Barack: Judgment And Leadership

Half A Million Donors Before The Year Is Over

We are at 350,000 now. We must shoot for 500,000 before the year is over. It can be done.

Orange Alert: Oprah, Where Are You?

Bill Clinton should have retired in 2000. Instead he has been the 800 pound gorilla of this race. Have you seen Jimmy Carter or W's father campaign like this?

The only person in America who can counter that 800 pound gorilla is Oprah Winfrey, the top celebrity in the world. And she must do so. She must get actively involved.

It was insightful of Oprah to do a $3 million fundraiser for Barack during this past quarter. Or we would have been in trouble.

Oprah Needs To Hit The Campaign Trail

Bill Clinton, Student Of Politics

Bill Clinton asked himself, what's up with this guy Obama? How come he is raising more money than me? I am the one who is supposed to be the master of this game. And then he studied. He figured Obama's edge comes from raising money online and raising money in small donations. So Bill Clinton proceeded to do numerous $25 a person fundraisers this past quarter. And that has made all the difference. He doggedly learned how to do it.

Barack, Student Of Politics

Bill Clinton has been swift boating Barack and Barack has been doing the John Kerry thing, he has been taking it lying down.

The politics of personal destruction was what the Republicans did to the Clintons in the 1990s. Ken Starr hounded everyone who ever said hello to Billie Clinton in Arkansas. Barack's new kind of politics says no to that.

But when Hillary 2008 relentlessly pounds you with the "strength and experience" phrase, and you don't hit back, that is not new kind of politics, that is not the politics of hope. It sure is not new, John Kerry did that in 2004. Politics is a contact sport. You don't get to stay above the fray.

That one phrase has done Barack in this past quarter. And it has to be countered.

Barack: Strength And Judgment
Strength? What Strength? Experience? What Experience

Judgment And Leadership

Barack had the judgment and leadership to oppose this war back in 2002.

Barack has the judgment and leadership to bring people together and deliver universal health care.

Barack has the judgment and leadership to make America popular again in the world.

Barack has the judgment and leadership to turn the page on the old kind of politics.

Use of that phrase has to be so relentless that it should be obvious to one and all that that is supposed to be a counterstrike to the "strength and experience" phrase.

Hillary And Barack: Coke And Gatorade, Not Coke And Pepsi

The Clintons have done a good job of blurring the differences. They have managed to cast the impression that Barack and Hillary are Coke and Pepsi. It does not really matter. Both are smart. Both are progressive. We all make mistakes, so what if Hillary voted for the war back in the days. Barack will end the war, so will Hillary. Barack will give you health care, so will Hillary. So why not go for the tested and tried Clinton brand name? That is the Coke-Pepsi version.

The Coke and Gatorade version is that Hillary's vote for the war shows a serious lapse of judgment that also colors what she might do elsewhere. Will she stand up to public opinion like leadership sometimes asks for?

Bringing the troops back home is not the only thing to do to make up for a wrong vote, as Hillary seems to think. Where is her plan to fight the Al Qaeda? The real mistake of the Iraq War was the eyes were taken off the Al Qaeda. How would she remedy that? How will she put the eyes back on the Al Qaeda? She has not said much about that.

The Coke and Gatorade thing becomes much more clear on health care and ethics reform and on foreign policy. On foreign policy, Hillary is Bush-Cheney Lite. Bush will not talk to the hostile regimes, so Hillary will not either. She is more like Bush than like Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton talked to Kim Jong Il.

Preparing For Debates

That is key. You assemble people who stand in for all your rivals, and you get your staff to come up with all possible questions. And you work on one liners in advance. And you deliver.

