so... has anyone written a song/hip hop piece about Obama yet?

Oh, and what's the story re his request for extra [personal] security from the FBI?

Thanks, ER

Hey FireFly! Long time no font!

No, thank the Lord, I haven't heard of any Obama hip hop song. Still early, though ...

As far as the Secret Service security though ... no one's really sure about that! They say there was no specific threat made (which I question). Maybe he just wanted what Hillary already has! I would think he probably needs it though ... many Americans are not ready for him and still have murderous hatred in their hearts and souls.

Maybe he just thought it was a good idea for the sake of his family ... better safe than sorry, ya know? Or ... maybe it's just good PR! At any rate, it must have been a good enough reason that somebody deemed it necessary enough to honor the request.

Hey there!

I noticed Audacity Of Hope has just been released in paperback format over here.
It's not much cheaper than the hardcover though...
So I hope a large % of the profit from sales goes directly to fund his campaign

I've ordered his first book to read - heck I like to own some books not just read everything online so authors go broke and die in poverty... blah blah.... but I digress.... ...and just found out it will take another 4 weeks to get in but plenty else to read before it arrives!!

If anyone would like to post a review of it in my booky bloggy thing please do...

quote:

Originally posted by FireFly:
so... has anyone written a song/hip hop piece about Obama yet?

Unless there's a P. Diddy remix of Rush Limbaugh's Barack the Magic Negro, I don't think so.

The unknown: Is Obama ready?
By RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer


Ask those who served with him in the Illinois Senate whether Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) is ready to be president, and they will tell you he is a dogged consensus-builder known for his empathy, intellect and unbounded ambition.

They will call him cautious and calculating, a disciple of shady patrons, a liberal lawmaker and conservative poker player.

But they will not quite say he is ready for the presidency.

"Well, it's a big leap from here to there," said Democratic state Sen. Donne Trotter, standing just outside the Senate chamber where Obama served for eight years. "I couldn't say he wouldn't be up to the task."

Spend some time roaming the stone-slab floors of the Illinois Capitol and you will find many admirers of Obama — both Republicans and Democrats — as well as a nagging uncertainty about whether a man less than three years removed from this sleepy capital is ready for the White House.

More important, you will find clues to the type of president he might be. Along with the praise, there is reason for pause.

The dynamic in Springfield today is a lot like it was in Little Rock, Ark., 15 years ago, when state Capitol regulars favored visitors with stories about a charismatic young Democrat bursting with potential — yet dogged by questions about the depth of his experience and principle.

Nobody knew whether Bill Clinton was ready for the presidency. But his life and record in Arkansas were fair predictors of the kind of president he would become.

A major difference between Obama and Clinton is that the latter had been a long-serving governor who left a major imprint on his state. Obama was not in Springfield long enough to leave much of a mark. But he did make an impression.

"Obama has a great intellect and the leadership characteristics of our great American presidents," said state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Republican who befriended Obama in Springfield. "But the unknown is the administrative and foreign policy experience."

While Dillard expects to support the GOP presidential nominee, "I would not lose a night's sleep worrying about my young children's future if Senator Obama were my president because I know he would probably surround himself, like Ronald Reagan, with exceptionally experienced people."

One thing evident from his days in Springfield is that Obama knows how to surround himself with powerful mentors. These friendships do not always reflect well on him.

One of his earliest patrons, Chicago businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, contributed thousands of dollars and raised thousands more as Obama ran for the Illinois Legislature, the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. He was even involved in the purchase of land that Obama and his family now live on.

But now Rezko faces federal charges as the central figure in an Illinois corruption scandal.

Another Obama mentor, state Senate President Emil Jones, serves under an ethical cloud. He has several family members on the state payroll and uses his clout to aid their business interests. In an interview, the power broker recalled a conversation with Obama shortly after Jones seized control of the Senate.

Obama: "You have a lot of power."

Jones: "What kind of power do you think I have?"

Obama: "To elect a U.S. senator."

Jones: "Do you know anybody I could make a U.S. senator?"

Obama: "Me."

