Scandal Overshadows Environment

Today Obama confirmed the appointments of: Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as Energy Secretary, former EPA chief Carol Browner as a coordinator of energy and Climate Policy, former New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson as EPA director, Senator Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary and Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley to run the White House Council on Environmental Quality. These appointments as well as Obama’s other environmental announcements were overshadowed by questions surrounding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Apparently, when asked about the governor, Obama switched from saying "I have never spoken to the governor on this subject. I am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat," to that his advisers were not involved in any “inappropriate” talks with Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich or his aides over the vacant Senate seat in Illinois to finally “I would ask your patience, as I do not want to interfere with an ongoing investigation.” Does this sound familiar? Wait! There’s more… Apparently US Attorney Scott Fitzgerald (even more familiar) did in fact ask the president elect to stay silent, and found that Obama’s appointed Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is one of a “handful” of advisors who did in fact speak with Blagojevich about candidates to replace Obama as State senator. Nothing has directly tied Obama to the governor, despite the efforts of the RNC, except tapes in which Blagojevich refers to Obama as a mother #$%*-er. Thusfar, Obama is clean as it comes to this investigation. Although Obama seems to be surviving in the polls, we shall have to wait and see what happens to him and his administration as the investigations continue.

Obama Pledges Massive Public Works Program

With six weeks to his inauguration, Obama continued to announce more details about the make up of his administration and its priorities. He proposed a massive new public works program, designed to employ 2.5 million people by 2011. It will work on infrastructure improvements, ranging from bridge repairs, to school upgrades, to new highways.

Obama announced his appointments of retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to lead the Department of Veterans affairs, and retired Marine Gen. James Jones as his National Security Adviser. Both were critical of the invasion of Iraq, and retired shortly after the fall of Baghdad. Also announced were the appointments of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary, Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador and Eric Holder as attorney general.

In other news, yet another suit questioning the legitimacy of Obama's birth certificate will go to the Supreme Court, which is expected to announce its verdict Monday.

Thanksgiving: A Break? Not for the Pres. Elect

Barack Obama had an extremely busy week this week. He started off Monday by naming Timothy Geithner, Lawrence Summers, Melody Barnes, and Christina D. Romer to his cabinet. He went on to say that the country is likely to lose at least a million jobs this year, and “the economy is likely to get worse before it gets better.” After this Carter-esc sentiment, he did go on to say that he has a plan to gain 2.5 million jobs back by 2010. It is speculated that this plan is to be supported by Obama’s plan to increase the taxes paid by those who make over $250,000 a year.

Tuesday, it was announced that the current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, will remain Secretary of Defense for Obama, for at least one year. On Wednesday the 26, Obama not only went to a Food bank in Chicago, but he announced the Creation of his (the president’s) “Economic Recovery Advisory Board,” modeled after President Eisenhower’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. The ERAB will help advise the President through the current economic crisis of “historic proportions.”

On Thanksgiving, the President Elect gave out his weekly update, before Showing up on a Barbara Walters special on ABC. He spoke mostly of how bad the stock market and the economy were doing, but that we, as strong Americans, will push though the crisis. His thoughts were answered perhaps later that day, when the Stock Market closed with the DOW up over 1,000 points over the last four days, the largest increase in that time period since the great depression. Friday closed up 123 points.

http://stjoenews.net/news/2008/nov/27/dow-4th-straight-session/?business


http://www.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/live_streaming_obama_to_announce_cabinet_posts/11533/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_gates;_ylt=AopVO9dzWbqtSUfgNTMi5vms0NUE

http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/president_elect_barack_obama_establishes_presidents_economic_recovery_advis/

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/business/NATL-O-Conomic-Team-Takes-Shape-.html

http://thisweekwithbarackobama.blogspot.com/

This week Barack Obama officially resned from the senate. Although no one has yet been assigned to fill his position, many suspect that Jesse Jakson's son,Jesse Jackson Jr., will be taking the role of Illinois senator. However, Governor Rod Blagojevich says he will anounce Obama's succesor by the end of the year.

Obama also named Peter Rouse, his senate chief of staff, to be the senior advisor to the president. He also spoke in his second of what he plans to be weekly Addresses that have been released on YOUTUBE.

Obama plans to meet with Sen. John McCain in Chicago tomorrow in order to discuss how they can serve together to create a "more effective and efficient government."

YOUTUBE: Obama's Weekly Address
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd8f9Zqap6U

Next Illinois Senator
http://www.lasentinel.net/Will-Jesse-Jackson-Jr.-be-the-next-U.S.-Senator.html

Obama meets with McCain
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/16/AR2008111601840.html?hpid=topnews

Obama Begins Transition

President-elect Obama has had a busy week since the election. After promising his children a puppy, he witnessed his first President's Daily Brief, which will be given to him every morning by the CIA. The world is eagerly awaiting Mr. Obama's picks for his cabinet and administration posts, and was rewarded with one: Rahm Emanuel, Representative from Illinois, will be the Chief of Staff in the new Administration. Rep. Emanuel was the architect of the Democrat's successful bid to take control of Congress in 2006. An Obama aid said that the President-elect is not likely to make any cabinet picks this week, however. Obama also met with President Bush at the White House to talk about the transition.

