Barack Obama Livejournal Community

Another celebrity fan

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:00:02 GMT

My favorite group (hell, my favorite ANYTHING) is Duran Duran. Their bassist, John Taylor, just released this birthday message and he talks quite a bit about Obama: http://www.duranduran.com/wordpress/?p=14045 He's also been wearing an Obama shirt on tour.

Howdy from DC

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:41:47 GMT

Hi Folks,
I just found this community, but wondered why so little activity here. Is there another more active LJ community for Obama, or is it really just that everyone's on Facebook these days? :P

Anyway, I wanted to say hi, and also post some videos I shot at Saturday's DNC RBC meeting, showing the utter rudeness of Clinton supporters inside the meeting. I'll put them behind a cut.

Clinton supporters acting rudely:

Clinton guy Harold Ickes, not even bothering to pay attention:

Obama t-shirts in bulk and singles!

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:29:24 GMT

I was thinking about ways to do some creative fund raising/promotion and drew a design for an Obama '08 t-shirt. I hope these shirts can inspire and promote Obama's image.

http://www.salteeshirts.com

What a great idea!

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:51:34 GMT

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/04/ultraminimalist-poli.html

I'm making some of these signs as we speak... :)

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:17:34 GMT

Got this from insomnia on obama_2008

The Obama campaign has gotten their hands on a very ugly, damaging memo put out by the Clinton campaign to its precinct heads in Nevada. Everyone who I know who has seen the memo so far has been absolutely disgusted by the actions of their campaign, but lots of people in the media have yet to pick up on the specific wording of the memo, which is the most damning of all.

Only about 50 sites on the internet have mentioned the specifics so far, but there are hundreds of us in this community. If we each mention it on five other places on the internet, it will rapidly become a very significant, very damaging story for the Clinton campaign, and for the campaign staff that approved the memo.

Please take a bit of time and pass the following information around to everyone you know, post it to your blog, write letters to newspapers about it, leave it as a comment on larger blogs, and basically get it out there. It shows pretty graphically that the Clinton campaign is willing to not only lie and distort in order to win, but they're also willing to encourage and empower their volunteers to break the law.

It's completely indefensible behavior, and its written on black and white, straight from the Clinton campaign.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Obama campaign has gotten their hands on advice sent from the Clinton campaign to all of their precinct heads in Nevada... and it's pretty ugly.

Amongst the various pieces of advice the Clinton campaign sent to their precinct heads were:

"It's not illegal unless they tell you so" and "Don't be afraid to go negative on other candidates."

So, basically, they encouraged their workers to commit illegal behavior... and apparently, they did.

Some of the numerous complaints made included the following:

- Numerous reports were made that Obama supporters were told that they had to wait until after 11:30 am to enter the caucus site, only to have the doors locked on them before they entered, 30 minutes before the doors should've been closed. In some cases, police had to be called in to cut locks Clinton volunteers put on the doors.

- Clinton supporters checking IDs and turning voters away after telling them that their IDs weren't valid.

- Taking all of the caucus voter cards, leaving the Obama and Edwards camps with none. When asked for to return the voter cards, Clinton campaign workers had pre-voted on the cards, marking them all for Clinton.

- Voters were told by Clinton volunteers that they could not register to vote, because the sign-in sheets were only for Clinton voters.

- Taking all the ballots, and notifying Obama voters that no ballots were left, giving them small slips of paper in lieu of ballots.

- Collecting ballots from Obama voters prior to caucusing, only to stash them away privately, presumably to be disposed of.

Apparently, the truth of how the Clintons have been running their campaign is finally coming out, and fellow Democrats are beginning to not mince their words.

See/Hear Barack this Friday in San Francisco for $25

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 05:27:37 GMT

(Please pardon cross-posting. I'm going for maximum distribution! Please inform anyone you might know in the Bay Area. Do YOU have Barack's back?)

Barack Obama will be in the Bay Area for a Women for Obama event this Friday, September 7th.

Due to an overwhelming response, Women for Obama has joined with Generation Obama to increase the number of available seats and lower the ticket price.

Purchase tickets now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/gosf

These events are a great opportunity to meet Barack in person and hear about the movement for change he is leading in this country.

