- Joined
- 2 March 2006
- Posts
- 129
- Reactions
- 0
Re: Barack 2008!
Barack???
Ehud Barack???
Barack???
Ehud Barack???
Barack Obama!
- Thread starter Doris
- Start date
-
- Tags
- barack obama
Re: Barack 2008!
Released an hour ago:
By Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune
March 18, 2008
MONACA, PA. -- In an attempt to move beyond the controversy over inflammatory sermons given by his longtime pastor, Sen. Barack Obama said he would deliver a "major address" on race and politics in Philadelphia today.
The Illinois Democrat has struggled for several days to deal with comments by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., now retired, after videotapes of past sermons surfaced in which Wright said, among other things, that African Americans should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
Obama ended a speech at a community college in western Pennsylvania on Monday morning with the words "God bless America" -- an atypical closing for him.
At a news conference later, he repeated condemnations he made of Wright's remarks shortly after the videos were widely broadcast last week.
But he also said "the caricature that is being painted of [Wright] is not accurate."
Obama has portrayed Wright as a close spiritual advisor, crediting Wright with leading him from a secular lifestyle to church membership.
The title of Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" is drawn from one of Wright's sermons.
Obama has been involved with Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Wright was pastor, for nearly two decades. Wright presided at Obama's marriage and baptized both of the couple's daughters.
Obama has cast himself as a candidate who can move beyond America's racial divisions. The controversy over Wright has challenged that image.
Throughout his campaign, Obama has rarely addressed race directly, and he has sought to prevent his campaign from being consumed by the subject.
Aides said Obama's decision to deliver a speech on race was driven by the Wright controversy as well as by other developments that have heightened attention to issues of race.
These include recent comments by Geraldine A. Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1984, in which she said in part: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." Ferraro supports the candidacy of Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (R-N.Y.).
Clinton focused on the war in Iraq on Monday, delivering what was billed as a major policy speech on the conflict, which marks its fifth anniversary this week.
She said the war "we cannot win" may cost the nation $1 trillion and further strain the economy.
She blasted Obama and the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, arguing that she is the only candidate with a withdrawal plan.
"Sen. McCain would gladly accept the torch and stay the course, keeping troops in Iraq for up to 100 years if necessary," she said in the address at George Washington University. "That in a nutshell is the Bush-McCain Iraq policy -- don't learn from your mistakes, repeat them."
Arguing that victory can only be achieved through political, not military, solutions, Clinton said, "Sen. McCain and President Bush claim withdrawal is defeat.
"Let's be clear: Withdrawal is not defeat.
"Defeat is keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years."
McCain, who was in Baghdad, told CNN that Clinton "obviously does not understand nor appreciate the progress that has been made on the ground. . . . The surge is working."
Clinton also faulted Obama, saying he had not worked "aggressively" to end the war "until he started running for president."
An Obama administration, she said, would not follow through on campaign promises to end the war.
"I have concrete, detailed plans to end this war, and I have not wavered on my commitment to follow through on them," she said.
Obama fired back during a town-hall meeting in Pennsylvania.
"I have been consistent as saying that we have to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in," he said, adding that he would endeavor to withdraw U.S. forces while maintaining stability in Iraq. Clinton has not been consistent, he said.
Noting that he opposed the war in 2002 and each year since, Obama said, "I've been clear, unlike Sen. Clinton, who voted for war and has never taken responsibility for it."
Released an hour ago:
By Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune
March 18, 2008
MONACA, PA. -- In an attempt to move beyond the controversy over inflammatory sermons given by his longtime pastor, Sen. Barack Obama said he would deliver a "major address" on race and politics in Philadelphia today.
The Illinois Democrat has struggled for several days to deal with comments by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., now retired, after videotapes of past sermons surfaced in which Wright said, among other things, that African Americans should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
Obama ended a speech at a community college in western Pennsylvania on Monday morning with the words "God bless America" -- an atypical closing for him.
At a news conference later, he repeated condemnations he made of Wright's remarks shortly after the videos were widely broadcast last week.
But he also said "the caricature that is being painted of [Wright] is not accurate."
Obama has portrayed Wright as a close spiritual advisor, crediting Wright with leading him from a secular lifestyle to church membership.
The title of Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" is drawn from one of Wright's sermons.
Obama has been involved with Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Wright was pastor, for nearly two decades. Wright presided at Obama's marriage and baptized both of the couple's daughters.
Obama has cast himself as a candidate who can move beyond America's racial divisions. The controversy over Wright has challenged that image.
Throughout his campaign, Obama has rarely addressed race directly, and he has sought to prevent his campaign from being consumed by the subject.
Aides said Obama's decision to deliver a speech on race was driven by the Wright controversy as well as by other developments that have heightened attention to issues of race.
These include recent comments by Geraldine A. Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1984, in which she said in part: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." Ferraro supports the candidacy of Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (R-N.Y.).
Clinton focused on the war in Iraq on Monday, delivering what was billed as a major policy speech on the conflict, which marks its fifth anniversary this week.
She said the war "we cannot win" may cost the nation $1 trillion and further strain the economy.
She blasted Obama and the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, arguing that she is the only candidate with a withdrawal plan.
"Sen. McCain would gladly accept the torch and stay the course, keeping troops in Iraq for up to 100 years if necessary," she said in the address at George Washington University. "That in a nutshell is the Bush-McCain Iraq policy -- don't learn from your mistakes, repeat them."
Arguing that victory can only be achieved through political, not military, solutions, Clinton said, "Sen. McCain and President Bush claim withdrawal is defeat.
"Let's be clear: Withdrawal is not defeat.
"Defeat is keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years."
McCain, who was in Baghdad, told CNN that Clinton "obviously does not understand nor appreciate the progress that has been made on the ground. . . . The surge is working."
Clinton also faulted Obama, saying he had not worked "aggressively" to end the war "until he started running for president."
An Obama administration, she said, would not follow through on campaign promises to end the war.
"I have concrete, detailed plans to end this war, and I have not wavered on my commitment to follow through on them," she said.
Obama fired back during a town-hall meeting in Pennsylvania.
"I have been consistent as saying that we have to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in," he said, adding that he would endeavor to withdraw U.S. forces while maintaining stability in Iraq. Clinton has not been consistent, he said.
Noting that he opposed the war in 2002 and each year since, Obama said, "I've been clear, unlike Sen. Clinton, who voted for war and has never taken responsibility for it."
Re: Barack 2008!
________________________________________
From: David Plouffe [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 19 March 2008 7:21 AM
To: Doris.*******
Subject: Obama in his own words
Doris --
Barack Obama just finished a major speech on race in America and building a more perfect union.