Mr. President

You might have heard, but yesterday the first black president of the United States was Voted in yesterday, in a descisive Electoral victory, and a 3 point popular vote. Barak Obama, ladies and Gentleman, in now our official President Elect. This is indeed a historic day, and the begining of a very interesting four years. Obama said in his acceptance speech that he would 'tackle the nation’s broken economy, fight off global threats and support soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.' Whether or not this means that he will or will not be withdrawling troops from Iraq has yet to be seen. A very interesting four years indeed...

Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States

As Election Nears, Obama Hits Key States

With the election only 48 hours away, Senator Obama has been all over the country, visiting many key states, including Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Florida and Colorado. In his speeches, he cautioned his supporters, telling them "don't believe for a second that this election is over." While the polls are beginning to tighten, the Democratic nominee still has a commanding lead.

The state of Hawaii has verified Obama's birth certificate as genuine, knocking down notions that he was actually born in Kenya, which would have made him unable to serve as president.

Florida Uniting

Today in Florida, Obama met with Bill Clinton in Florida for a rally. After spending Monday in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Tuesday in Pennsylvania and Virginia, Obama finally spent a full day in Florida. He ended his day with his rally With Clinton. This is a huge step, because it shows that the Clintons are finally throwing their full support behind the democratic candidate. This unification of the democrats, so to say, is a huge gain for Obama, especially since Clinton was the last democrat to win Florida’s electoral votes.

Obama plans to move from Florida to Virginia, Missouri, and then back to Florida tomorrow, and ending his week with a visit to Iowa on Friday.

Obama Heads West

Senator Obama spent the latter part of the week campaigning in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. He witnessed a record turnout in Boulder, where over 100,000 people came to a rally on Sunday. There, he pounced on a comment made by McCain on "Meet the Press." "Just this morning, Senator McCain said that actually he and President Bush 'share a common philosophy.'" Obama hopes to wrest back these western states from the red, where they have been for the past several elections.
Several newspaper endorsements rolled in, including a surprise from Alaska. The Anchorage Daily News endorsed Obama, saying that "brings far more promise to the office." The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and several other papers also endorsed the Democratic nominee. This marks the first time in history that the Chicago Tribune has endorsed a Democrat.
In other news, a federal court has thrown out a suit brought by Philip J. Berg, questioning whether Senator Obama was a "natural-born citizen." Judge R. Barclay Surrick stated that Mr. Berg had no grounds to sue, a similar decision as the one made on a suit questioning Senator McCains citizenship earlier this year.

Sunshine Obama

Obama started this past week with a Visit to Florida, which may very well be his sunshine state. Although Florida has gone Republican in the last two elections(by close margins), this year seems to be different. In an average of polls, Obama is leading Florida at +2 percentage points, which may owe some credit to the fact that he has "poured people and money into Florida in building the largest field organization ever assembled in the Sunshine State." After holding several rallies, mostly in the south of Florida, The senator flew to Virginia, a state he holds by about 10 percent, where he was greeted by sunshine and smiling faces.

The forecast for the upcoming weekend: sunshine perhaps, with a chance of light drizzle or even heavy rain on the Obama Campaign. Obama plans to travel to Nevada this weekend to address gun control, a large issue in the state. Although Obama seems to have a pronounced lead in urban areas, he is trying to secure at least a 40% vote in some rural areas that are chalk full of people "who just (hate) Obama." Obama has a shakey lead of about 2 percentage points in nevada.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

Obama had another busy week, campaigning all over New York and Missouri. As is tradition, he and Senator McCain took a night off to relax and trade jokes at the Alfred E. Smith Foundation Dinner. For one night, there was "no other crowd [he] would rather be palling around with." The next day, it was back on the campaign trail, and the Democratic nominee was boosted by both an endorsement from Colin Powell and a record $150 million in fundraising in September. Powell was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the Bush Sr. and Clinton administrations, as well as President George W. Bush's Secretary of State. With only two weeks to the election, the Obama campaign is bombarding the airwaves with advertising, including ads in popular video games such as Madden '09 and Burnout Paradise.

Style Points

After campaigning for Two days throughout Ohio, a 'swing state' in which he and McCain are "Statistically tied," Barak Obama squared off once again with McCain for the third and last debate of the election, this time in NY. Although the group of undecided voters in the CBS studio mostly tended to lean towrds McCain, who they said showed to be more presidential than Obama and much better than in previous debates, polls made to homes and over the internet show Obama comfortably winning the debate. A big issue tonight was supprisingly personal, having to do with both candidate's tendencies to attack the other candidate rather than polocies, or discussing issues. this conversation, ironically enough, ended with attacks from both candidates.
Obama was reported to be calmer than McCain. This is reportedly caused in part by his reported 8% national lead over McCain. He may have been acting calmer in an effort to look more presidential, while McCain would surely over exert himself, trying to make attacks to make Obama look bad. This apparently paid off for Obama.
Obama is flying to Londery, New Hampshire to campaign tomorrow.

Race Gets Dirty as Election Nears

With the election a mere three weeks away, the race abruptly took a turn towards the negative. As Obama pulled further ahead in the polls, Senator McCain and Governor Palin questioned the ties between Obama and Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers. The Obama campaign responded with a video highlighting McCain's involvement in the Keating Five scandal of the Savings and Loan Crisis. However, late in the week, McCain toned down the attacks as his supporters became more and more angry. Obama praised the decision, but kept up the attack, saying that "when it comes to the economy and what families here in Pennsylvania are going through, Sen. McCain still doesn't get it."
Obama had a busy week of travel, holding as many as four rallies in one day in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Ohio is considered a crucial swing state, and Obama's many visits over the past weeks have helped him pull ahead in the polls, to a rough tie.