Here are the details:

Generation Obama and Women for Obama
Friday, September 7th
Doors open 12:00 p.m.
Luncheon begins 12:30 p.m.

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
99 Grove St, San Francisco, CA
Tickets: $25

Purchase your tickets online and join us on Friday:

https://donate.barackobama.com/gosf

Thanks,

Obama for America

P.S. -- For more information, please contact Chris Young at cyoung@barackobama.com.

Paid for by Obama for America

An active Obama community

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 22:31:08 GMT

[Unknown LJ tag]

This community is getting no activity and perhaps some of you even forgot that Obama still has a strong grassroots base. If you're still interested in helping out the campaign, or even just following what the Senator is doing and saying than add obama_2008to your freinds list. It's updated at least once a day with the latest news about Barack and sometimes, when we're feeling up for it we talk about what we're doing for the grassroots effort.

Get out and volunteer!!

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:36:36 GMT

Thought everyone would enjoy who was mentioned in Brenda Starr today:

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:05:09 GMT

With a keyboard on loan from God, I am the Independent Blogger of the Office of the Independent Blogger. Allow me to introduce you to my site if you haven't heard of it before. I do hope you visit and stay -- add it to a Feed, bookmark it.

My latest post is a satire of Mitt Romney, who is more Elmer Fudd than John Wayne, more Michael Dukakis than George H.W. Bush. It's a look at his -- and his state's -- Looney Toon Politics.

Earlier today, I wrote about Disney recognizing gay relationships, which is good news, and Florida law forbidding people from feeding homeless people, which makes even a sane man wish himself Libertarian!

A couple of days ago I looked at Newt Gingrich's comments about bilingual education and the whole ugly matter of textbooks being censored or neglecting portions of history.

For those of you interested in Congressional politics, I looked at portions of the Democratic agenda and outline the potential pitfalls and my own opinions on these ideas. A small excerpt, in response to Price's warning of the price Democrats might pay for going too far with certain things: "I’ll buy that. If the Democrats, say, pass a bill legalizing gay marriage and pledge to give money to terrorists, they’d be homosexual Ronald Reagans — and out of work come 2008." And then I took a serious look at their agenda. The Democratic Agenda.

Here I chide Bush's chief policy strategist in 2004 for now saying Bush is wrong. (Of course he's wrong -- my argument is that Dowd is not someone to appreciate in any sense of the term because his whole behavior suggests he's an idiot.)

Here, at OkayStupid, I Got It! we've got a look at Online Politics and the recent announcement that Barack Obama raised more money than Hillary did...on the Internet, and the dishonest, ridiculous manner the whole situation was covered in by the media and on the Internets. (And here we've got a deep apology to Barack Obama's intern...who I told that I was a Republican because I can't possibly donate to his campaign on principal or prudence.)</a> (And here, on a final note on the matter, we've got a better look at the media's coverage of Obama/Clinton and a casual look at billionaires v. government when it comes to newspapers.)

A short post here, pithy, that would be longer in summary than whole!

Small post here, too, about Thompson's Presidential announcement. An excerpt:

I didn’t know that the Department of Health and Human Services was a launchpad for Presidential ambitions, but I suppose it is now with Tommy Thompson’s announcement that he’s running for President. I, for one, am not sure what to make of it. He’s angling himself as a reliable Conservative but that’s what Senator Brownback is in the race for. Perhaps he’ll catch fire if Brownback’s big mouth catches up to him, but otherwise I don’t think he’s got much of a chance to make waves.

Of course, there are hundreds of posts beyond that, and I update daily. I'd like to think I have a good idea what I'm talking about and an excellent sense of humor, but I'll leave that up to you, and I hope you agree to stay at the Office of the Independent Blogger, open daily for business!

Obama Fundraiser.

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 05:53:38 GMT

Here's how it usually works. As we approach March 31st, when campaigns have to file their quarterly fundraising reports, the press and pundits start to obsess over the chase for money.

They value dollars more than people, and bottom lines more than ideas.

Now, don't get me wrong. Like every campaign, this one needs the resources to compete.