You should see it and read it for yourself.
Here's the video and full text:
http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords
Please forward this message to everyone you know.
Thank you,
David
Paid for by Obama for America
This email was sent to: doris.*******@bigpond.com
________________________________________
From: David Plouffe [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 19 March 2008 7:21 AM
To: Doris.*******
Subject: Obama in his own words
Doris --
Barack Obama just finished a major speech on race in America and building a more perfect union.
You should see it and read it for yourself.
Here's the video and full text:
http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords
Please forward this message to everyone you know.
Thank you,
David
Paid for by Obama for America
This email was sent to: doris.*******@bigpond.com
Re: Barack 2008!
Obama chooses reconciliation over rancor
Experts say 'nonpartisan' speech on race is almost without precedent
NEWS ANALYSIS
By Janny Scott The New York Times
updated 4:56 a.m. ET March 19, 2008
It was an extraordinary moment — the first black candidate with a good chance at becoming a presidential nominee, in a country in which racial distrust runs deep and often unspoken, embarking at a critical juncture in his campaign upon what may be the most significant public discussion of race in decades.
In a speech whose frankness about race many historians said could be likened only to speeches by Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, Senator Barack Obama, speaking across the street from where the Constitution was written, traced the country’s race problem back to not simply the country’s "original sin of slavery" but the protections for it embedded in the Constitution.
Yet the speech was also hopeful, patriotic, quintessentially American — delivered against a blue backdrop and a phalanx of stars and stripes. Obama invoked the fundamental values of equality of opportunity, fairness, social justice. He confronted race head-on, then reached beyond it to talk sympathetically about the experiences of the white working class and the plight of workers stripped of jobs and pensions.
"As far as I know, he’s the first politician since the Civil War to recognize how deeply embedded slavery and race have been in our Constitution," said Paul Finkelman, a professor at Albany Law School who has written extensively about slavery, race and the Constitution. "That's a profoundly important thing to say. But what's important about the way he said it is he doesn't use this as a springboard for anger or for frustration. He doesn't say, 'O.K., slavery was bad, therefore people are owed something.' This is not a reparations speech. This is a speech about saying it's time for the nation to do better, to form a more perfect union."
He faced a choice: Having already denounced Wright's ferocious charges about white America, he could try to distance himself from the man who drew him to Christianity, married him and baptized his two children. Or he could try to explain what appeared to many to be the contradiction between Wright's world view and the one Obama had professed as his own.
To some extent, he did both.
In a setting that bespoke the presidential, he began with the personal: He invoked his own biography as the son of a black Kenyan man and a white American woman, grandson of a World War II veteran and a bomber assembly line worker, husband of a black American who carries "the blood of slaves and slave owners." Seared into his genetic makeup, he said, is "the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts — that out of many, we are truly one."
"Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now," Obama said. He said the controversies over the past couple of weeks "reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through — a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American."
Julian Bond, the longtime civil rights activist, said the speech moved him to tears. Orlando Patterson, a professor of sociology at Harvard, said he believed the speech would "go down as one of the great, magnificent and moving speeches in the American political tradition."
"I hear so many people saying we want a national conversation on race but it’s never quite worked," he said. "He was able to do this in one speech. But he was able to do it in a nonpartisan way in that he saw both sides."
Obama chooses reconciliation over rancor
Experts say 'nonpartisan' speech on race is almost without precedent
NEWS ANALYSIS
By Janny Scott The New York Times
updated 4:56 a.m. ET March 19, 2008
It was an extraordinary moment — the first black candidate with a good chance at becoming a presidential nominee, in a country in which racial distrust runs deep and often unspoken, embarking at a critical juncture in his campaign upon what may be the most significant public discussion of race in decades.
In a speech whose frankness about race many historians said could be likened only to speeches by Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, Senator Barack Obama, speaking across the street from where the Constitution was written, traced the country’s race problem back to not simply the country’s "original sin of slavery" but the protections for it embedded in the Constitution.
Yet the speech was also hopeful, patriotic, quintessentially American — delivered against a blue backdrop and a phalanx of stars and stripes. Obama invoked the fundamental values of equality of opportunity, fairness, social justice. He confronted race head-on, then reached beyond it to talk sympathetically about the experiences of the white working class and the plight of workers stripped of jobs and pensions.
"As far as I know, he’s the first politician since the Civil War to recognize how deeply embedded slavery and race have been in our Constitution," said Paul Finkelman, a professor at Albany Law School who has written extensively about slavery, race and the Constitution. "That's a profoundly important thing to say. But what's important about the way he said it is he doesn't use this as a springboard for anger or for frustration. He doesn't say, 'O.K., slavery was bad, therefore people are owed something.' This is not a reparations speech. This is a speech about saying it's time for the nation to do better, to form a more perfect union."
He faced a choice: Having already denounced Wright's ferocious charges about white America, he could try to distance himself from the man who drew him to Christianity, married him and baptized his two children. Or he could try to explain what appeared to many to be the contradiction between Wright's world view and the one Obama had professed as his own.
To some extent, he did both.
In a setting that bespoke the presidential, he began with the personal: He invoked his own biography as the son of a black Kenyan man and a white American woman, grandson of a World War II veteran and a bomber assembly line worker, husband of a black American who carries "the blood of slaves and slave owners." Seared into his genetic makeup, he said, is "the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts — that out of many, we are truly one."
"Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now," Obama said. He said the controversies over the past couple of weeks "reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through — a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American."
Julian Bond, the longtime civil rights activist, said the speech moved him to tears. Orlando Patterson, a professor of sociology at Harvard, said he believed the speech would "go down as one of the great, magnificent and moving speeches in the American political tradition."
"I hear so many people saying we want a national conversation on race but it’s never quite worked," he said. "He was able to do this in one speech. But he was able to do it in a nonpartisan way in that he saw both sides."
- Joined
- 28 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,985
- Reactions
- 2
Re: Barack 2008!
Wow!
Doris, you saying we have an American Statesman here ? - been a while
Wow!
Doris, you saying we have an American Statesman here ? - been a while
Re: Barack 2008!
Someone should tell the US that WWII began in 1939 not when they became embroiled!
"The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq." ... Great imagery!
A debate between McCain and Obama would be a sellout. Will we see one?
"Invest in a clean energy future to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil"... (including Iraq's... double reason to bring the troops home! )
________________________________________
From: Barack Obama [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2008 9:22 AM
To: Doris *******
Subject: Five years later
Dear Doris,
Five years ago today, President George W. Bush launched a war that should never have been authorized based on faulty premises and bad intelligence.