Trotter laughs at the memory of Obama elbowing his way ever upward. "Very ambitious and confident, that young man," he said. "You could never say he had a self-esteem problem."

Obama never lacked friends, either.

His wide circle of relationships in Springfield reflected a lifelong habit of straddling different worlds. He is the son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas. His childhood was spent in Hawaii and Indonesia, his young adulthood as a Harvard-trained lawyer and street-wise community organizer in Chicago.

Closest to him in Springfield were a trio of white lawmakers from rural and suburban districts whose background and personalities could not have been more different from his. They will tell you Obama had a Clinton-like ability to see things through others' eyes, a natural empathy that helped him reach across party lines and forge hard compromises on the death penalty, racial profiling and ethics legislation.

But there is a fine line between pragmatism and pandering, and Obama walked its jagged edge.

"Sometimes, in order to maintain your position with your constituency you have to vote in a different way than your own mind will tell you," said retired state Sen. Denny Jacobs, one of the close pals. Jacobs was explaining why he believes Obama cast votes that were more liberal than he actually was. It was an unusually frank analysis of how politicians — even one such as Obama who claims he is above politics — often trim their views to appease constituents.

"You're always a little tainted," Jacobs said, "and I think he comes from a district that is a little different than he actually believed."

Obama could be as calculating as they come. He promoted himself as a defender of abortion rights, but he encouraged fellow Democrats to vote "present" on abortion bills. Friends say the strategy was designed to protect lawmakers, including Obama, with designs on higher offices.

Still, he once voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive.

Obama proposed a constitutional amendment to mandate universal health care. It lacked detail and he settled for a task force to study the issue.

Sen. Kimberly Lightford, who entered the state Senate shortly after Obama, recalls walking into Obama's law office and asking for advice after winning her Democratic primary. "I'm, like, very naive and think I can fix the world — come here and change things overnight," she said. Obama curbed her enthusiasm.

He urged caution, telling her, "Once you get there you might realize it's a bigger picture and you might want to look at one topic and do what you can." On her way out the door, Obama surprised Lightfoot by pulling out his checkbook and writing a $500 check to her campaign.

"This guy is cool. He's gorgeous. And he's giving me money!" she recalls with a laugh. "He's my new big brother."

Obama's cautious, close-to-the-vest style is reflected in the way he plays poker, according to those who joined him in a regular game with lawmakers and lobbyists. Obama was fiercely competitive, refusing to admit when he finished a night with less money than he started.

"He wouldn't throw money in the pot just to play out a hand," said Democratic state Sen. Terry Link. "He had to know he had a darn good chance of winning."

While he was never a Senate leader, Obama did lead. He helped pass ethics laws in a scandal-plagued state and won tax credits for the working poor. On racial profiling and the death penalty, he negotiated with Republicans and police chiefs on bills that chipped away at both institutions.

Though these were small steps rather than grand reforms, Obama impressed Republicans and Democrats alike with hard work and a soft touch.

Laimutis Nargelenas, a lobbyist with the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said Obama broke a logjam over racial profiling legislation when he volunteered to make his case personally to the chiefs.

Nargelenas is used to Democrats drawing a line in the sand and declaring war. Not Obama. "The thing we noticed about Obama is he's a willing listener," Nargelenas said.

When Democrats took over the Senate, Obama still did not throw his weight around. "While I'm in a position that I can run this bill through, I don't want to do that," he told Nargelenas. They compromised on a bill that, rather than end racial profiling, commissioned a study and required police to record the race of people they stop.

At one point, Obama and Nargelenas were debating how reliable it is to have police determining somebody's race. "So," said a skeptical Obama, "what race am I?"

Nargelenas, a rock-ribbed Republican, can see himself voting for Obama in 2008.

"I think he's ready to move up," Nargelenas said. He paused for a moment, then copped to some doubt. "It is a big leap."

After early fireworks, Obama on learning curve

by Stephen Collinson
Sat Jun 23, 11:19 PM ET


Democrat Barack Obama exploded into the 2008 White House race on a crusade to cleanse politics: nearly five months of campaign trail rough-and-tumble later, he is still in Hillary Clinton's shadow.