But while others may set goals based on raising tens of millions of dollars, we're going to reveal two numbers that say more about what kind of campaign we're running:

- the number of people donating to the cause
- the number of donations we've received from them
And we're not going to talk about the dollars raised until the reporting period is over.

It's simple: get more people involved, more deeply than ever before. Those are our goals for the end of the quarter, and for the rest of this campaign. Whether you've given before or this will be your first time, you can make a statement that people count.

I'm asking you to stand up and be counted -- will you make a donation now?

So why these two figures?

The number of people giving shows the wide breadth of support for a campaign that seeks a new kind of politics.

The number of donations reveals the depth of people's commitment, because so many people give small amounts again and again.

If we really hope to meet the challenges of our time, we have to change what our politics is about, and that means changing what campaigns are about -- not just dollar amounts and million-dollar goals, but millions of people working for a cause bigger than themselves.

That's why we're not accepting contributions from Washington lobbyists or political action committees.

There's serious work ahead for our next president, and the process of choosing him or her (emphasis mine, because I love this new necessity, even if I don't love the "her" to whom he refers) should not descend into an insider game of who can better manipulate the "conventional wisdom" in Washington.

We have an opportunity to use this fundraising deadline to turn the story of money and politics on its head. The process of choosing our next president should focus on mobilizing and energizing the people.

As we approach this fundraising deadline on March 31st, you have an opportunity to send a message by participating in a different kind of fundraising drive:

In a democracy, it's the people that count.

Thank you,
Barack Obama

[SOURCE: email]

Obama Sues Pedophile Over Photos.

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 11:37:54 GMT

It's enough to make any father lash out in anger. A self-professed pedophile posts photos of your young daughters on his Web site, where he describes them as an "angelic duo."

It happened to Senator Barack Obama whose presidential campaign threatened legal action against Lindsay Ashford, a self-professed pedophile who handicapped the 2008 campaign by judging the "cuteness" of several presidential candidates' underage daughters and granddaughters. Attorneys who specialize in free speech say the campaign's handling of the issues raises some questions about the candidate's stance on civil rights.

"Individuals can make comments about the candidates and the candidates' children without running afoul of the law until someone crosses the line into actual or criminal activity," said Lawrence G. Walters, a lawyer who has handled many cases involving pornography and the Internet. "For better or worse, pedophiles retain their free speech rights. If he's a professed pedophile and if he says, 'Let's try to find these kids,' then it could be in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy, then he may be liable."

No matter how distasteful the content of the website, Walters and Jonathan Katz, another First Amendment lawyer, were surprised that the Obama campaign had threatened legal action in this case.

"If Obama knows that his lawyer is doing this, then that's one reason not to vote for him," Katz said. "These are clear free speech issues."

On Feb. 26, Obama's counsel, Robert Bauer, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Ashford, asserting that the use of the photos "is not simply defamatory, but is a criminal act," and that the Illinois senator reserved the right to "pursue civil remedies and criminal referral."

Bauer also demanded that the photos and any references to Obama and his family, including a link to the candidate's site, be removed immediately.

Ashford responded by taking down the photos and sending a letter to Bauer, asserting his First Amendment rights and vowing that he had no intention of removing references to Obama and his family from the site.

Bauer did not return calls for comment. A spokesman for the Obama campaign declined to comment, explaining that the letter speaks for itself.

The article was posted in April on Ashford's Web site, where he wrote: "I have decided to make my predictions based upon what lovely First Daughter we can look forward to watching grow up for four to eight years."

The piece includes photos of the underage daughters of Obama, former Sen. John Edwards, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, former Virginia Sen. George Allen and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and the granddaughters of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Vice President Dick Cheney , Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Although Ashford praises most of the children, he chooses Obama over Santorum in the end, based on the attractiveness of the girls. He also expresses distaste for candidates' older children, saying that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "have serious trouble: they have adult daughters."

Ashford has a history of upsetting people with his online behavior; on his site, he describes himself as "Lover of Little Girls."

In July 2005, his Web site devoted to missing children provoked outrage among parents of the children. Because the site is legal, they couldn't take action.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm a little surprised by all this," Ashford said to ABCNEWS.com from Costa Rica, where his is traveling. "That was 10 months ago and suddenly I got this cease-and-desist letter from Obama's lawyers."