This war has now lasted longer than World War I, World War II, or the Civil War.
Nearly four thousand Americans have given their lives. Thousands more have been wounded. Even under the best-case scenarios, this war will cost American taxpayers well over a trillion dollars.
And where are we for all of this sacrifice?
We are less safe and less able to shape events abroad. We are divided at home, and our alliances around the world have been strained. The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq.
I am running for President because it's time to turn the page on a failed ideology and a fundamentally flawed political strategy, so that we can make pragmatic judgments to keep our country safe.
That's what I did when I stood up and opposed this war from the start and said that we needed to finish the fight against al Qaeda. And that's what I'll do as President of the United States.
Senator Clinton says that she and Senator McCain have passed a "Commander-in-Chief test" -- not because of the judgments they've made, but because of the years they've spent in Washington.
She made a similar argument when she said her vote for war was based on her experience at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
But here is the stark reality: there is a security gap in this country -- a gap between the rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security, and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions.
It is time to have a debate with Senator McCain about the future of our national security. And the way to win that debate and keep America safe is to offer a clear contrast -- a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.
Nowhere is that break more badly needed than in Iraq.
The judgment that matters most on Iraq -- and on any decision to deploy military force -- is the judgment made first.
If you believe we are fighting the right war, then the problems we face are purely tactical in nature. That is what Senator McCain wants to discuss -- tactics. What he and the Administration have failed to present is an overarching strategy: how the war in Iraq enhances our long-term security, or will in the future.
That's why this Administration cannot answer the simple question posed by Senator John Warner in hearings last year: Are we safer because of this war? And that is why Senator McCain can argue -- as he did last year -- that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up, and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq because violence is down.
When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success.
Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely. Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.
When I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden -- as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.
Here are the core elements of my strategy to address our critical national security challenges in the 21st century:
• End the war in Iraq, removing our troops at a pace of 1 to 2 combat brigades per month;
• Finally finish the fight against the Taliban, root out al Qaeda and invest in the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, while making aid to the Pakistani government conditional;
• Act aggressively to stop nuclear proliferation and to secure all loose nuclear materials around the world;
• Double our foreign assistance to cut extreme poverty in half;
• Invest in a clean energy future to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and to lead the world against the threat of global climate change;
• Rebuild our military capability by increasing the number of soldiers, marines, and special forces troops, and insist on adequate training and time off between deployments;
• Renew American diplomacy by talking to our adversaries as well as our friends; increasing the size of the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps; and creating an America's Voice Corps.
We are at a defining moment in our history.
This must be the election when America comes together behind a common purpose on behalf of our security and our values.
That is what we do as Americans. It's how we founded a republic based on freedom, and faced down fascism. It's how we defended democracy through a Cold War, and shined a light of hope bright enough to be seen in the darkest corners of the world.
When America leads with principle and pragmatism, hope can triumph over fear. It is time, once again, for America to lead.
Thank you,
Barack Obama
Paid for by Obama for America
This email was sent to: doris.*******@bigpond.com
Someone should tell the US that WWII began in 1939 not when they became embroiled!
"The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq." ... Great imagery!
A debate between McCain and Obama would be a sellout. Will we see one?
"Invest in a clean energy future to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil"... (including Iraq's... double reason to bring the troops home! )
________________________________________
From: Barack Obama [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2008 9:22 AM
To: Doris *******
Subject: Five years later
Dear Doris,
Five years ago today, President George W. Bush launched a war that should never have been authorized based on faulty premises and bad intelligence.
This war has now lasted longer than World War I, World War II, or the Civil War.
Nearly four thousand Americans have given their lives. Thousands more have been wounded. Even under the best-case scenarios, this war will cost American taxpayers well over a trillion dollars.
And where are we for all of this sacrifice?
We are less safe and less able to shape events abroad. We are divided at home, and our alliances around the world have been strained. The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq.
I am running for President because it's time to turn the page on a failed ideology and a fundamentally flawed political strategy, so that we can make pragmatic judgments to keep our country safe.
That's what I did when I stood up and opposed this war from the start and said that we needed to finish the fight against al Qaeda. And that's what I'll do as President of the United States.
Senator Clinton says that she and Senator McCain have passed a "Commander-in-Chief test" -- not because of the judgments they've made, but because of the years they've spent in Washington.
She made a similar argument when she said her vote for war was based on her experience at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
But here is the stark reality: there is a security gap in this country -- a gap between the rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security, and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions.
It is time to have a debate with Senator McCain about the future of our national security. And the way to win that debate and keep America safe is to offer a clear contrast -- a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.
Nowhere is that break more badly needed than in Iraq.
The judgment that matters most on Iraq -- and on any decision to deploy military force -- is the judgment made first.
If you believe we are fighting the right war, then the problems we face are purely tactical in nature. That is what Senator McCain wants to discuss -- tactics. What he and the Administration have failed to present is an overarching strategy: how the war in Iraq enhances our long-term security, or will in the future.
That's why this Administration cannot answer the simple question posed by Senator John Warner in hearings last year: Are we safer because of this war? And that is why Senator McCain can argue -- as he did last year -- that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up, and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq because violence is down.
When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success.
Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely. Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.
When I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden -- as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.
Here are the core elements of my strategy to address our critical national security challenges in the 21st century:
• End the war in Iraq, removing our troops at a pace of 1 to 2 combat brigades per month;
• Finally finish the fight against the Taliban, root out al Qaeda and invest in the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, while making aid to the Pakistani government conditional;
• Act aggressively to stop nuclear proliferation and to secure all loose nuclear materials around the world;
• Double our foreign assistance to cut extreme poverty in half;
• Invest in a clean energy future to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and to lead the world against the threat of global climate change;
• Rebuild our military capability by increasing the number of soldiers, marines, and special forces troops, and insist on adequate training and time off between deployments;
• Renew American diplomacy by talking to our adversaries as well as our friends; increasing the size of the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps; and creating an America's Voice Corps.
We are at a defining moment in our history.
This must be the election when America comes together behind a common purpose on behalf of our security and our values.
That is what we do as Americans. It's how we founded a republic based on freedom, and faced down fascism. It's how we defended democracy through a Cold War, and shined a light of hope bright enough to be seen in the darkest corners of the world.
When America leads with principle and pragmatism, hope can triumph over fear. It is time, once again, for America to lead.
Thank you,
Barack Obama
Paid for by Obama for America
This email was sent to: doris.*******@bigpond.com
Re: Barack 2008!