Senator Obama, 45, second in national polls in the Democratic race, has yet to puncture the aura of inevitability the pace-setting former first lady is building around her campaign.

Vying to become America's first black president, Obama has dealt in trademark charisma and soaring rhetoric, but shown inexperience, and his lofty idealism has been tested in the brutal arena of national politicking.

"He came into the race with such a big bang, but there is a learning curve on the campaign trail," said Dan Shea, a professor of political science at Allegheny College, Pennsylvania.

Obama, who jumped into the race after just two years in the Senate, has set a punishing pace, staying in Washington midweek, then launching marathon long weekend campaign swings.

On average, in national polls in June Clinton led in the Democratic race for nomination with around 35 percent, followed by Obama at 23 percent and former 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards at 12 to 14 percent -- roughly where the race has been for months.

In states hosting early nominating contests next year, the race is also forming. A CNN/WMUR poll this month in New Hampshire had Clinton on 36 percent Obama on 22 percent and Edwards on 12 percent.

In Iowa, a recent Mason-Dixon poll put Clinton on 22 percent, Edwards on 21 percent and Obama on 18 percent.

Obama led Clinton 34 percent to 25 percent in a snapshot of the race by the same firm in South Carolina, where African-American support is key.

While polls spark intense media interest, experts are divided on their relevance at this early stage.

Democrats don't need reminding that early momentum means little -- runaway front-runner Howard Dean fizzled spectacularly in early 2004, after leading the pack for months. And neither Bill Clinton nor Jimmy Carter were early front-runners when they ran for the Democratic nomination.

"The timing issue is very important in presidential politics" said Shea, assessing Obama's ideal position heading into next year.

"My sense is he doesn't have to be first, but has to show momentum heading into the end of the year ... the trick is to be part of the buzz at the right time."

Obama draws huge crowds, evidence he says of a "hunger" for change in America, and has gone toe-to-toe with Clinton in several televised debates, avoiding mistakes but failing to damage her slick campaign.

Impressively, Obama all but matched Clinton in the fundraising stakes raising a sensational 25 million dollars in the first three months of the year, only a million dollars less than Clinton.

Whispers are that he may pull in even more in the next accounting period, which ends next week -- giving him the ammunition to line up a fierce challenge to Clinton later in the year.

But there have also been missteps.

Obama recently had to apologize after aides sent out a memo questioning Clinton's ties to India and the Indian-American community.

Questions have also been asked in the media over Obama's inexperience, as the next president may have to extricate the United States from Iraq, with the Middle East in flames.

An emerging media narrative has been that Obama, who shot to fame with a stunning speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, may be the man for heart-pounding rhetoric but lacks necessary depth.

While stiffening his campaign with policy speeches, Obama went out of his way to challenge that stereotype last week at a conference of liberal activists here in Washington.

"You know, some of my more cynical friends in the media tease me from time to time, because they say 'He's always talking about hope' He's out there peddling hope again. He's a hopemonger,'" Obama joked.

Obama also contrasts his record of early opposition to the Iraq war with Clinton's 2002 vote to authorize the conflict.

"So many of us knew back then, even when it wasn't popular to say so, we knew back then this war was a mistake," said Obama, who did not face the high-stakes 2002 vote because he was a mere legislator in the state of Illinois at the time.

quote:

Originally posted by FireFly:
so... has anyone written a song/hip hop piece about Obama yet?

I Got a Crush on Obama.



And this is t-shirt design is just plain wrong.

Black people.

Obama Bests Fellow Democrats in Fundraising, Earning a Record-Breaking $32.5 Million

Date: Monday, July 02, 2007
By: Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press


WASHINGTON - (AP) Sen. Barack Obama outraised Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton by $10 million in second-quarter contributions that can be spent on the Democratic presidential primary contest, aided by the contributions of 154,000 individual donors.

Obama's campaign on Sunday reported raising at least $31 million for the primary contest and an extra $1.5 million for the general election from April through June, a record for a Democratic candidate.