Iowa Debate
Iowa Debate: Obama Clear Winner
One Debate A Month Is Enough: More Town Hall Meetings, Fewer Debates
Got To Tackle The Debates
Winner Of The Debate: YouTube
PBS Debate: Hillary Was Strong, Barack Was Warm, Edwards Was Composed
1 Debate, 1 Major Policy Speech, 1 Rally, 1 Big Fundraiser A Month
Submit Your Questions For The Debates
Barack, You Can Do Debates
DNC Needs To Take Over The Monthly Debates
One National Primary, Monthly National Debates, Videoblogged
Debates Matter: The Election Is On
Barack Lost The South Carolina Debate
South Carolina Debate

In The News

A Primer on the Vetoed SCHIP Bill NPR
Kaine Still Has High Hopes for Obama Washington Post Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said he's still confident Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) can overcome Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to win the Democratic nomination for president, despite new poll numbers that show Clinton is widening her lead nationwide. ....... Obama is still well positioned to win the Iowa caucus ...... "Someone who comes in and wins Iowa in a surprise way gets a tremendous amount of momentum ..... Kaine, who earlier this year became the first sitting Democratic governor to endorse Obama ..... Kaine is also organizing support for Obama in Virginia
Obama, in `a Bind,' Lashes Out at Frontrunner Clinton Over Iraq Bloomberg `Who got the single most important foreign-policy decision since the end of the Cold War right, and who got it wrong?'' ...... alternating between the roles of new-style, above-the-partisan-fray politician and challenger on the attack.
Blacks Split Between Clinton, Obama The Associated Press
Obama Tries to Overcome Clinton’s African-American Advantage CQPolitics.com
Obama camp claims JFK legacy Chicago Tribune Like John F. Kennedy, Obama is a young, charismatic senator who casts himself as an agent of generational change, and as one whose election would break barriers of prejudice that have long compromised American ideals........ the man who provided much of the poetry for Camelot, Kennedy speechwriter Theodore Sorensen ....... Sorensen introduced Obama as "the only serious candidate for president" who exhibits the kind of judgment that allowed Kennedy to successfully navigate the Cuban missile crisis. ...... a time of idealism and a leader who in public memory remains forever young and full of possibility. ........ David Yepsen of The Des Moines Register, Iowa's most influential political columnist, noted that "invoking Kennedy imagery is a delicate thing for any politician to do," but concluded that "Obama succeeded in pulling it off." ...... Obama follows a long list of candidates who have aped Kennedy's look, style, rhetoric, even gestures. ...... Sorensen reminded audiences that Kennedy also "had been accused of being too inexperienced and too young" yet successfully led the country through "the most dangerous 13 days in the history of mankind ....... Kennedy challenged conventional foreign policy wisdom by negotiating directly with Soviet leaders, Obama has expressed a willingness to meet with now-ostracized foreign dictators—a position that Clinton has criticized as naive. ......... "With JFK, it's the aura, it's the rhetoric, the youthfulness, the charisma. ...... a shift away from the Vietnam-era generation whose cultural conflicts have framed the nation's recent politics.
Kennedy Aide Back in Iowa for Obama New York Times
Obama Sharpens Foreign Policy Rhetoric Campaigns & Elections both men were inexperienced who made excellent decisions. ....... claims that they thought they were voting for more inspections and not war, saying, "How can you give the president a blank check and not expect him to cash it?"