Obama's lead over Clinton evaporates
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080320.OBAMA20/TPStory/TPInternational/America/
WASHINGTON -- For Barack Obama, it hasn't been this bad since it started to get better.
Battered by primary losses, criticism of his lack of experience and a controversy over incendiary and racist remarks by his pastor, the Illinois senator's national popularity is in danger of melting away.
A Reuters/Zogby national poll released yesterday showed Mr. Obama holding a paltry three-point lead over challenger Hillary Clinton, which is within the poll's margin of error. Mr. Obama enjoyed the support of 47 per cent of voters, while Ms. Clinton claimed 44 per cent.
Only a month ago, the spread was 14 points.
This marks the first serious downturn in support for Mr. Obama since he began his rise in the polls last December, after languishing far behind Ms. Clinton in popularity throughout 2007.
Ms. Clinton is not the only beneficiary of Mr. Obama's fall from grace.
In essence, the popularity of Mr. Obama and Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has inverted over the past month.
Whereas in a potential matchup between the two, Mr. Obama led Mr. McCain 47 per cent to 40 per cent, now Mr. McCain leads Mr. Obama 46-40.
By far the greatest damage, however, has come from revelations that Mr. Obama's mentor and pastor, Jeremiah Wright had, in some of his sermons, espoused incendiary sentiments, accusing the government of everything from deserving the attacks of Sept. 11 to unleashing the AIDS virus on the black community.
Mr. Obama gave a masterful response, Tuesday, in a speech on race relations in America that many commentators ranked as one of the finest political addresses in modern American history.
Yet it is unknown whether this controversy will fade or fester, for many commentators and critics remain unconvinced by Mr. Obama's apologia for Mr. Wright.
"Barack Obama has already won the Democratic nomination. It's over," declared Dick Morris, a pundit who strategized in the Clinton White House. Mr. Obama's lead in delegates cannot be overcome, he observed, and the superdelegates would not strip the leading candidate of his nomination "unless Obama is in jail."
Mr. Obama has also received good news from Florida and Michigan. Both states have been stripped of their delegates to the Democratic National Convention, for holding their primaries ahead of the deadline laid down by the Democratic National Committee.
Democratic strategists are trying to figure out how to hold re-votes. If they succeed, this would be splendid news for Ms. Clinton, who would be expected to do well in both states, increasing the plausibility of her argument to superdelegates that she is the more electable candidate.
At this point, however, there appears little hope for a do-over in Florida. Michigan Democrats have concocted plans for a new primary, to be held June 3, that they believe would be both legal and manageable.
But Mr. Obama's advisers, while not vetoing the proposal, have raised questions about possible legal challenges, prompting Ms. Clinton to fly to Detroit, yesterday, where she demanded Mr. Obama give his support to the new vote.
"Senator Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people today," Ms. Clinton told supporters at a rally.
"I am challenging him to match those words with actions to make sure that the people of Michigan and Florida have a vote in this election."
Even here, Mr. Obama must be careful. His candidacy is, after all, about bringing people into the Democratic Party.
If it becomes clear that his campaign actively colluded to prevent Michigan and Florida Democrats from casting a vote that counts, then Democrats everywhere might decide not to forgive him, eclipsing even these March stumbles.
One hour ago:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723990,00.html?imw=Y
As Obama's political career blossomed, he could have quietly left Trinity for one of those more staid black churches, but he chose to stay. In his speech, he said he disagreed with Wright strongly, and yet he didn't leave the church (or even criticize his pastor until Wright's sermons became a campaign issue). He didn't explain why he stayed, but by trying to show black and white resentment as the backdrop for Wright's comments, Obama suggested that his response to controversy isn't to walk out of the room but to try to understand what's fueling the fire. He also drew a distinction between political advice and spiritual guidance, arguing that many Americans know what it's like to disagree with something their pastor or priest or rabbi says.
By asking voters to understand the context of Wright's anger, though, Obama is counting on voters to accept nuance in an arena that almost always rewards simplicity over complexity. Politicians tend to offer deliberately banal choices: Either we move forward or we fall backward, either we let the economy falter or we help it grow, either we succumb to our enemies or we defeat them — the choice is up to you, America! Obama's formulation was different. Explicitly asking Americans to grapple with racial divisions and then transcend them — that's a bolder, riskier request.
After he delivered his speech, Obama found his wife Michelle backstage. She was weeping. He shared a quiet, emotional moment with her. Then Obama was all business again. "What's next?" he asked, as if anyone knew the answer.
Obama's lead over Clinton evaporates
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080320.OBAMA20/TPStory/TPInternational/America/
WASHINGTON -- For Barack Obama, it hasn't been this bad since it started to get better.
Battered by primary losses, criticism of his lack of experience and a controversy over incendiary and racist remarks by his pastor, the Illinois senator's national popularity is in danger of melting away.
A Reuters/Zogby national poll released yesterday showed Mr. Obama holding a paltry three-point lead over challenger Hillary Clinton, which is within the poll's margin of error. Mr. Obama enjoyed the support of 47 per cent of voters, while Ms. Clinton claimed 44 per cent.
Only a month ago, the spread was 14 points.
This marks the first serious downturn in support for Mr. Obama since he began his rise in the polls last December, after languishing far behind Ms. Clinton in popularity throughout 2007.
Ms. Clinton is not the only beneficiary of Mr. Obama's fall from grace.
In essence, the popularity of Mr. Obama and Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has inverted over the past month.
Whereas in a potential matchup between the two, Mr. Obama led Mr. McCain 47 per cent to 40 per cent, now Mr. McCain leads Mr. Obama 46-40.
By far the greatest damage, however, has come from revelations that Mr. Obama's mentor and pastor, Jeremiah Wright had, in some of his sermons, espoused incendiary sentiments, accusing the government of everything from deserving the attacks of Sept. 11 to unleashing the AIDS virus on the black community.
Mr. Obama gave a masterful response, Tuesday, in a speech on race relations in America that many commentators ranked as one of the finest political addresses in modern American history.
Yet it is unknown whether this controversy will fade or fester, for many commentators and critics remain unconvinced by Mr. Obama's apologia for Mr. Wright.
"Barack Obama has already won the Democratic nomination. It's over," declared Dick Morris, a pundit who strategized in the Clinton White House. Mr. Obama's lead in delegates cannot be overcome, he observed, and the superdelegates would not strip the leading candidate of his nomination "unless Obama is in jail."
Mr. Obama has also received good news from Florida and Michigan. Both states have been stripped of their delegates to the Democratic National Convention, for holding their primaries ahead of the deadline laid down by the Democratic National Committee.