Clinton's campaign announced late Sunday that she had raised $21 million for the primary. With general election contributions added, aides said her total sum would be "in the range" of $27 million. Candidates can only use general election money if they win their party's nomination.

Obama's whopping amount ensures his place as a top contender for the Democratic nomination. It steals the spotlight from Clinton, his main rival. And it establishes the two of them as the fundraising juggernauts of the entire presidential field.

Counting this quarter's surge of donors, the first-term senator from Illinois has received donations from more than 258,000 donors through the first half of the year, an extraordinary figure at this stage of the campaign. Obama raised $25.7 million in the first three months of the year.

"Together, we have built the largest grass-roots campaign in history for this stage of a presidential race," Obama said in a statement Sunday. "That's the kind of movement that can change the special interest-driven politics in Washington and transform our country. And it's just the beginning."

The Clinton campaign would not divulge its number of donors.

Meanwhile, Democrat John Edwards raised more than $9 million from April through June and relied on nearly 100,000 donors during the first half of the year.

The fundraising total met the campaign's stated goal but was about $5 million less than what he took in during the first three months of the year. The campaign has said it is on track to raise $40 million by the Iowa caucuses in January.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was at Edward's heels, with his campaign reporting more than $7 million raised. But Edwards' six-month total was $23 million, compared with more than $13 million for Richardson.

"Democrats are clearly engaging the public and expanding the donor base," Edwards deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince said Sunday in reaction to Obama's fundraising.

He said the aim of the Edwards campaign was to attract more contributors by holding more small donor events to build a grass-roots network. "We feel we are exactly where we need to be," Edwards adviser Joe Trippi said. "This is not a money race, it's a race to win the nomination."

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) on Sunday reported raising $3.25 million in the quarter for his presidential campaign, bringing his total raised this year to $7.3 million. Dodd last quarter also transferred $4.7 million from his Senate campaign account. His campaign said he had $6.5 million cash on hand at the end of the quarter.

The figures that some campaigns released Sunday are estimates. Details of how much the campaigns raised and spent in the latest period will not be available until the candidates file financial reports with the Federal Election Commission by July 15.

While several Democrats revealed their total sums, Republicans were not expected to announce their figures until Monday or later in the week.

For Obama, vaulting ahead of Clinton in the money race is an important achievement. Despite broad public interest in Obama's candidacy, he trails the New York senator and former first lady in national polls. Polls show the contest to be closer in some key early states and Obama is leading in South Carolina.

Obama aides on Sunday downplayed the polls, but the campaign has begun running biographical ads in Iowa to better acquaint voters with the candidate.

"While voters have a distinctly positive feeling about Barack, they don't have a great depth of knowledge about his life and history of leadership in Illinois and Washington," campaign manager David Plouffe wrote Sunday in an e-mail to supporters. "As we educate voters about Barack, we have strong reason to believe that our already impressive support in the early states will solidify and slowly build later in the year."

In announcing their fundraising totals on Sunday, the Obama campaign moved to ensure that his success would dominate the political news cycle as Clinton embarked on a three-day tour of Iowa with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. The campaign trip is the first time the Clintons have campaigned together in the state.

"Hillary has had a couple of good weeks, but there's nothing like killing momentum for Obama to come in with these unbelievably high fundraising numbers," said Jenny Backus, a Democratic consultant who is not aligned in the presidential contests.

At this point in the campaign, fundraising figures can act as an easy measure of candidate strength and create tiers of contenders based on their ability to amass money.

Other financial tallies can be as telling. That includes a campaign's spending rate, the size of the average donations and how much money can be used in the primary races and how much could only be tapped for the general election.

Several leading candidates in both parties have raised money for both the primary and general elections. The total numbers are misleading, however, because general election money cannot be used unless the candidate becomes the nominee. Early in the year, Obama raised more than Clinton in primary dollars.

Clinton aides have said she would raise "in the range" of $27 million in the April-through-June period in both general and primary election dollars.

Only Republican George W. Bush, in each presidential campaign, raised comparable amounts in the second quarter of the year before the general election. The single-quarter record is $35.1 million, by Bush from April through June in 2003. Clinton captured the first quarter Democratic record with $26 million, covering the first three months of this year. Clinton also transferred $10 million from her Senate campaign account in the first quarter.