Ashford says that some online vigilantes contacted the politicians in the story, but that none of them responded.

"It's odd that he's the only one who is making a fuss about it, perhaps because he's now running for president and doesn't want anything to make him tumble along the way."

Although he admits that he can understand why someone might be annoyed or irritated by his post, Ashford remains unrepentant about the nature of his article.

"It was an attempt at political satire," he said. "I thought it was such rubbish for them to be making such substantive predictions about the election that I thought I would take a completely frivolous method. It was a good-natured poke in the eye."

Ashford says that his intentions were purely innocent. "I didn't write anything more than that they're pretty. I didn't write that I want to take their knickers off. … There's not even a hint that I wanted to stalk them or anything like that."

That may end up being his strongest defense. Several First Amendment lawyers said that it was doubtful that Bauer or the Obama campaign would prevail in court.

"The big concern I would have is that if in the abstract, you don't allow free speech for these kinds of people, that's something to really think about," Walters said. "When we're looking at the platform of the campaign, who else doesn't get free speech rights? You have to think through the implications."

Despite the threat, Ashford is still supporting Obama. "I'm not going to change my support for him based on this issue," he said.

[ SOURCE ]

Everyone Endorse Barack!

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:41:31 GMT

Hi everyone! Is everyone excited for the March 31st kick off? I know I am!

I just wanted to let you guys know that there is now a petition web for all the states. Not all states have petitions, but that just means that you should write one! (Don't worry if you have never written one before, they have templates!)

Please go to www.endorsebarack.com to find the appropriate petition for you to sign!

Note: It's a good idea to make your email address public; it will give the petition more credibility because they will be able to validate your address. Also, it's a good idea to leave your city of residence in the comment box!

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:06:35 GMT

I'm watching my recording of the Larry King interview right now, and I gotta say Obama's coming across as very dry and wooden; the "him" of his speeches just isn't coming through. He's seriously reminding me of Gore '00. And I understand that he likes to take his time to consider his answers before speaking, but he really needs to cut down on the stuttering and the "uh"s. Not that I really care for myself - I'm already supporting him. I just couldn't imagine the person I'm listening to now beating Gore '08 (you know it's coming) or Hillary.

"Iraq" - 19 March 2007.

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:49:19 GMT

The thousands of American deaths and tens of thousands of casualties in Iraq have had ripple effects that touch millions of Americans. Too many have seen friends and family killed or wounded, and all of us have seen the damage to our national security and good standing that will take years to undo. This strategic blunder will have consequences for a generation of Americans and beyond.

That’s why more than ever, this fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq reminds us that politics is not a game.

Millions of people have tuned into this presidential race wondering who will provide the leadership to end this war and the judgment to avoid strategic disasters like this in the first place. We've put together a resource and action center on Iraq where you can hear Barack in his own words. It includes a video, an interactive timeline, and -- most importantly -- opportunities for you to get more people involved in the fight to end this war.

Watch the video, spread the word, and speak out on the war now.

Speaking out against this administration's reckless rush to war in Iraq wasn't easy four years ago. Washington didn't go easy on those brave enough to voice their opposition.

The same pattern continues today. From questioning someone's patriotism to accusations of aiding the enemy, almost no smear tactic is out-of-bounds when it comes to attacking those who speak out against this tragic war.

But from the beginning -- before George Bush announced the invasion of Iraq four years ago today -- Barack Obama consistently opposed this war. Today he's got a plan to end it. His plan to begin a phased withdrawal of our troops by May 1st is the foundation around which Democrats of all stripes have united.

Now it's your time to lead.

From our resource and action center, you can write a letter to the editor, support Barack's plan to bring the troops home, and even upload your own video about why you want to end this war.

Take action on Iraq now.

On this page, you can also find a link to various ways you can assist troops in the field, veterans who’ve returned home, and the families of those whose service we honor. And so as we work to get them out of harm’s way in Iraq, please take a moment to do something for those who have sacrificed most. All of us need to act now, because the administration still hasn't gotten the message about this war.