One More to Obama

Although Barack Obama was campaigning in North Carolina on Monday, there was much more press coverage over the event he attended on Tuesday night. After a day of campaigning in Nashville Tennessee, the presidential candidate squared off once again with republican nominee, John McCain. The most interesting thing they talked about during the debate was Healthcare. Both candidates put forth proposals pertaining to medical insurance. While McCain’s plan was too allow families a $5,000 tax credit towards paying insurance, Obama put forth that under his plan, people would be able to keep their old plans with their employers, or they "will be able to buy the same kind of insurance that Sen. McCain and I enjoy as federal employees."
It seems as though viewers watching the debate favored Obama. According to a CBS poll of undecided voters, 40% of those polled thought Obama came out on top, over the 26% that found McCain the winner. It seems as though Obama has had the advantage after the last two debates, so it shall be interesting who will win next Wednesday, when the two candidates battle once more in New York.

Today, Obama campaigned in Indiana, a state which he hopes to be the first democrat to win since Lyndon B. Johnson, while his running mate, Joe Biden, campaigned in Florida.

Obama Pulls Farther Ahead

As November 5th nears, the economy continues to be the top issue in the campaign. After the House of Representatives rejected the $700 billion bailout, the stock market plunged, with the Dow Industrial Average falling a record 778 points that day. An amended version passed the Senate and then the House, with both Senator Obama and McCain's support. However even after the bill was signed into law by President Bush the market fell, partially over fears caused by the jobless rate spiking to 6.1% last month. Obama continues to pull ahead as voters blame President Bush and the Republican Party for the credit crisis. McCain effectively gave up in Michigan, pulling his campaign out of the state, and Obama also enjoyed substantial gains in Minnesota, Colorado and Ohio. Responding to the McCain campaign's increasingly aggressive attacks, Obama said that it "was what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas, and out of time." He had a busy half week of travel, campaigning in Lansing, Michigan, Abington, Pennsylvania and Newport News, Virginia.
The Obama campaign also launched an iPhone app over the weekend, allowing owners of the gadget to contribute on the go.

Debate Favorable to Obama?

Barack Obama and John McCain squared off at the University of Mississippi last week in the first of their Presidential debates. The debate, which surprisingly few people watched, seemed to have ended in a stalemate, verbally as well as non-verbally, with no prominent errors with either candidate. Although after the debate Obama was caught in several half truths that he had mentioned during the debate, this did not seem to hurt him at all. In fact, the result politically from the debate is that, as of yesterday, Obama has climbed in the polls, and has in fact climbed ahead of McCain in three swing states, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. This surge in popularity may be due to the debate in which, although he did not “win”, McCain was favored (due to his apparent knowledge in foreign policy). This lack of a victory for McCain may have been viewed by some as a sort of victory for Obama, causing him to poll higher.

Barack Obama, who was campaigning in Wisconsin at the time, announced this morning that he would be “flying back to Washington today to cast my vote to safeguard the American economy,” which he insists should be a bi-partisan priority.

In other news, Obama’s ‘veep’ candidate, Joe Biden, is preparing for the vice presidential debate which takes places tomorrow, Oct 2.

Banking Shakes Up Campaign

The collapse of Lehman Brothers and government buyout of AIG drastically changed the nature of the campaign for both Obama and McCain. The Democratic nominee enjoyed a boost in the polls due to McCain's fumbling of the crisis. Obama blasted the Republican nominee for saying that "the fundamentals [of the economy] are strong," just hours before the upheval in the markets. In response to the Bush Adminstration's $700 billion plan to buy up bad securities from Wall Street, Obama said that it must not be a "blank check," and should include provisions for tighter regulation of the market, support for international recovery, and have a focus on Main Street as well as Wall Street. The Senator from Illinois has been spending time in North Carolina, a state historically Republican, but which is predicted to be a close contest in this election.

In other news, Vice Presidential running mate Joe Biden warned Obama not to "fool with my Beretta" as he was campaigning in Virginia.

What's Going On?

The recent Democratic primary in Pennsylvania brought no closure to the never ending race to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton won the primary with 55% of voters versus Obama's 45%. When will it stop? According to David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, Obama only needs under 300 delegates to receive the nomination, while Clinton would have to win 70% of all the future delegates to surpass him. The day after the primary, Obama played it nice when speaking to 7,000 supporters in Evanston, Indiana. He congratulated Clinton on her win in Pennsylvania and when the crowd started booing he affirmed, ""No, no," "She ran a terrific race." Does this imply that her race to the nomination is over, or was Obama simply saying that she ran a good race in Pennsylvania? After congratulating Clinton, Obama refrained from saying her name in his speech, neither with a positive nor negative connotation. Obama has once again begun focusing on the Republican opponent McCain, rather than further destroying the Democratic party. This is a very smart political move.
In other news, new endorsements for Obama include: Michael Moore and Sheryl Crow.