Among Republicans, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign has said he will fall short of the $20.7 million raised in earlier in the year.

Rudy Giuliani was expected to exceed his first quarter total of $16 million. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was struggling to match the $13.8 million he took in during the first quarter.

RIGHT OWN!!!!!!!!!!!

And he will need more.

PEACE

Jim Chester

This is not only going to be a historical primary election but a very, very interesting one as well!!

This is one election where "favorites" are going to play a big part in the decision of who gets the "X" and "merits" will probably take a backseat to that! And I wouldn't be surprised it two or three of the current underdogs are much closer in the race than they are at this time.

The vote will be divided/splintered between 3 or possibly 4 of the candidates .. however, I think a strong ticket will emerge from whoever is chosen and who they choose to run as the VP.

This is a campaign for the books, all right!! I'm excited to be living it!

quote:

Originally posted by EbonyRose:
This is not only going to be a historical primary election but a very, very interesting one as well!!

quote:

"I Got a Crush on Obama."

I'll say! Was this song meant to help or discredit him?

obama_butt.jpg (13 Kb, 2 downloads)

but I did get a laugh out of this...

ObamaGurl: "You're into border security... let's break this border between you and me..."

From the interview I saw with her ... it appears this woman thought she was trying to help!! I think she's got the hots for our Mr. Obama!! And, with all those donations he's raking in ... I would guess she's not the only one!

This is a campaign for the books, all right!! I'm excited to be living it!---EbonyRose

Me too!!!

Beginning about April 16, 2008. this race is going to get HOT-HOT-HOT!!!

PEACE

Jim Chester

Oprah Takes Out Big Guns for Obama




WASHINGTON (CNN) – Her name has been known to skyrocket a novel to the top of the bestseller list, but can Oprah Winfrey do the same with a presidential candidate?

The popular talk show host, who first said she would support Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential bid in September on CNN’s Larry King Live, plans to host a $2,300 per-person fundraising event for the Illinois Democrat in her Montecito, California home next September.

In an e-mail sent out Tuesday, the event is being billed “the most exciting Barack Obama event of the year anywhere,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

According to the Times, those celebrities who pledge to raise $25,000 for the senator will be invited to a special VIP reception and a $50,000 pledge will win a dinner with Oprah and the candidate.

Though Winfrey’s highly-anticipated soirée is certain to produce an avalanche of campaign-cash for Obama, it remains to be seen whether her endorsement alone will translate into votes at the polls.

While Oprah began endorsing novels long ago, the TV host has never lent her support behind a presidential candidate until now.

Last May, Oprah told Larry King she chose to support a candidate for the first time this cycle because she knows Obama “personally,” and knows “what he stands for.”

“I think that what he stands for, what he has proven that he can stand for, what he has shown, was worth me going out on a limb for — and I haven’t done it in the past because I haven’t felt that anybody — I didn’t know anybody well enough to be able to say, I believe in this person,” Oprah said.

In the same interview, Oprah said her endorsement of Obama does not suggest she is against the other Democratic front-runner for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

“I think I’ve said this before and it’s true, because I am for Barack does not mean I am against Hillary or anybody else. So the fact that I would endorse Barack Obama and the fact that I would support Barack Obama, I have not one negative thing to say about Hillary Clinton,” she said.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Obama faces doubts among S.C. blacks

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jul 27, 6:09 PM ET

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama faces two major obstacles in South Carolina, the first Democratic testing ground for black support: the popularity of the Clinton name and doubts among blacks that white America is ready for a minority president.

The candidacy of the 45-year-old Obama elicits genuine excitement in a state where blacks comprise about half of the primary electorate. Yet coupled with that emotion is a strong degree of skepticism about the freshman senator's experience and whether he can win.

Obama also is up against the formidable Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner who enjoys strong support in the black community and is married to former President Clinton, who is wildly popular in the community.

The Associated Press interviewed Democratic voters across the state, including about a dozen blacks, and found evidence of excitement and doubts.