Clinton opens chasm in Democratic race AFP basking in a 33 point opinion poll lead over rival Barack Obama ..... Clinton grabbed support from a majority of Democrats for the first time ..... the Clinton braintrust perceptibly cranked up the pace of their campaign ....... The former First Lady's ratings surged 12 percent just from early September, while Obama slumped seven percent, in a period when Clinton and her ex-president husband Bill Clinton fanned out across crucial television markets. ...... Clinton had neutralized Obama's claim to be the true candidate of change in the race, and that Democratic voters were attracted to her leadership qualities ..... For anyone but Clinton, among the top three candidates, a defeat in Iowa could prove disastrous to their hopes of a prolonged contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. ....... Clinton unveiled a 27 million dollar third quarter fundraising period, crushing Obama's 20 million dollar take
Clinton Dominating Race for Democratic Nomination NPR Clinton has a substantial lead over rival Barack Obama among Democrats. She has also out-earned him in fundraising and drawn more media attention. The former first lady has the leading poll numbers, dollars and strategy in the Democratic field. ....... Clinton's recent gains are due, partly, to her focus on low-dollar donors, which Obama has been focusing on all along.
Nepal's top politicians meet to try resolve political crisis International Herald Tribune communist rebels who have threatened to resume street protests by the end of the week
Anand Mohan gets death The Statesman
For Bihar DM’s murder, a former MP gets death, his wife a life term Indian Express
Former Politician Sentenced to Death The Associated Press for his role in a 1994 murder of a government official, the first time a member of India's parliament has received a capital sentence. ....... the connection between underworld crime and politics in rural India. ........ Mohan was convicted of leading a mob that pulled senior government official G. Krishnaiah out of his car and beat him unconscious before shooting him to death because the official's car had inadvertently crossed paths with the funeral procession of a noted underworld don and aspiring politician, Chottan Shukla.
'India one of world's greatest cultures' Economic Times
First Pakistani truck in 42 years crosses into India at Wagah Daily Times
5th Republican US senator to retire, increasing Democrats' chances ... International Herald Tribune
Republican Senate Stalwart From New Mexico Is Said to Be Retiring New York Times
Bush doesn't rule out talks with Iran Earthtimes.org
Multiwavelength Images Of Distant Universe Now Available On Google Sky Science Daily
Madison Square Garden Is Facing a Second Sexual Harassment Lawsuit New York Times
Many US Women Misinformed About Breast Cancer, NBCC Survey Finds Kaiser network.org
Q&A with Bill Gates: Microsoft's pushing its frontiers USA Today I'm finding music I haven't seen in 20 years. ...... the amount of reading that's going to take place off the (computer) screen, over time, will be greater than off of paper ....... critics who say Microsoft has become too big, too bureaucratic, too political, too slow to innovate ......We're stronger today than we've ever been as a company. Our worldwide breadth, the success of our products, our sales, our profitability, our balance sheet and — perhaps most important — the depth of talent is greater than it has ever been.
Microsoft Looks to Social Networking for Zune 2.0 PC World song sharing ..... a new community site, dubbed Zune Social ..... Zune owners can automatically share their current playlists with friends using a Zune-to-Zune Social sync. ..... tracks received from another Zune owner can still be played only three times ..... I wonder if Microsoft looks at the success of Facebook and MySpace, and is actually trying to use [Zune Social] as an entry into the social networking realm."
Britney Spears Allowed Supervised Visitation Of Children MTV.com