The Eve of Pennsylvania

On the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, both Clinton and Obama seem to be on edge since the results of tomorrow’s primary will whether Obama will win for good, whether Hillary still has a chance and whether worries of a divided Democratic party can be put to rest regarding the general election. It has been a long wait since the last few primaries and both candidates have been endlessly to secure their place on the Democratic ticket, apparently Senator Hillary Clinton released an add tonight to air in the Pennsylvania area that insinuates Obama is not prepared to handle the numerous problems facing America for the upcoming President. Obama’s rebuttal focused on Clinton’s tactic of attack; asserting that, “in times of challenge will unite us -- not use fear and calculation to divide us.” In an election that has morphed into a war of endorsements, Obama received the support of another well-known film maker, Michael Moore. Apparently Moore posted a blog on his website praising Obama’s movement for change and he also took the time to critique the divisive, dirty and disheartening sentiments of Hillary’s campaign. According to an article in The New York Times, age will play a large role in Tuesday’s primary because it has become the second most accurate predictor of how someone will vote in the election. While Obama seems to have a near monopoly on younger voters, Hillary has consistently had a base of middle aged supporters. Interestingly, polls have demonstrated that in Pennsylvania “the outmigration of young people has left the state with the second-highest proportion of people over 65 in the country, after Florida. Fifty-eight percent of registered Democrats are older than 45, a consistent dividing line in the race”—figures that may favor Hillary. Whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s primary election, the Obama campaign will remain favored in the race and the results will determine whether he has all but won the nomination.

Obama Hopes His Slip Up Won't Damage His Campaign

Obama asserted that with the three upcoming primaries in Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina, he feels he holds an advantage in North Carolina—a state with a very high African American population—and since Hillary had a lead in Pennsylvania; he believes “Indiana may end up being the tiebreaker.” According to a political science professor at Indiana University, if Obama wins two of the three primaries he should have the nomination all but in the bag. However, this past week Obama made the controversial comment "that economic bitterness had driven some working class people to cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations” in a private fundraiser that has around the country and has aides worried about the negative press such a short time before these important primaries. All three presidential candidates were invited to speak tonight at Messiah College in Scranton, PA but only the two democrats vying desperately for one spot have accepted the offers. In addition, according to an Associate Press poll released earlier this week, the past month and a half has really helped McCain increase his supporters and is showing how tight the general election will be. While Hillary used to have a 48%-43% lead over John McCain, the newest results show he has gained 2% putting them into range of statistical error. On the other hand, Obama had a 10point lead on McCain in February and now splits the constituents evenly with 45% for each candidate. This news has undoubtedly amplified the pressure on the democratic candidates to use these three states as a final battleground to avoid potentially damaging the chances of the party winning next November.

Are George W. Bush and Obama really related?

Obama started off this past month not so well because of the beliefs of his minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. Obama finally dismissed Rev Wright from his political campaign, after immense outcry because of some of Wright's highly controversial statements and sermon themes. Obama has deemed these statements as "inflammatory and appalling". After dismissing Wright, Obama made a highly praised and important speech that touched on the important issue of racism and sought to fix the "bad press" because of his minister. Obama outcried that Americans need "to break a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years." The US News and World Report explained that many individuals claim, "Obama's words—about slavery, black anger, white resentment, and the imperative to move forward—harked back […], to those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, and they deserve a similar place in history." After Obama's monumental speech, Obama retook the lead over Clinton (according to a poll), which Clinton had assumed for one week after many weeks behind Obama.
In other news, Obama is preparing for the North Carolina and Pennsylvania primaries. As Clinton has been discussing a recount for Michigan and Florida, Obama's campaign has proposed the distribution of the votes 50/50. However, this seems pointless because in the end, the plan still does not count the American people's votes (but makes an attempt to please these disenfranchised voters). Furthermore, as of March 25th, Obama is leading in the polls in North Carolina by 21 points. However, in Pennsylvania, Clinton maintains a 50% lead over Obama.
Moreover, there have been two interesting updates regarding Obama and his campaign. First and more importantly, Bill Richardson has finally endorsed a Democratic candidate: Obama. I think that this will ultimately help Obama gain more votes in the upcoming primaries. On another note, genealogists claim that Obama is not only related to Dick Cheney (as discovered earlier), but also George W Bush and his father, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman and James Madison, and Brad Pitt!

Obama Campaigning for April and May Primaries

Speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi commented that at the Democratic Convention she hopes the super delegates will give their to which ever candidate has the most delegates because “It's a delegate race and overturn[ing] what's happened in the elections, would be harmful to the Democratic party.” Her comment may be interpreted as beneficial for Obama as he leads with 142 delegates ahead of Hillary. As for the debate on which Michigan and Florida, it seems an absentee revote will not happen meaning the remaining options are a full-fledged primary election or splinting the state’s delegates evenly between the two candidates. The second options seems inconsequential because it will keep the same proportion of Obama’s lead and does not reflect how Florida residents did vote or would have voted if both candidates had been on the ballot. Obama has been trying to avoid the conflation of the reverend at the Chicago South Side Church, which he attends religiously, controversial quotes with his own beliefs. Obama asserted, “This is a church I have been a member of for 20 years. What I have been hearing and had been hearing in church was talk about Jesus and talk about faith and values and serving the poor.'' Obama is now trying to frame Reverend Jeremiah Wright as someone "who is like an uncle or family member who you may strongly object to what they have to say'' to give himself leeway and be excused from association with comments such as “government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color.” Obama spent Saturday campaigning in Indiana, which has its primary May 6 with 72 delegates to distribute. Interestingly, because of its late date the primary in Indiana has not really made a difference in recent history, but with this unusual campaign and both candidates’ desperation—any delegates are commodities. Obama spoke at a high school and discussed what he thinks are the three most important a decrease in the cost of healthcare, diminished dependence on foreign oil and withdrawing from Iraq.