Just this morning, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demonstrated the Bush administration's head-in-the-sand approach to Iraq. Asked to name the biggest mistake over the last four years, she couldn't name one. She said, "I don't know. When we look back over time we will know the answer to that question."

The time to fix our course in Iraq is now. We can't wait for the Bush administration to act -- it's up to you.

[SOURCE: email]

1984 Hillary Clinton Spoof

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:24:53 GMT

this is awesome! I don't know if anyone's posted this already, but if not...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FJklyhWniDQ&mode=related&search=

pass it on!

Some disturbing news...

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:07:35 GMT

Hello all,

I recently heard from my uncle, while on a recent trip to Ohio, about his neighbor's cousin's run in with a sickening and little known policy by the U.S. army. Basically, according to my Uncle, his neighbor's cousin's adopted son had recently gone into Iraq for his tour of duty. While on the tour, he had been killed due to a bomb-blast to the face which rendered him brain-dead almost immediately. The U.S. army medics in Iraq, however, hooked him up to a life-support system which kept him alive in body, if not in mind, and shipped him to Germany. The officials there then contacted the fallen soldier's parents, and they told his parents that they would keep him alive on life-support until they came to see him in Germany. His parents agreed.

Upon arrival in Germany, his parents were then informed that their adopted son had been brain-dead since the attack, and that there was no chance that he would live, but that the army had kept him bodily alive so that he wouldn't be counted as a casualty of the Iraq war. So, the U.S. media wouldn't count him in the rising numbers of dead soldiers in Iraq. But most disheartening of all, this meant that his family would not be qualified for Veteran's benefits, because, technically, he didn't die in battle.

This story sickens me to no end and I can't help but think that this is not an isolated incident. The very idea that our government would treat fallen soldiers and their family's this way is not only immoral, in my view, but downright disrespectful to their faith and sacrifice to the country and to the Bush Administration's policies.

My mother has been trying to urge my Uncle, her brother, to speak with his neighbor (who is very angry about this whole situation) and possibly get her cousin to take her story public. As it is now, as you may have noticed, this story lacks specifics (names, dates, etc), and thus, lacks a certain amount of credibility. But if more military family's spoke up about these injustices then I am confident more Americans would wake up to this government-sanctioned policy of belittling our men and women in Arms and their families in a manner that is both disturbing and immoral. I am hoping that my Uncle's neighbor will pursue this with her cousin and then my mother and I would try to disseminate the story.

I am just wondering how best to go about that, if that time comes. I know I can blog about it, but somehow that doesn't seem to be enough. I'm wondering if I should e-mail my congressperson or Barack Obama's presidential campaign or the media. In all honesty, I feel lost as to how best to disseminate this information.

If you guys have any tips or if you know any other families that have gone through this very same experience with their children in Iraq, then please, let me know.

May God help us.

Barack Obama on Larry King Live

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:43:34 GMT

Tonight, 3/19/07, 9pm EST

Michigan Petitions

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:32:28 GMT

Hi! I just wanted to stop by and say hi. ^_^ I'm really excited about this upcoming election--I've never got involved in a campaign before, but now I have! I'm not sure if anyone here is from the state of Michigan, but I have a few petitions here encouraging Michigan politicans to support him. If you can help out, that would be great! If you do sign, please enter your city of residence in the "comment" area. Also, it's not required, but if you make your email address open to the public, you will give our petition more crediblity since you will be able to be contacted for address verification. Thanks!!

Governor Granholm:
http://www.petitiononline.com/govmi/petition.html

Senator Levin:
http://www.petitiononline.com/levinmi/petition.html

Senator Stabenow:
http://www.petitiononline.com/stabenow/petition.html

If you are in New York, you are invited!

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:25:43 GMT

x-posted

I apologise for the lateness of this message but I want to inivte you all to the NYC Peace SIgn. For details see www.peacenyc.org

This weekend that begins a series of responses to the Aniversary of the War in Iraq is an important time. Across the globe, more than 50 cities will be conducting this same vigil and this year I am helping to coordinate the first New York City Live Peace Sign. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment.

We will be in Washington Square at 6:00pm tonight.

Afterwards we will be networking and I will be planning further projects with those who attend. I am particularly interested in working together on boycotts of the war economy.