Minister Nepal says army should be mobilised in seven districts NepalNews
Baluwatar meet inconclusive; 'Deadlock may led to election postponement'
Don't drag us into media disruption dispute, warns Bhattarai; EU concerned
Conspiracies afoot to create rift between army and democratic forces: says NA chief
Uphold rule of law, says EU; RPP-Nepal denounces YCL action
CEC urges parties not to postpone polls
Nepal’s peace process at critical juncture: Carter Center
FM Pradhan meets UN secretary-general in New York
'Intermediary' sees little hope for country reaching a political consensus
Maoists and the Election

Maoists assure they have no intention of harming tourists during protests
Strike hits eastern districts

Kapilvastu commission starts work
Anything less than proportional system not acceptable: Prachanda
Disruption in Kantipur continues; Mahara says it is internal matter

Obama, with money on his side, still seeks traction USA Today In February, when Obama announced his candidacy, he trailed Clinton 48%-23% in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. After nearly eight months, six debates and the expenditure of millions of dollars, the numbers are nearly the same: 45%-24%. ..... "Nobody has gone from zero to 60 faster in American politics than Barack Obama ....... Obama's underlying message is that it's time to "turn the page" from the polarization that marks not only the Bush administration but also the Bill Clinton administration that preceded it. ...... Obama continues to have two big assets: time and money. ..... Obama's financial strength makes it possible for him to prepare for a protracted fight. He already has hired staffers in California, Colorado and Missouri ....... "This is a very deliberative campaign that has a strategy and a timeline they set out for themselves, and they're sticking to a plan here." ....... — New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, Florida and South Carolina — and Clinton now has double-digit percentage leads in all of them. ....... the gap between Obama and Clinton in the Gallup Poll hasn't been stable. It narrowed in late spring and early summer, twice falling into single-digits ........ He has solidified gains among those under 30, though Clinton still leads in this age group, 54%-43%. ....... Previous presidential candidates who sparked enthusiasm among young people — Dean in 2004, Bradley in 2000 and Gary Hart in 1984 — had trouble translating their energy into votes ...... more than 5,400 Iowans had joined the campaign's social-networking site, my.barackobama.com. ..... leads Obama by a yawning 69%-26% among seniors, the group most likely to vote. ..... They are now tied at 47% each among those with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more, and Obama lags Clinton by only 4 points among those with postgraduate degrees. ....... The challenge for Barack Obama is to move his appeal downscale. ....... Those with annual household incomes of $30,000 or less prefer Clinton over Obama by 70%-27%, and her lead is nearly as big among people with a high-school education or less. ...... he's preparing for an extended campaign and a battle for every delegate. ..... "He has an energy the other candidates don't have .. "He brings this excitement and freshness. Hillary feels like, you know, we've been there."
Obama reports raising $19 million more for primary races Chicago Tribune Obama on track to raise a staggering $100 million this year for the primary campaign, a funding level that Clinton also could well reach. ........ Obama has been spending heavily to build a field organization in early voting states, particularly in Iowa and South Carolina. ...... Clinton .. has not shown signs of as much spending on field organization. ...... About a sixth of Obama's contributions for the quarter came from a September fundraiser at Oprah Winfrey's California home that brought in at least $3 million.
Democrats Surpass Republicans in Fund-Raising New York Times Obama has focused on building a big base of small donors whom he can repeatedly tap into for new money.
Obama campaign fund increases to nearly $80 mln Xinhua the Illinois Senator has received nearly 75 million dollars for the primaries and about 4 million dollars for the general elections.
Obama to play Iraq card against Clinton MSNBC 18 simultaneous rallies across the US to mark the fifth anniversary of his opposition to the Iraq war. ...... will kick off a four-day "judgment and experience" tour of the state of Iowa ..... Clinton's refusal to apologise for her 2002 vote ....... new polling data that show him moving into a narrow lead for the first time over Mrs Clinton among voters who are likely to participate in the Iowa caucus ...... At this stage in the 2004 Democratic presidential race, John Kerry, the eventual nominee, was running fifth in the national polls. ..... Edwards would drop out of the race if he did not win Iowa.
Clinton & Obama trade places in two Iowa polls; to Yepsen, race is ... USA Today
Bank at Google? CNET News.com shaking up the ad industry, moving into the enterprise space with hosted apps (much to Microsoft's chagrin), even betting on wireless and 700MHz spectrum. But banking? .... Google in Malaysia is offering AdSense payments to be made through Western Union .... the AdSense system is capable of morphing into a quasi-bank, particularly in regions with less robust monetary systems
Five Reasons Google Docs Beats Office Live Workspace CRN

Barack Has To Show Off His Policy Wonk Side

Hillary: Impressive Third Quarter

2008 is not 2004. Hillary is no Howard Dean. There is not a John Kerry lurking in the background, not Dodd, not Biden.

Hillary's third quarter fundraising figure is of serious concern.

I think Barack and Hillary are pretty much stuck with each other. One of them is going to be president, another is going to be vice president. Like JFK did not have a choice, he had to pick LBJ for the sake of party unity.