A Mix of Uncertainty and Hope

As Obama pulled off a great victory in Vermont’s primary (59% vs. 39%), the same night he lost in Rhode Island, Ohio (44% to 54%), and the Texas primary to Democratic rival Hillary Clitnon. Now that Clinton is back in the race, Obama must continue campaigning fiercely to secure the nomination. In addition, while it is uncertain whether Obama or Clinton will receive the Democratic nomination, it is highly probable that Obama will be part of the executive branch in 2009 (either as President or Vice President). This week Clinton has hinted on her desire to appoint Obama as vice president, if she receives the nomination. I believe that Obama would surely accept this position. First, it would be a horrible political move for Obama to not accept Clinton’s offer if she wins the nomination. In addition, this experience as Vice President will help secure a future as President.


Furthermore, after Obama’s disappointing results, Obama assumed a harsher tone. In addition, he began attacking Clinton again, a sharp contrast to their recent debates. For example, Obama asserted, “"One of the things, you know, I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience that she's claiming." " I have not seen any evidence that she is better equipped to handle a crisis." As the next primaries occur, it will be interesting to watch their relationship. While Clinton leads in Pennsylvania polls (46% to 37%), Obama resumed his momentum by winning in Wyoming this weekend.


However, while Obama has 1,567 delegates and Clinton has 1,462, it is impossible for either candidate to receive the nomination before the Democratic Convention. For example, Obama needs 658 delegates in order to receive the necessary 2,025 delegates and become the nominee. However, there are only 600 delegates remaining (this includes Puerto Rico’s caucuses on June 7th). On the other hand, if the Democratic party decides to count the Democratic votes in Michigan and Florida, an individual suggests (with hypothetical delegates in the future primaries/caucuses) that Obama could receive the nomination by May 20th.

Obama Ready to Make History in Ohio and Texas

With an eleven state winning streak, Obama exudes confidence heading into Tuesday’s primaries that will determine whether he is selected as the clear winner of the Democratic nomination or signify the continuation of the battle between he and Senator Clinton. While Hillary Clinton originally had large leads in both states, the national interest in the race and Obama’s momentum has diminished her advantage and polls conducted in Texas show Obama with a 47% to 43% lead. Popular with Hispanic voters, Clinton seems to have lost some ground of women to Obama. On the other hand in Ohio, the most recent polls demonstrate a 1% lead by Hillary with 47% and 46%.
The intensity of the Democratic race is reflected in the ads that have come out in Texas with one clearly favoring Clinton and a response by the Obama campaign within hours. Once again attacking his inexperience and asserting that Obama would be incapable of making difficult decisions, and the Obama campaign claimed it was using a tactic to play up the constituent’s fears . He cleverly countered, “the question is, what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone? In fact, we have had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer.” As part of Clinton’s last attempts to thwart Obama’s getting the Democratic Nomination is to attack his conspicuous absence on the Senate’s controversial vote over “Iran and missing in action as chairman of a subcommittee responsible for NATO policy in Afghanistan.” Although voters "think that Mrs. Clinton is a stronger leader and would be a stronger commander in chief…[they would] prefer Mr. Obama as president.” On a roll, Obama currently has 1369 delegates to Clinton’s 1267 and has spent this crucial week campaigning in Texas. He gave a speech in San Marcos, Texas and addressed one of the most recent criticism about his very liberal voting record and how it will be difficult to initiate bipartisanship by commenting “I don't see people at my rallies looking through rose-coloured glasses, we know how hard it will be.”
During Tuesday’s debate, Obama claimed he might use opting out as a bargaining technique “to reopen trade talks" with Mexico and Canada about NAFTA. Following this comment, a rumor asserted that the “senator’s campaign privately assured the Canadian government the candidate was not serious in his criticisms of NAFTA.” The Obama campaign claimed to have no ties to the rumor and that is probably true because it would be a little early to assuage the Canadian’ government’s fears of changing NAFTA—even if he is most likely going to be the next President—because I doubt that our northern neighbor will serve as one of the key constituents in the upcoming general election. If Obama can pull out two big wins this week, he will clench the Democratic Nomination making history as both an underdog and the first African American ever nominated by a major party to be the President of the United States.

A Little Controversy, A lot of States

As the race for the presidency continues, the spotlight has turned on Obama for many reasons. First, Clinton claimed Obama plagiarized in a speech this week in Wisconsin. Her campaign states that Obama used lines and expressed ideas from a speech that Governor Patrick gave. Obama told the American people that he should have given credit to Patrick; however, at the same time he asserted that Patrick and he share many of the same beliefs on the issues and their linguistic methods to communicate them. Governor Patrick, a supporter and friend of Obama responded, “Senator Obama and I are longtime friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy, and language. The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Senator Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did."