Democratic strategists are trying to figure out how to hold re-votes. If they succeed, this would be splendid news for Ms. Clinton, who would be expected to do well in both states, increasing the plausibility of her argument to superdelegates that she is the more electable candidate.
At this point, however, there appears little hope for a do-over in Florida. Michigan Democrats have concocted plans for a new primary, to be held June 3, that they believe would be both legal and manageable.
But Mr. Obama's advisers, while not vetoing the proposal, have raised questions about possible legal challenges, prompting Ms. Clinton to fly to Detroit, yesterday, where she demanded Mr. Obama give his support to the new vote.
"Senator Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people today," Ms. Clinton told supporters at a rally.
"I am challenging him to match those words with actions to make sure that the people of Michigan and Florida have a vote in this election."
Even here, Mr. Obama must be careful. His candidacy is, after all, about bringing people into the Democratic Party.
If it becomes clear that his campaign actively colluded to prevent Michigan and Florida Democrats from casting a vote that counts, then Democrats everywhere might decide not to forgive him, eclipsing even these March stumbles.
One hour ago:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723990,00.html?imw=Y
As Obama's political career blossomed, he could have quietly left Trinity for one of those more staid black churches, but he chose to stay. In his speech, he said he disagreed with Wright strongly, and yet he didn't leave the church (or even criticize his pastor until Wright's sermons became a campaign issue). He didn't explain why he stayed, but by trying to show black and white resentment as the backdrop for Wright's comments, Obama suggested that his response to controversy isn't to walk out of the room but to try to understand what's fueling the fire. He also drew a distinction between political advice and spiritual guidance, arguing that many Americans know what it's like to disagree with something their pastor or priest or rabbi says.
By asking voters to understand the context of Wright's anger, though, Obama is counting on voters to accept nuance in an arena that almost always rewards simplicity over complexity. Politicians tend to offer deliberately banal choices: Either we move forward or we fall backward, either we let the economy falter or we help it grow, either we succumb to our enemies or we defeat them — the choice is up to you, America! Obama's formulation was different. Explicitly asking Americans to grapple with racial divisions and then transcend them — that's a bolder, riskier request.
After he delivered his speech, Obama found his wife Michelle backstage. She was weeping. He shared a quiet, emotional moment with her. Then Obama was all business again. "What's next?" he asked, as if anyone knew the answer.
- Joined
- 2 February 2006
- Posts
- 14,009
- Reactions
- 2,891
Re: Barack 2008!
Hi Doris, lots of pasted information that looks a bit like you'r trying to hide away from the Obama negatives.
I put it this way, if the news and the questions are difficult to answer then just bombard them with information, so they have to stay quiet whilst having to read it and try and understand it all.
Hi Doris, lots of pasted information that looks a bit like you'r trying to hide away from the Obama negatives.
I put it this way, if the news and the questions are difficult to answer then just bombard them with information, so they have to stay quiet whilst having to read it and try and understand it all.
Re: Barack 2008!
Yeah. Trying to put Obama's side for folk to read and draw their own conclusions as our own media coverage is meagre. Overkill hey... but each has a different slant and my highlights infer and underscore what has drawn my attention as poignant.
Obama's negatives? I'm blind. The slide in voter polls in the past week suggest his nomination is no longer a foregone conclusion. He was comprehensive as he wrote his speech on that night when his wife and daughters and the country were sleeping. I believe his attitude is, as he purports, to home in on looking for what can mend the rifts between ethnics... in the US and the world at large.
Some reports in the US are suggesting he has a hidden agenda in wanting to get to the job to propagate black supremacy. I'm naive. I negate it.
This link gives a plethora of journalists' reactions to his speech and the reality of embedded racial conflicts in the US.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003728319
Yeah. Trying to put Obama's side for folk to read and draw their own conclusions as our own media coverage is meagre. Overkill hey... but each has a different slant and my highlights infer and underscore what has drawn my attention as poignant.
Obama's negatives? I'm blind. The slide in voter polls in the past week suggest his nomination is no longer a foregone conclusion. He was comprehensive as he wrote his speech on that night when his wife and daughters and the country were sleeping. I believe his attitude is, as he purports, to home in on looking for what can mend the rifts between ethnics... in the US and the world at large.
Some reports in the US are suggesting he has a hidden agenda in wanting to get to the job to propagate black supremacy. I'm naive. I negate it.
This link gives a plethora of journalists' reactions to his speech and the reality of embedded racial conflicts in the US.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003728319
- Joined
- 2 February 2006
- Posts
- 14,009
- Reactions
- 2,891
Re: Barack 2008!
Hi Doris et al, I suppose this is a big test for Barack Obama and if he manages to move on despite the Reverend's revelations, accepting some of this is up to six years old, then he should move on and take the nomination. If he allows himself to get bogged down over it, then he wont make it to the finishing line.
John McCain is spending his time in the U.K. seeing P.M. Gordon Brown, and the opposition party. He seems to be looking very Presidential and recent polls improving over Iraq, about 50% of Americans now say President Bush is right to keep the troops in Iraq, may give him the lift his campaign needs.
Hi Doris et al, I suppose this is a big test for Barack Obama and if he manages to move on despite the Reverend's revelations, accepting some of this is up to six years old, then he should move on and take the nomination. If he allows himself to get bogged down over it, then he wont make it to the finishing line.
John McCain is spending his time in the U.K. seeing P.M. Gordon Brown, and the opposition party. He seems to be looking very Presidential and recent polls improving over Iraq, about 50% of Americans now say President Bush is right to keep the troops in Iraq, may give him the lift his campaign needs.
- Joined
- 28 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,985
- Reactions
- 2
Re: Barack 2008!
Totally disagree noi.
hey - if you don't want to read it, then don't. Personally I'm enjoying the play unfolding. Unique surely in US election campaign history.
His speech alone. That would be worth listening to for starters - given the rave reviews.
but Doris's posts include emails from the Obama people - and surely you respect the fact that Doris is
a) pretty intelligent and
b) has access to them at least when maybe you or I don't ?
PS he wrote it himself - that for a start is unique lol. Wonder how many GWB wrote himself?
Barack Obama Speech on Race (Tuesday, March 18, 2008)
Barack Obama God Bless You
millions more youtubes, including responses from the public - first impression majority are positive
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=obama+speech&search_type=
Totally disagree noi.
hey - if you don't want to read it, then don't. Personally I'm enjoying the play unfolding. Unique surely in US election campaign history.
His speech alone. That would be worth listening to for starters - given the rave reviews.
but Doris's posts include emails from the Obama people - and surely you respect the fact that Doris is
a) pretty intelligent and
b) has access to them at least when maybe you or I don't ?