Hillary For Senate Majority Leader

Barack leads Iowa right now. If Hillary were to take the lead in Iowa, that would be trouble.

If Barack wins Iowa, Hillary will be a close second, that's for sure.

Hillary is not a Bill Clinton sibling like Jeb Bush is. She is not the mother or daughter of Bill Clinton. She got better grades than Bill Clinton at Yale. The nepotism and dynasty thing does not stick as much as we might like it to.

She has many things going for her. She has herself, her smarts, her work ethic, she has been by Bill Clinton's side throughout his wonderful political career, and that is saying something. Hiring Dick Morris when Bill Clinton faltered and lost as first term Governor of Arkansas was Hillary's idea. In some ways she has played the elder sister throughout.

She got the substance. And she is clearly progressive.

A lot of people are ready to overlook the Iraq thing. It was Bush' war, not Hillary's war, many people think. It was Bush who misused the authorization. I don't buy into that argument, but many others seem to. The reason I don't buy is she still has not learned from the mistake.

"All elections are about the future." That is one of the Clinton's Laws Of Politics written in his book My Life.

The White House is the most powerful political office that was ever designed. That sure is the ultimate glass ceiling. For women, and for nonwhites.

If the women of America and the women of the world feel about Hillary the way I feel about Barack, they must feel it pretty strong. For me Barack can do no wrong.

I can sense it that a lot of women are coming out for Hillary because she looks viable, she looks like she can win. She is not just going to make a statement and then go ahead and lose. That is the feeling. Curiously that also is the feeling Barack generates among his faithful.

The only person missing in this race is Condi Rice. And maybe Newt. Newt would have made it a little colorful. He would have muddied the waters a little more on the other side. Too bad he stayed away.

Barack beat Hillary the first two quarters. Hillary has now beat him the third quarter. Barack will beat her again this final quarter. I think that right there is the picture you will see emerge next year once people start voting. Barack will win, but Hillary will be right on the heels. She will do good.

I Stand With Michelle: Iowa Must And Can Be Won
February To September: Little Change

Eliminating Nuclear Weapons

That is the unfinished task from the Cold War that George H. W. Bush did not tackle, Bill Clinton did not, and George W. took in the other direction.

When Barack comes out taking a stand like this one, the difference between him and Hillary becomes so very obvious. That Hillary's is a nostalgia candidacy becomes obvious.

State of the World annual address. What an idea.

Barack is like Google. He keeps surprising you with new stuff to offer on a near daily basis. Keep them coming.

Obama's Masterstroke: Eliminating Income Tax For 22 Million Seniors

Barack Has To Show Off His Policy Wonk Side

Here's my idea. Pick the top 10 issues. On each, get six progressives, and four conservatives so as to cover the entire spectrum. Make hour long videos in which Barack is seen listening half the time, the other half he is asking probing questions, exploring the landscape, staking out a few positions. And put that out on Google Video.

This will be a new thing. No campaign has done this yet.

How To Tackle Hillary

Barack Vs Hillary

There is so much that goes in Obama's favor.

Barack: Strength And Judgment
Obama's Card: Iraq
Strength? What Strength? Experience? What Experience

One, Iraq. He has to turn that into a major judgment issue. He should use the word judgment like Hillary uses "strength and experience."

Mandating Health Insurance: The Poor Have Too Much Money

Two, health care. Obama has to emphasize everyone and Truman's cousin has had good ideas. The question is, who can bring people together and actually deliver? That person is Barack, not Hillary. And Barack has to make a point to talk about his mother when he talks health care.

Barack's Mother Makes An Appearance
Barack Has To Talk Much About His Mother

Three, ethics reform, campaign finance reform. Hillary does not even want to do it. Edwards is right. Hillary is tainted by money.