Moreover, this week Obama visited Edwards, who has yet endorsed a candidate, in North Carolina. Perhaps Obama was worried about the ensuing primaries. However, this week Obama continued his upward momentum to the nomination. With a landslide win in Hawaii, and a win in Wisconsin, Obama has won ten consecutive primaries. However, Hillary Clinton is not giving up the fight. The two are eagerly campaigning for the delegate rich states of Texas and Ohio.

For example, before this past week, a poll stated that Obama would lead in the Texas Democratic primary (48% to 42%). However, another poll had the individuals almost tied, due to a margin of error. Therefore, this week Obama visited Texas and continued campaigning. In Houston, Obama spoke to a crowd of 19,000 individuals, asking the important state to help him receive the Democratic nomination. In addition, Obama may win Texas because of the characteristics of his voters and the complicated Texas primary. In the Texas primary, the state’s 126 delegates are distributing to its 31 state districts through a formula that depends on the number of Democratic voters in the elections of 2004 and 2006. Each of the districts will receive between two and eight delegates. The reason why Obama may be favored to win this state is because the formula for this primary has given more delegates to urban areas. These urban areas consist of many black voters and young individuals who are more likely to support Obama. Clinton, who personally has campaigned for the Hispanic vote in Texas, while leaving the other areas so far to Bill, is hurt because the poorer Hispanic areas that she will likely win have received fewer delegates. In Ohio, another important state (because of a large number of delegates) for Obama and Clinton, Obama began his campaign in this state, using a “populist economic message” to appeal to the state’s working class individuals. As we anxiously wait for Ohio and Texas, a recent national Democratic poll that has shown Obama has passed Clinton in voter’s support, may shine light on future successes and the nomination.

Obama in Wisconsin

For the upcoming primary in Wisconsin, Obama has held several rallies and has spent a significant amout of time getting to know the people in the state. During his Wisconsin campaign, he received a bracelet from the mother of a soldier, who died in Iraq, and the grieving mother conveyed the message that she wants to have a "Democratic presidential candidate to keep others from dying." Also in Wisconsin, the clear Republican front-runner, has stimulated press attention on his opinion to restricting the general election's campaign to public financing. Usually disregarded by the major candidates, the public financing route caps the candidate's spending at much less than he or she could raise privately. Recently, McCain has been pushing for Obama--who he presumes will become the Democratic Nomination--to also use public financing. This political pressure probably stems from McCain's need to make a decision of how he plans to finance his run in the general election. Cautious not to agree to use public financing without signed documents from the democratic candidate, he knows how much the public financing would hinder his spending and publicity if his opposition went through private donors. Keeping his cool, Obama commented, "I’m not the nominee yet;” a politically savvy move because he keeps his fiscal options open and does not look presumptuous after his post-Super Tuesday wins. Senator Clinton invited Senator Obama to a debate in Wisconsin, he declined the offer--probably in part to deny his opposition a chance to display one of her greatest strengths. His staff have framed his rejection as just another debate--after all there have been 18 and more are being planned; however, Clinton latched on to this and has invested in a new TV commercial that highlights his decline as well as his healthcare policy and a 2005 vote that allegedly favored the interest of big oil. In response, Obama's campaign staff released a new ad as well as counter-attack on Hillary's minimal time-commitment in Wisconsin arguing that, “the fact is he’s the one here in the state having a one-sided debate”. Moreover, yesterday the Service Employees International Union endorsed Obama; something that could prove beneficial since it is one of the larger unions with null members and makes up for other big union's support of Hillary Clinton. Earlier this week, his major victories in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. helped to boost his delegate count over Hillary Clinton's by 49 votes. Helped by the significant African-American communities in all three states, Obama simply commented "It is about whether we are looking backwards or whether we are marching forward. And when I am the Democratic nominee for president, that will be the choice we have in November."

A Hopeful yet Uncertain Horizon

        Just two days before the Super Tuesday California primary, Obama received another significant endorsement. Maria Shriver, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wife gave her support asserting, “I thought, if Barack Obama was a state, he’d be California” “[Obama, like California, is] diverse, open, smart, independent, [and] bucks tradition. [he’s] Innovative. Inspirational. [a] Dreamer. [a]Leader.” [..]  Unfortunately, this endorsement did not have a great enough influence on the California primary. Obama came in second place (10% less votes than Hillary). However, because California does not posses a “winner-take-all” primary, Obama was able to add 160 delegates to his total number of delegates. Speaking of delegates, Obama added many more delegates on Super Tuesday after winning: Georgia, Illinois, Alabama, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado, North Dakota, Alaska, Utah, and Missouri. Although Obama won more states than Clinton did on Super Tuesday, Clinton received more delegates because she won in more delegate “rich” states. After a successful Super Tuesday, Obama raised $5.8 million dollars on his website. The next day at 9:30 am, Obama increased this number to $7.1 million dollars. This great amount of money that Obama raised will significantly help him maintain his strong momentum, especially because Clinton lent $5 million dollars of her own money to support her campaign’s efforts.

Moreover, this week Obama won the states of Louisiana, Nebraska, and Washington by a large percentage (22% margin in LA, 36% in NE, and 37% in WA). Governor Christine Gregoire’s (Washington) endorsement of Obama a few days before the caucus may have influenced her state’s Democratic results. After these great wins, Obama now stands with 1,121 delegates, only 27 delegates behind Clinton). Ultimately, it is still very uncertain whether Clinton or Obama will receive the nomination, as Obama quickly catches up to Hilary. Now both Obama and Clinton are focusing there efforts on distinguishing themselves from McCain, the Republican frontrunner. In fact, Obama is favored over Clinton (although within a small margin of error) to beat McCain in the presidential race, according to a recent poll. Thus, in order to widen this hypothetical lead, Obama has implemented a offensive strategy, which includes focusing on the fact that McCain and Clinton both supported the Iraq War.

