Article Title: Obama Speech Fuels Sermons Article Link
Response
Possible ideas about why people think the Clinton's are evil. Evil being your word, not mine.
The Clintons had huge support from AA's, in my opinion, until recently. Bill established his post-Pres. office in Harlem. I think AA favor for Bill prevented him from being impeached.
How do the Clinton's repay that support? With non-stop racial pandering.
The Clinton's have alienated a loyal constituency. AA's have had few friends politically for 400 years and genuinely believed Bill and Hillary were on their side. Sadly, I think AA's are now hurt and disillusioned.
You want specifics? Here are a few ....
1. Hillary seeming to give credit to Johnson not King. Anyone can make a mistake so that comment alone was overlooked.
2. Bill dismissing SC by seeming to say SC was won by Jesse, so a win there meant little.
3. Bill seemed to say that Obama was a fairy tale and those who believe in him lovers of fairy tales.
4. They've said Obama's plan for change lacks detail. They asked for the meat. The Washington Post said Obama's substance and detail is overwhelming if you care to notice it.
5. Bill said McCain and his wife love America, but he failed to mention Obama. An attack on Obama's patriotism and many think it's unjustified.
Either Bill and Hillary, their advisers or both, could have accentuated Hillary's positive's without playing the race and gender card.
They think they are being subtle, but they are wrong. Many people of all genders, races, ethnic, religious, educational and income levels feel their message of fear and bias is loud and clear.
At Easter, rather than demonizing Bill Richardson by calling him Judas, they might have said something else. I can think of lots of high roads they could have taken.
I don't hear Obama talking about Monica, impeachment, Whitewater, Vince Foster, Hillary's connection to Mr. Rezko and Rev. Wright, the vast right wing conspiracy, Paula Jones, Hillary's conservative religious group membership, etc. If he was going to do it, wouldn't now be the time? Sorry for the laundry list.
I think sometimes we forget the distracting dramas of the Clinton Presidency.
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BTW. what happened to Marian W. Edelman, her husband and kids? Hillary used to mention her all the time but I never hear of her anymore.
My questions -- What was the timing of the peeking at the candidates passport records? All on the same day, at the same general time and by the same employee? Or, were the files reviewed by different employees on different dates and at significantly different times?
Maybe this story is about nosy employees with time to waste violating the privacy of presidential candidates. But it may be that the look at everyone's passport was meant to obscure the original target who could be McCain, Obama or Clinton.
Passports may reveal your home address, social security number and other personal information. When candidates release their tax returns and other personal documents to the public personal information is redacted.
Each of our candidates deserves better but one of our candidates has been the object of death threats.
What have you heard and what are your thoughts? Do you care?
UPDATE: Passport files were reviewed by employees of two companies. Only one of the companies is headed by an Obama supporter, TAC. Stanley Inc. is another company with employees who did the same thing.
Obama’s files were compromised on three occasions — Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14 according to a news article. The fact that they mention Obama's files were accessed three times seems to indicate the breach concerning him was more egregious but we don't know this for sure.
"It was not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age, Social Security number and place of birth, which is required when someone fills out a passport application."
What they saw seems to be the most sensitive info, not where a candidate traveled.
Bill Richardson, who just endorsed Obama, called Judas by James Carville. Hillary must be the Jesus he has betrayed.
1. What are your thoughts on the comparisons?
2. What do you think of Bill Richardson?
3. What does this mean for Hillary?
Here is a link to a profile on Bill Richardson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Richardson
1. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, happily compares Obama to her Dad (see excerpt from her speech below).
2. Like Obama, JFK faced distrust and prejudice during his campaign because of fears about his faith. In a trascript from a campaign speech (link is below) , JFK disputes fears of Catholicism. JFK was our first Catholic President.
3. JFK said..
"...because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured -- perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again -- not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me -- but what kind of America I believe in."
Link to Kennedy Speech about http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkhoustonministers.html
The Enthusiam They Inspire Is Unique
Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, told an audience....
"Over the years, I've been deeply moved by the people who've told me that they wish they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way they did when my father was president. This longing is even more profound today.
Fortunately, there is one candidate who offers that same sense of hope and inspiration...
(APPLAUSE) ...
and I am proud to endorse Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States. I'm happy that my three children are here with me, because they were the first people who made me realize that Barack Obama is the president we need.
He is already inspiring all Americans, young and old, to believe in ourselves, tying that belief to our highest ideals -- ideals of hope, justice, opportunity and peace -- and urging us to imagine that, together, we can do great things.
In a country where a candidate for President (the one who is "lucky" to be who he is) gets raciallly motivated death threats, that candidate didn't respond by reminding us of our biases. I was moved by this. This man is so darn decent I think he might be too good for us.
Racially-Motivated Threats Sparked Secret Service Protection
"...But Obama said that if he doesn't win, it will not be because of the color of his skin. "It's going to be because I didn't project a vision of leadership that gave people confidence. It's going to be because of something I didn't do as opposed to because I'm African-American," he said.
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