I look forward to seeing you and possibly meeting people from my friend's lists and community. email me at solidarnoszfgm@yahoo.co.uk if you want to get together.

Thanks!

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:26:41 GMT

As a follow-up to the informative post from a week or two ago on Obama and Israel:

Up-close Obama urges compassion in Mideast

Muscatine, Ia. - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on Sunday told a small group of Iowa Democrats that U.S. policy in the Middle East can be compassionate as well as tough - while he also provided these influential voices in the leadoff caucus state with an up-close view of him as a presidential candidate.

Obama told the Muscatine-area party activists that he supports relaxing restrictions on aid to the Palestinian people. He said they have suffered the most as a result of stalled peace efforts with Israel.

"Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people," Obama said while on the final leg of his weekend trip to eastern Iowa.

"If we could get some movement among Palestinian leadership, what I'd like to see is a loosening up of some of the restrictions on providing aid directly to the Palestinian people," he added...

"Obama loses ground in vital campaign rally"

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 08:43:51 GMT

The Guardian, 14 March 2007

A week ago they were competing for African-American votes in the Deep South. But late on Monday Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went head to head for another key demographic group: Jewish voters.

In one of the most important campaign stops yet, supporters from the Clinton and Obama camps, as well as other presidential hopefuls, flooded the hallways of the Washington Convention Centre distributing fliers and shouting through loudhailers in their bid to draw people in.

Mr Obama made his pitch in room 150, and a few minutes later, in room 152, it was the turn of Mrs Clinton.

While Mr Obama's speech was casual, his room spartan apart from a few, small posters stuck up almost as an afterthought, Mrs Clinton opted for the full razzmatazz: podium, red and blue balloons, music and a huge election banner.

And while Mr Obama, who seemed tired, attracted only about 200 overwhelmingly young supporters to his room, Mrs Clinton, less stilted than in recent speeches and with an ace up her sleeve in the form of Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to be elected to Congress, filled her room to capacity with about 300 people from across the generations.

The discussion afterwards was less about which of the two was the more pro-Israel but which was more electable.

Vivian Saper, 52, a doctor from California attended both performances but was won over by Mrs Clinton. "She seemed far more commanding. She was clearly very seasoned. There was a higher energy in the room."

The evening had begun with the annual gala dinner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful lobby in the US. More than 6,000 people attended, with candlelit tables stretching the length of two football pitches and Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama at opposite ends.
Ali Abunimah, author and co-founder of the website The Electronic Intifada, said he had met Mr Obama half a dozen times at Palestinian and Arab-American community events in Chicago, the last of which had been in winter 2004 when he was standing for the Senate.

A list of dignitaries took 30 minutes to be read out and included half the members of the Senate and half the House of Representatives.

While Jews make up only 2 percent of the US population compared with the 13 percent of African-Americans, they provide many of the activists in the Democratic party and much of the finance. About three-quarters of American Jews vote for the Democrats, partly because of an inherent liberalism and partly for historical reasons, in particular Franklin Roosevelt's encouragement of minorities.

Professor Allan Litchman, a political historian at Washington's American University, said: "The Jewish vote is not important in the general election but it does matter in primaries. It could be as high as 5 percent - 10 percent in New York, Illinois and Ohio."

Prof Litchman, who has successfully predicted the outcome of presidential elections for the last 20 years, said he had no doubt the Democrats will win next year. Although it was too early to say who the Democratic candidate would be, he felt Mr Obama had cleverly positioned himself to the left of Mrs Clinton, particularly in his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Eric Cohn, 20, a student at the University of Oklahoma, had been enthusiastic about Mr Obama before he heard the speeches. Afterwards he was more hesitant. Did he still favour Mr Obama? "I think so," he said. "Yes, still Obama, but I am open."

When it comes to the subject of Israel, Mrs Clinton's stance is clear, based in part on Bill Clinton's pursuit of a Middle East peace settlement throughout his eight years as president. But Mr Obama's has been more ambiguous.

Ali Abunimah, author and co-founder of the website The Electronic Intifada, said he had met Mr Obama half a dozen times at Palestinian and Arab-American community events in Chicago, the last of which had been in winter 2004 when he was standing for the Senate. He said Mr Obama had told him: "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race."