 

 

Obama Organizes for Super Duper Tuesday

With Super Duper Tuesday just a few days away, Senator Obama has been trying to squeeze in all the appearances he can this week, especially appealing to the states like Idaho, Minnesota, and Kansas where he has a good chance to collect delegate votes. In the first Democratic Debate with just he and Senator Clinton, the two seemed to have reconciled since the South Carolina debacle; preferring to boost both of their images, and that of the Democratic party—something that will be beneficial to the nominee in the general election—by attacking the incumbent Republicans. Obama visited Idaho, because despite the red state reputation, the current Illinois senator has a good chance of winning the states’ delegates for the Democratic National Convention. In addition to an assortment of endorsements from entertainment icons to reputable political families, now Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Bobby Kennedy, has endorsed Obama because he “is so like Bobby, who struggled for the rights of the poor in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, travelled to California to stand in solidarity with Cesar Chavez and farm workers, and fought to end another war that cost so many lives.” Senator Obama also held a well-attended rally in Minnesota and opened his speech in Kansas with, “We're among friends here. We're family." The introductory statements alluded to his familial connections to the state since his mother was born in El Dorado, Kansas. The Kansas events were so successful that people have begun to speculate if Obama wins the Democratic Nomination, the party might be able to turn an unwavering Republican state since 1968. Moreover, the recently released from the 4th quarter demonstrate that Hillary Clinton collected more money from the top Wall Street executives than either Romney or Obama. While Clinton accumulated $388,391 from donors, Obama trailed in third with $ 251,860. According to the New York Times, Obama commissioned commercials in 21 out of the22 states holding primaries this coming Tuesday and through these geography-specific ads attempted to “tailor his message to the concerns of the voters.”
Furthermore, the most recent poll conducted in California, a largely democratic state with the most delegates at stake, showed Obama two percent behind Clinton’s 36%, but that number does not the likely statistical error of 4-5%. With such close numbers in major states like California, this Tuesday's set of primaries will have a large impact on who is selected to represent the Democratic party in this year's general election.

Somewhat Smooth Sailings Ahead

This past week before the South Carolina primary, tensions began heating up between Obama’s campaign and Clinton’s. Obama has recently received immense criticism and attacks from Bill Clinton. Then in a Democratic debate on Monday, the heat greatly rose. Obama and Clinton tried to silence the other’s talking, by attempting to speak louder than the other candidate; in addition, the candidates each pointed out past statements and records to make eachother look bad. Clinton alluded to Obama’s connections with “Rezko, in his slum landlord business”. That night Obama claimed, “ there was a set of assertions made by Senator Clinton as well as her husband that are not factually accurate;" "I think that part of what people are looking right now is someone who is going to solve problems and not resort to the same typical politics that we've seen in Washington."


Furthermore, over this past week instead of focusing nationally such as Clinton did, Obama campaigned immensely in South Carolina, which probably helped him secure his win at the primary. As Obama talked to many Democrats in the state, he emphasized the economy, rather than his usual call for change. In addition, The State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper endorsed Obama, an important endorsement right before the South Carolina primary. However, prior to the South Carolina Democratic primary, Obama sent out a Christian based mail to South Carolinian Democrats. This mail sheds light on Obama as a “committed Christian,” who is “guided by the Christian faith.” This flyer could have potentially alienated some Democratic voters; however, ultimately Obama still won the Democratic South Carolina. In fact, he won the primary with 55% of the vote, beating Clinton by 28%! Moreover, this week Obama has been catching up to Hillary Clinton nationally. After Obama’s win in South Carolina and his significant endorsements by the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquire, and members of the Kennedy family (Caroline and tomorrow Ted), Obama has great potential for the primaries ahead and in winning the Democratic nomination.

Obama Takes Second in Nevada

In the Nevada Caucus, Senator Obama received support from 45% of the caucus-goers, while his main rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, had support from 51% of Nevadans. Leading up to the second place finish for Obama, was a controversy involving a union’s endorsement of the Illinois Senator and Past-President Bill Clinton’s claim of inequity in giving a certain group of voters easier access to a caucus. Ironically, after the caucus, it turned out those very people caucusing in Casinos that spurred the disagreement actually backed Hillary. Early last week, a poll that came out showing Obama's continuing efforts to minimize the gap of Senator Clinton’s lead. The Washington Post-ABC News poll had Hillary with 42% of voters and Obama with 37%-interestingly, the website also included the change in approval ratings for the candidates since December. It demonstrated that while Hillary has lost 11%, Obama has gained 14% showing how close the race for the Democratic Nomination has become. Earlier in the week, Obama attacked his opponents for not “hav[ing] anything positive to say about their own record. All they're trying to do is run me down," referencing Clinton’s recent scrutiny of his stances on the Iraq War, race and abortion. During a Las Vegas Debate, Hillary and Obama jointly decided to table the discussion of race. Hillary commented that, “we are all family here in the Democratic Party” and Obama included sometimes “our supporters, our staff, get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say.” Moreover, informal interviews conducted in Charleston, South Carolina, demonstrate a divided African American constituency —especially women, who are expected to make up nearly 1/3 of the voters in next week’s anticipated primary. Surprisingly, some of the women interviewed expressed opinions opposite of New Hampshire’s positive response to Hillary’s pre-primary tears. Another good sign for Obama is Dr. Huffmon, a researcher at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, asserted that if Obama can persuade the “undecided black women” to vote for him, he will certainly “win the race.”