Ashley Torrence, a 27-year-old college instructor in Greenville, S.C., is torn between voting for Obama and Clinton, and considers her vote crucial because either candidate could smash barriers. Torrence has talked to Clinton and was disappointed when all she got from her encounter with Obama was a handshake.

"I wanted to ask him how he had planned to combat the feeling that unfortunately a lot of people have about just not being ready for a black male to be president and particularly a lot of people with old South mentality," she said. "How is he going to deal with that? Because you can't campaign as though it doesn't exist."

It was an issue Obama confronted on his first trip to South Carolina in February, telling those who doubted he could win because he's black: "Don't tell me I can't do something. ... I don't believe in this can't do, won't do, won't even try, style of leadership. Yes we can. Don't believe in that."

Obama's plea was directed not only at voters, who will participate in the Jan. 29 primary, but Democratic state Sen. Robert Ford of Charleston. Ford garnered headlines when he said he was backing Clinton in part because he was skeptical that Obama could win the presidency and feared that his nomination could hurt other Democratic candidates.

"Every Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose — because he's black and he's top of the ticket. We'd lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything," said Ford, who is black.

He drew widespread criticism for his comment and later apologized.

But the AP interviews suggested the view is prevalent among blacks, along with concerns across racial lines about whether Obama has enough experience to be president. Greenville County Democratic Party chairman Andy Arnold hears it frequently among blacks, who are supporting Clinton in greater numbers in recent polls.

"A lot of the African-Americans are with Hillary because I think they don't believe white America is ready for a black president," said Arnold, who is white and uncommitted in the race. "They want to win and so in a way, I think it is a barrier to him. And it may be more so in the South where the remnants of the old South are still in the older folks mind. They just can't believe in their right mind that white folks will elect a black man president, so let's not put ourselves through that agony."

Clinton is a favorite of black women in current polls, due largely from goodwill for her husband and her lifelong focus on issues affecting families and children. Much of her lead comes from women and blacks, and it's strongest among black women. According to Associated Press-Ipsos polls taken this summer, 59 percent of black women said they support Clinton and 27 percent Obama.

The South Carolina primary, coming after heavily white Iowa and New Hampshire vote, and Nevada casts its ballots, is crucial for Obama. In 1984 and 1988, Jesse Jackson won the state's primary.

The Obama campaign argues that doubts about whether a black man can be elected is not widespread. They cite a Winthrop Poll of South Carolinians in May in which 79 percent of respondents said they think the country will be ready for a black president in the next 12 years. However, the poll did not ask whether they would be ready in 2008.

The Obama campaign launched radio ads this week with a direct appeal to black voters and has embarked on a labor-intensive effort to reach voters in their homes. Obama has about 40 staffers in the state, more than double any of his rivals. His top-ranked fundraising — he has raised nearly $60 million — allows him to invest in advertising and staff through the primary race.

Part of the campaign's strategy is to host small meetings in voter's homes, in the style of a Mary Kay or Tupperware party but where the pitch is for a candidate instead of cosmetics or plastic containers.

Iris Gladden was one of nine to attend a party this week in Timmonsville, a rural community not far from Interstate 95. Obama field organizer Ryan Cooper, 22, talked about the candidate's appeal across racial lines and showed the group a video about the candidate that focused on Obama's modest background and accomplishments, then asked to hear their concerns.

The group discussed their worries about health care costs, the quality of education, the difficulty to earn a living wage, opportunities for their young people and ending the war in Iraq. At Cooper's encouragement, they also talked about what they liked about Obama after seeing the video. Gladden mentioned that as a single mother who raised four children, she was proud to see someone from a single-parent home achieve great things.

But as she left the gathering, she was still undecided about whether to vote for Obama or Clinton. Gladden said one of her sons was in the Naval Reserves and came close to being sent to Iraq. She said her top priority is a president who will end the war, and although both Obama and Clinton are running solid campaigns, she's not convinced they could win.

"I see problems with both," she said. "Obama because he's black and Hillary because she's a woman. Are we ready? Is America ready to go there?"

Rep. Jim Clyburn, the only black member of South Carolina