In the end, it may be Mr Obama's lack of experience that is the decider for many.

[SOURCE]

helene.

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 07:20:23 GMT

Senator Barack Obama will be in Oakland this Saturday, March 17th.

The rally is FREE and doens't require a ticket but get a ticket so you can have a keepsake.

the rally:

When: This Saturday, March 17th, 2007; Doors Open at 3:00 PM
Where: Oakland City Hall Plaza (aka: 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza)
Closest BART Stop: Oakland City Ctr/12th Street Station

TICKETS:

You can print out your e-ticket right now at www.barackobama.com

OR

At several Bay Area locations:

City Lights Bookstore
261 Columbus Ave. (at Broadway and Columbus)
San Francisco
10:00 am-12:00 am, Mon-Sat
(415)362-8193

Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia St.
San Francisco
10:00 am-9pm, Mon-sat.
(415) 282-9246

Pen Dragon Books
5560 College Ave
Oakland
9am-10pm Mon-Thurs
9am-10:45 Fri, Sat
(510)652-6259

Pegasus Books Downtown
2349 Shattuck
Berkley
9am-10pm, Mon-thurs
9am-10:45pm, Fri, Sat
(510)649-1320

Pegasus Books
1855 Solano Ave
North Berkley
9am-10pm, mon-thurs
9am-10:45 pm, Fri, sat
(510)525-6888

The Book Shop
1007 B St.
Hawyard, CA 94541
(510) 538-3943
10-6 mon-fri, 9-5 sat

Willow Glen Books
1330 Lincoln Ave.
San Jose, CA
(408) 298-8141
10-9 mon/thurs/fri
10-6 tues/wed/sat

PowerPac
201 Spear St. @ Howard
Suite 1650
San Francisco
(415) 947-0730
10-5 mon-fri

Obama Republicans

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 06:12:10 GMT

We've heard of the Reagan Democrats; now it's time for the Obama Republicans. I know I'm not the first Republican to line up for Obama and I sure as hell know I won't be the last. In watching Obama from afar over the past months it is clear to me that he has a great ability to inspire and unite unlike any other candidate that I've seen so far. Most of my life I've followed politics as an observer and a voter. At 42 years old this is the first time that I've been inspired and motivated to take an active role in speaking out and supporting a candidate.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how the campaign develops over the next year.

"We're Waiting to Hear from You" - 03/07/07

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 09:29:14 GMT

My thoughts? This sounds like utter nonsense after reading about his sudden change of heart regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict (see bold). And then he says that the donation system is "not about dollars", when, come on, yes it is. There's no two ways about it. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm taken aback that he's trying to color money a nicer shade.

---

The special-interest industry in Washington has only grown since the last election, and it will spend more money than ever this time to try to own our political process and dictate our policies in Washington.

We're not going to play that game. We're not taking any contributions from Washington lobbyists or political action committees.

We're going to transform the political process by bringing together hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans to build a campaign responsible to no one but the people -- people like you.

So here's something different. Right now someone is waiting to match your first online donation to our campaign, doubling your impact.

If you make your first online donation now, you'll be able to read a note from the person who matched your amount, and you'll be able to write to them about why you gave.

Thousands of people who've already donated to the campaign have committed to give again -- but only if someone like you decides to make their first online donation.

Will your make your donation now?

We need to dramatically multiply the number of people who own a piece of this historic campaign, because the only way we can win is by making this campaign belong to as many people as possible.

It may sound strange for a presidential candidate to launch a fundraising drive that isn't about dollars.

But this campaign isn't just about money. And our democracy shouldn't be either.

It should be about people.

People's demands are simple. An end to the war in Iraq and the restoration of American leadership in the world; equal opportunity for themselves and their children at home; and the hope that their voice matters in a political process that too often leaves the people out.

You can take ownership of our democracy -- make a donation now!

I'm deeply honored that so many people have put their hope and faith in our campaign.

And if we succeed, it will be because you made history and took control of our campaign's destiny.

I know we can do this.

Thank you,
Barack Obama

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Wed, 07 Mar 2007 07:35:14 GMT

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