A Bump in the Road Will Not Cause Obama to Loose Strength

After Obama won the Iowa Hampshire, many individuals thought he would face a similar victory in New Hampshire. In fact, the night before the New Hampshire primary, Obama had a 9 point lead over Clinton in New Hampshire. However, after the conclusion of the New Hampshire primary, Obama placed in 2nd place, 2% behind Hillary Clinton. One reason for this unexpected loss is that Clinton appealed to a greater number of voters in New Hampshire, especially women. Many of these women abandoned their support of Obama soon before the campaign in New Hampshire ended. Why did they do so? In addition, Obama gave another reason for his loss in New Hampshire, telling NPR, “well, you know, polls are notoriously unreliable, especially when you're seeing big turnouts like this.” This statement could be in response to claims of potential racism (individuals saying they would vote for him in the polls and actually did not) that could have caused Obama to loose in New Hampshire.

After Obama’s 2nd place finish in New Hampshire, Obama continues to campaign strongly and gain monetary support, as well as support from voters, for the upcoming primaries. In his concession speech after New Hampshire, Obama maintained an optimistic view; he kept reiterating the phrase: “Yes we can!”. As for the upcoming primaries, Obama flew off to New Jersey (with a February 5th primary) on Wednesday, a state that borders the claimed Hillary “territory” of New York. Obama asserted to an enthusiastic audience, "There's something in the wind all across America, “You first saw it in Iowa last Thursday and you saw it yesterday in New Hampshire, even though we just came up a little bit short." In addition to Obama’s constant call for change, Obama actually talked about the issues, highlighting why he wants to become president. Obama claimed he would deal with such issues as global warming, higher education costs, and foreign trade agreements. However, did he say specific ways he proposes to do this? In addition, he affirmed he would “end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home by the end of 2009.” In addition, with the January 19th Nevada primary approaching, the Culinary Workers Union of Nevada has endorsed Obama, which will greatly help him in Nevada. This organization, comprised of 60,000 workers in the Las Vegas casinos, “is a tremendously powerful force in state and local politics”. In addition, Obama’s campaign is running a new television ad “Moment” in Nevada, which contains excerpts from his greatly praised Jefferson-Jackson speech in Iowa. However, according to a recent poll, Clinton is leading in Nevada (8% above Obama). In addition, on January 26th, the South Carolina Primary will take place. Obama and Clinton are fiercely fighting for the African-American vote here, which is crucial for them to win the Democratic primary.

Moreover, John Kerry has endorsed Obama. This is a sharp stab at Edwards, who Kerry ran with for President. The implications of this endorsement will be very interesting to find out. However, because Kerry just recently endorsed Obama, we are not yet able to do so. In addition, one must wonder why Kerry has chosen to endorse Obama, and thus abandon Edwards. Did Obama’s win in Iowa and Obama’s great strength in continuing his campaign, even after a surprising loss in New Hampshire impress Kerry?

Obama's Victory in Iowa

On the night of the Iowa caucus, Obama received support from approximately 38% percent of Democrats who participated in the event. For the Democratic Party in general, there was a 90% increase in caucus-goers, showing that not only avid advocates of politics voted, but also people who generally avoid the time-consuming process. As for Obama, his message of change successfully motivated the youth--Americans between the ages of 18 and 30 who seldom vote--to come out in masses that rivaled the elderly. According to CNN news, Hillary is now trying to the court young voters in New Hampshire after seeing Obama's tactic prove valuable. After the results of the caucus, Obama delivered one of his characteristic speeches full of hope and enthusiasm and asserted that he hopes the Iowa win exemplifies one of, “the most American of ideas — that in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.” In addition to young voters, Obama also received support from a notable number of independents, a trend that could really help him in New Hampshire since a significant percentage of the state’s residents consider themselves independents. According to some entrance polls in Iowa, Obama actually received more support from older women than Senator Clinton. The outcome of the caucus serves as reinforcement for the Obama campaign to continue with the themes of change, hope and unity. The current front-runner, surmised the situation by commenting, “We won union and non-union, we won men and women, black and white, we gave thousands of people who'd never participated in politics before a reason to believe." After the Iowa caucus, Senator Obama criticized Hillary, a source of major competition, for her efforts to tailor her campaign in the last few days before the New Hampshire primary by saying “We don't need more heat. We need more light.” Interestingly, in an appearance on TV, Edwards conveyed an idea that he considers himself the other “change candidate" and asses that the fight for the democratic nomination will now center on he and Obama—not Obama and Clinton. A new poll presented by the Concord Monitor showed that Obama has come within a statistical error of Hillary’s New Hampshire lead and the article’s author attributed his success not only to Iowa but also to Obama’s visit a few weeks ago where he received a lot of local press. While Obama has begun to kick up the campaigning in New Hampshire, many political analysts have begun to project the ramifications of a second Obama victory on this coming Tuesday.