PS he wrote it himself - that for a start is unique lol. Wonder how many GWB wrote himself?
Barack Obama Speech on Race (Tuesday, March 18, 2008)
Barack Obama God Bless You
millions more youtubes, including responses from the public - first impression majority are positive
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=obama+speech&search_type=
- Joined
- 28 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,985
- Reactions
- 2
Re: Barack 2008!
hell , he wrote that speech the night before
and he hardly looks at his notes
skills no doubt perfected defending the underprivileged in his lawyer days – when he could have been making absolutely top dollar with his qualifications
PS I note some comparing his speech with King's "I have a dream" speech - at least for its relevance, its oratory and its statesmanship, - if not for the detail of its content.
This one worth a listen too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzHm_kVTzPg&NR=1 Barack Obama Historic Speech On Race
hell , he wrote that speech the night before
and he hardly looks at his notes
skills no doubt perfected defending the underprivileged in his lawyer days – when he could have been making absolutely top dollar with his qualifications
PS I note some comparing his speech with King's "I have a dream" speech - at least for its relevance, its oratory and its statesmanship, - if not for the detail of its content.
This one worth a listen too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzHm_kVTzPg&NR=1 Barack Obama Historic Speech On Race
- Joined
- 2 February 2006
- Posts
- 14,009
- Reactions
- 2,891
Re: Barack 2008!
Thanks for the video as it gave me a chance to hear the speech again. I think he neutralised the white voter affect but I wonder if it may have cost him some black votes. Will be interesting to see.
Hi 2020, Yes indeed, Barack Obama is an excellent speaker helped like President Clinton with a near photographic memory. They are all very clever people indeed and all three, including John McCain, would make an excellent President. Who is, however, more excellent than the other two?hell , he wrote that speech the night before
and he hardly looks at his notes
skills no doubt perfected defending the underprivileged in his lawyer days – when he could have been making absolutely top dollar with his qualifications
PS I note some comparing his speech with King's "I have a dream" speech - at least for its relevance, its oratory and its statesmanship, - if not for the detail of its content.
This one worth a listen too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzHm_kVTzPg&NR=1 Barack Obama Historic Speech On Race
Thanks for the video as it gave me a chance to hear the speech again. I think he neutralised the white voter affect but I wonder if it may have cost him some black votes. Will be interesting to see.
Re: Barack 2008!
These are the latest poll results but the last (CBS) was two days ago US time so the next poll could say anything!
Definitely a problem for the PA caucus on April 22 atm.
I would trust the waters are roiled and muddied but voters will anchor when they become calm and clear and their gut instincts bubble up.
These polls have a 3% inaccuracy.
I presume the 'other' are the undecided.
(Apologies for the poor table format... I don't know how to transfer the original)
Democratic Candidate CNN CBS Zogby
Pollster ...CNN ... CBS ... Zogby
Date ... 3/14-16 ~ 3/15-18 ~ 3/13-14
Obama ... 52% ... 46% ... 47%
Clinton ...45% ... 43% ... 44%
Other(vol.) 3% ... 11% .... 9%
Democratic Candidate PA PA PA NC
Pollster ...Franklin ...Qpac ...PPP ...PPP
Date .. 3/11-16 ~ 3/10-16 ~ 3/15-16 ~ 3/17
Clinton ... 51% ... 53% .. .. 56% .. . 43%
Obama ... 35% ... 41% .. .. 30% .. . 44%
Other(vol.) 14% ... 7% .. .. 14% .. . 13%
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/
These are the latest poll results but the last (CBS) was two days ago US time so the next poll could say anything!
Definitely a problem for the PA caucus on April 22 atm.
I would trust the waters are roiled and muddied but voters will anchor when they become calm and clear and their gut instincts bubble up.
These polls have a 3% inaccuracy.
I presume the 'other' are the undecided.
(Apologies for the poor table format... I don't know how to transfer the original)
Democratic Candidate CNN CBS Zogby
Pollster ...CNN ... CBS ... Zogby
Date ... 3/14-16 ~ 3/15-18 ~ 3/13-14
Obama ... 52% ... 46% ... 47%
Clinton ...45% ... 43% ... 44%
Other(vol.) 3% ... 11% .... 9%
Democratic Candidate PA PA PA NC
Pollster ...Franklin ...Qpac ...PPP ...PPP
Date .. 3/11-16 ~ 3/10-16 ~ 3/15-16 ~ 3/17
Clinton ... 51% ... 53% .. .. 56% .. . 43%
Obama ... 35% ... 41% .. .. 30% .. . 44%
Other(vol.) 14% ... 7% .. .. 14% .. . 13%
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/
- Joined
- 28 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,985
- Reactions
- 2
Re: Barack 2008!
Doris - look forward to the post-speech poll 3/19?
PS here's the full speech :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uJztFbOk8 Barack Obama Speech on Race - Part 1 of 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxZACaelHr4&feature=related Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EPJeTaaio&feature=related Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGyELYLfuRI&feature=related Part4
Doris - look forward to the post-speech poll
3/19?PS here's the full speech :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uJztFbOk8 Barack Obama Speech on Race - Part 1 of 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxZACaelHr4&feature=related Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EPJeTaaio&feature=related Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGyELYLfuRI&feature=related Part4
Re: Barack 2008!
Yes... a lot of caucasians would have identified their own reflection with Obama's message either first hand or as offspring:
He seemed to be inviting whites to free themselves from personal guilt over history's promulgation of racial inequity... "...as if our society was static."
"What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow".
I am a firm believer in his purported philosophy that it is not the people but the system. Change the system if it isn't working!
Barack assured African-Americans they did NOT have to be victims of the past. (Not this time)
Indeed, he was challenging them not to be!
And IMO he was challenging ALL people not to be... whether white, black or brown.
"They must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny".
Has anyone heard of Hillary's reactions to 'The Speech'?
Yes... a lot of caucasians would have identified their own reflection with Obama's message either first hand or as offspring:
He seemed to be inviting whites to free themselves from personal guilt over history's promulgation of racial inequity... "...as if our society was static."
"What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow".
I am a firm believer in his purported philosophy that it is not the people but the system. Change the system if it isn't working!
Barack assured African-Americans they did NOT have to be victims of the past. (Not this time)
Indeed, he was challenging them not to be!
And IMO he was challenging ALL people not to be... whether white, black or brown.
"They must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny".
Has anyone heard of Hillary's reactions to 'The Speech'?
- Joined
- 28 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,985
- Reactions
- 2
Re: Barack 2008!
Betting on two websites shows very little change (or no change) in the last 11 days :-
http://www.betusa.com/odds/next_us_president_betting_754.html
10 Mar :-
Barack Obama 2-3
John McCain 7-5
Hillary Clinton 4-1
today 21 Mar (no change):-
Barack Obama 2-3
John McCain 7-5
Hillary Clinton 4-1
The other website :-
http://www.online-betting-guide.co.uk/us-president.htm
10 Mar (see post #377 if interested) :-
Barack Obama 10-10 (= evens)
John McCain 42-24 (= 7-4)
Hillary Clinton 18-4 (= 9-2)
today 21 Mar :-
Barack Obama 11-10
John McCain 44-27
Hillary Clinton 19-5
Looks like he's still the one to beat
Betting on two websites shows very little change (or no change) in the last 11 days :-
http://www.betusa.com/odds/next_us_president_betting_754.html
10 Mar :-
Barack Obama 2-3
John McCain 7-5
Hillary Clinton 4-1
today 21 Mar (no change):-
Barack Obama 2-3
John McCain 7-5
Hillary Clinton 4-1
The other website :-
http://www.online-betting-guide.co.uk/us-president.htm
10 Mar (see post #377 if interested) :-
Barack Obama 10-10 (= evens)
John McCain 42-24 (= 7-4)
Hillary Clinton 18-4 (= 9-2)
today 21 Mar :-
Barack Obama 11-10
John McCain 44-27
Hillary Clinton 19-5
Looks like he's still the one to beat
- Joined
- 28 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,985
- Reactions
- 2
Re: Barack 2008!
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/hillary_im_glad_obama_gave_tha.php
Hillary: "I'm Glad Obama Gave That Speech"
By Greg Sargent - March 18, 2008, 1:48PM
Perhaps she'll try to match his speech - maybe titled ..
"Issues of gender in America have been complicated our history"
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/hillary_im_glad_obama_gave_tha.php
Hillary: "I'm Glad Obama Gave That Speech"
By Greg Sargent - March 18, 2008, 1:48PM
Perhaps she'll try to match his speech - maybe titled ..
"Issues of gender in America have been complicated our history"
Re: Barack 2008!
2020, my #403 post from Obama's campaign manager gave the video link to the full speech.
... below the screen is the script "As Prepared for Delivery"... so you can read it as you listen... and see his impromptu changes:
http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords
Your postings do make more digestible morsels of the 37 minute speech.
His speech is sans the political campaigning intonations.
1 hour ago:
The speech Senator Barack Obama delivered Tuesday morning has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube and is being widely e-mailed. While commentators and politicians debated its political success Wednesday, some around the country were responding to Mr. Obama’s call for a national conversation about race.
Religious groups and academic bodies, already receptive to Mr. Obama’s plea for such a dialogue, seemed especially enthusiastic. Universities were moving to incorporate the issues Mr. Obama raised into classroom discussions and course work, and churches were trying to find ways to do the same in sermons and Bible studies.
The Rev. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of a mostly white evangelical church of about 12,000 in Central Florida, described Mr. Obama’s speech, in which the Democratic presidential candidate discussed his relationship with the former pastor of his home church in Chicago, as a kind of “Rorschach inkblot test” for the nation.
“It calls out of you what is already in you,” Dr. Hunter said, predicting that those desiring to address the topic would regard the speech as a spur, while those indifferent to issues of race might pay it little heed.
Dr. Hunter said the Obama speech led to a series of conversations Wednesday morning with his staff members. “We want for there to be healing and reconciliation, but unless it’s raised in a very public manner, it’s tough for us in our regular conversation to raise it,” he said.
The Obama speech was also a topic of discussion on Wednesday at the Washington office of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy and social welfare group. Hispanics can be white, black or of mixed race. “The cynics are going to say this was an effort only to deal with the Reverend Wright issue and move on,” said Janet Murguia, president of La Raza, referring to the political fallout over remarks by Mr. Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., which prompted Mr. Obama to deliver the speech.
But Ms. Murguia said she hoped that Mr. Obama’s speech would help “create a safe space to talk about this, where people aren’t threatened or pigeonholed” and “can talk more openly and honestly about the tensions, both overt and as an undercurrent, that exist around race and racial politics.”
On the Internet and in many areas of the traditional news media, such a discussion was already taking shape. Some four million people watched Mr. Obama’s speech live, and it is now the top YouTube video.
On the ABC talk show “The View” on Wednesday morning, the co-hosts discussed the substance of Mr. Obama’s speech and its impact on the presidential campaign. “Finally we can talk about” race “without being afraid we are offending” others, one co-host, Barbara Walters, said, while Whoopi Goldberg said she “felt he was talking about stuff that we tiptoe around.”
“This has got to be more than a speech because these things don’t just happen spontaneously,” said Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the Jewish magazine Tikkun and a founder of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.
“There needs to be some systematic, organizational commitment to making this happen, with churches, synagogues and mosques working out a plan for continued dialogue,” Rabbi Lerner said.
For some, the timing of Mr. Obama’s speech was awkward. Spring break at many universities foreclosed the possibility of immediate discussions in classes and informal settings, and many churches are locked in to traditional Easter services.
Around the country, ministers of the United Church of Christ, which is Mr. Obama’s denomination, are recommending in Holy Week newsletters that their congregants read or view Mr. Obama’s speech.
One message, sent from the Union Congregational Church in Montclair, N.J., said, “No matter what your party affiliation or your political persuasion, the conversations about race that have been elicited by the campaign are important.”
Tufts University is on break this week, but Jennifer Bailey, a student there and the president of a group called Emerging Black Leaders, said that when she returned to classes next week, she hoped to encourage a frank discussion about race that would involve all of the many racial and ethnic groups and ideological tendencies on her campus.
Mr. Obama’s speech “called everybody out, and that is absolutely healthy and necessary,” Ms. Bailey said.
St. Edward’s University in Austin, Tex., is in session this week, and at Zak Fisher’s speech class Wednesday, Mr. Obama’s speech was discussed and analyzed, both for its content and as an example of persuasive and eloquent public discourse.
“We thought it was unprecedented,” said Mr. Fisher, a philosophy major. “We had never heard a politician be so open to the issue of race.
“It’s always very important to question your own beliefs and always re-evaluate where you may stand on issues, based on new evidence."
He added: “I think that was the point of his speech.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/u...em&ex=1206244800&en=f8b1c84bc0471d27&ei=5087
Doris - look forward to the post-speech poll
PS here's the full speech :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uJztFbOk8 Barack Obama Speech on Race - Part 1 of 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxZACaelHr4&feature=related Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EPJeTaaio&feature=related Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGyELYLfuRI&feature=related Part4
2020, my #403 post from Obama's campaign manager gave the video link to the full speech.
... below the screen is the script "As Prepared for Delivery"... so you can read it as you listen... and see his impromptu changes:
http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords
Your postings do make more digestible morsels of the 37 minute speech.
His speech is sans the political campaigning intonations.
1 hour ago:
The speech Senator Barack Obama delivered Tuesday morning has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube and is being widely e-mailed. While commentators and politicians debated its political success Wednesday, some around the country were responding to Mr. Obama’s call for a national conversation about race.
Religious groups and academic bodies, already receptive to Mr. Obama’s plea for such a dialogue, seemed especially enthusiastic. Universities were moving to incorporate the issues Mr. Obama raised into classroom discussions and course work, and churches were trying to find ways to do the same in sermons and Bible studies.
The Rev. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of a mostly white evangelical church of about 12,000 in Central Florida, described Mr. Obama’s speech, in which the Democratic presidential candidate discussed his relationship with the former pastor of his home church in Chicago, as a kind of “Rorschach inkblot test” for the nation.
“It calls out of you what is already in you,” Dr. Hunter said, predicting that those desiring to address the topic would regard the speech as a spur, while those indifferent to issues of race might pay it little heed.
Dr. Hunter said the Obama speech led to a series of conversations Wednesday morning with his staff members. “We want for there to be healing and reconciliation, but unless it’s raised in a very public manner, it’s tough for us in our regular conversation to raise it,” he said.
The Obama speech was also a topic of discussion on Wednesday at the Washington office of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy and social welfare group. Hispanics can be white, black or of mixed race. “The cynics are going to say this was an effort only to deal with the Reverend Wright issue and move on,” said Janet Murguia, president of La Raza, referring to the political fallout over remarks by Mr. Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., which prompted Mr. Obama to deliver the speech.
But Ms. Murguia said she hoped that Mr. Obama’s speech would help “create a safe space to talk about this, where people aren’t threatened or pigeonholed” and “can talk more openly and honestly about the tensions, both overt and as an undercurrent, that exist around race and racial politics.”
On the Internet and in many areas of the traditional news media, such a discussion was already taking shape. Some four million people watched Mr. Obama’s speech live, and it is now the top YouTube video.
On the ABC talk show “The View” on Wednesday morning, the co-hosts discussed the substance of Mr. Obama’s speech and its impact on the presidential campaign. “Finally we can talk about” race “without being afraid we are offending” others, one co-host, Barbara Walters, said, while Whoopi Goldberg said she “felt he was talking about stuff that we tiptoe around.”
“This has got to be more than a speech because these things don’t just happen spontaneously,” said Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the Jewish magazine Tikkun and a founder of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.
“There needs to be some systematic, organizational commitment to making this happen, with churches, synagogues and mosques working out a plan for continued dialogue,” Rabbi Lerner said.
For some, the timing of Mr. Obama’s speech was awkward. Spring break at many universities foreclosed the possibility of immediate discussions in classes and informal settings, and many churches are locked in to traditional Easter services.
Around the country, ministers of the United Church of Christ, which is Mr. Obama’s denomination, are recommending in Holy Week newsletters that their congregants read or view Mr. Obama’s speech.
One message, sent from the Union Congregational Church in Montclair, N.J., said, “No matter what your party affiliation or your political persuasion, the conversations about race that have been elicited by the campaign are important.”
Tufts University is on break this week, but Jennifer Bailey, a student there and the president of a group called Emerging Black Leaders, said that when she returned to classes next week, she hoped to encourage a frank discussion about race that would involve all of the many racial and ethnic groups and ideological tendencies on her campus.
Mr. Obama’s speech “called everybody out, and that is absolutely healthy and necessary,” Ms. Bailey said.
St. Edward’s University in Austin, Tex., is in session this week, and at Zak Fisher’s speech class Wednesday, Mr. Obama’s speech was discussed and analyzed, both for its content and as an example of persuasive and eloquent public discourse.
“We thought it was unprecedented,” said Mr. Fisher, a philosophy major. “We had never heard a politician be so open to the issue of race.
“It’s always very important to question your own beliefs and always re-evaluate where you may stand on issues, based on new evidence."
He added: “I think that was the point of his speech.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/u...em&ex=1206244800&en=f8b1c84bc0471d27&ei=5087
Re: Barack 2008!
I must be tired from end of term marking and reporting!
2020 this video of yours made my eyes well up!
What an incredible guy! How positive and refreshing to hear such passion on any subject but this one in particular!
Ditto for you.
I wonder how Barack is taking the fall-out. I'd bet he feels the relief and satisfaction of finishing a marathon run!
He 'didn't leave the room but sought the cause of the fire' and actually inflamed it to light up the dark.
Instead of taking advice from his mentors to ignore it and wait for the furore to subside, he sat down and wrote and wrote.
I've watched his speech several times and though I kept watching to see where the auto cue was, it was if there weren't one!
I love Letterman's 'Great Presidential Speeches' segment. GWB is not a statesman. Der...
What you do today becomes the past which will back you or break you tomorrow.
His ritual of writing at night, (whilst his wife and the girls slept; he needs little sleep) pouring out thoughts into his last book, was a second natured response to the catastrophe he was immersed in. He was not going to drown!
Kind of like someone threw a lemon at him so he made lemonade! What a role model for young people! Indeed for us all!
I must be tired from end of term marking and reporting!
2020 this video of yours made my eyes well up!
What an incredible guy! How positive and refreshing to hear such passion on any subject but this one in particular!
Ditto for you.
I wonder how Barack is taking the fall-out. I'd bet he feels the relief and satisfaction of finishing a marathon run!
He 'didn't leave the room but sought the cause of the fire' and actually inflamed it to light up the dark.
Instead of taking advice from his mentors to ignore it and wait for the furore to subside, he sat down and wrote and wrote.
I've watched his speech several times and though I kept watching to see where the auto cue was, it was if there weren't one!
I love Letterman's 'Great Presidential Speeches' segment. GWB is not a statesman. Der...
What you do today becomes the past which will back you or break you tomorrow.
His ritual of writing at night, (whilst his wife and the girls slept; he needs little sleep) pouring out thoughts into his last book, was a second natured response to the catastrophe he was immersed in. He was not going to drown!
Kind of like someone threw a lemon at him so he made lemonade! What a role model for young people! Indeed for us all!