Four, race and gender. Obama must acknowledge that gender is an issue. He should cite examples of Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto, strong, smart women who went to the pinnacle of power in their countries but did not do much for gender. You can have a woman head of state and feel you have made symbolic progress on gender. Or you can actually work to make substantive progress on gender. I think Obama should casually mention in some small town newspaper interview that he can imagine his cabinet being about 40% female. Hillary is not too comfortable explicitly talking gender on the campaign trail. I think she will be thrown off balance if Obama starts talking gender. On race, Obama has to talk about his heritage now and then.

Elephant In The Room: Gender
The Grassroots Power Woman

Five, foreign policy. He is the only one doing the innovating.

Six, the economy. I loved his talk on taxes recently. Way to go.

Obama's Masterstroke: Eliminating Income Tax For 22 Million Seniors
The Economy, Stupid

Hillary Has Been Beating Up On Him

The talk of "strength and experience" has been a relentless attack. When you get hit, you hit back. Barack has to talk as relentlessly of judgment.

So far Barack has done the John Kerry thing. He has not hit back. He has to hit back.

Hillary: A Formidable Opponent

I don't expect her campaign to suddenly implode. Even if we win Iowa, she will likely be a close second. It could very well be a protracted campaign that goes all the way to the Super Tuesday in March.

Underestimating Hillary will be a mistake.

In The News

House Passes Bill on Pullout Washington Post The House, with overwhelming, bipartisan support, voted yesterday to give the Bush administration two months to present to Congress its planning for the withdrawal of combat forces ........ 377 to 46 ..... Democratic leaders stared down the antiwar left ...... 196 Democrats and 181 Republicans. .......proposed paying for any further war funding with a temporary surtax that would add 2 to 15 percent to existing income tax bills. ...... Those who oppose a tax and the draft also should oppose the President's war.
Blackwater Chief Defends Employees Before House Panel New York Times portrayed Blackwater security guards as often out of control and indifferent to civilian casualties ..... though 30 Blackwater employees had lost their lives in Iraq, no one they were guarding had been killed or seriously injured ...... helped Blackwater move an employee out of Iraq less than 36 hours after the employee, while drunk, killed a bodyguard for one of Iraq’s two vice presidents ........ Throughout the questioning, Mr. Prince appeared to be calm and collected. ........ Blackwater — we have to question in this hearing whether it created a shadow military of mercenary forces that are not accountable to the United States government or to anyone else. ......... Blackwater’s use of force in Iraq was “frequent and extensive, resulting in significant casualties and property damage.” ........ the State Department, which has paid Blackwater more than $832 million .... DynCorp International and Triple Canopy ..... 195 instances of gunfire .... In 163 of those cases, Blackwater gunmen fired first.
Monarchy battle at Nepal's parliament Times of India
Clinton Steals Obama’s Fund-Raising Thunder New York Times stripping him at least temporarily of a crucial political advantage. ..... the Clinton campaign reported attracting at least 7,000 more new donors than Mr. Obama ..... Obama has raised more money than Mrs. Clinton over all for the 2008 primaries, $75 million to $63 million, and he cumulatively has 140,000 more new donors ...... releasing the figures just hours before Mr. Obama delivered a foreign policy address ........ McAuliffe said. “It gives us a tremendous boost.” ...... The former president has held major and so-called low-dollar fund-raisers since last winter, and appeared at about 20 fund-raising events in the past three months ........ I’m happy if the Clintons want to do victory laps in October; I’ll take ours in January and February ...... The Clinton campaign revealed its fund-raising success in a way that sought maximum strategic impact. ..... the Clinton campaign kept quiet because it did not want to share the news cycle with him ..... The advisers attributed the fund-raising results to a new focus on low-dollar events, which people can attend by donating $25 ....... Clinton also raised $8 million online, a record amount for her campaign.
Sexual harassment claims declining in US Chicago Tribune
Iranian University Invites Bush to Speak Voice of America
Obama marks '02 war speech Chicago Tribune The top strategist for Sen. Barack Obama has just 14 seconds of video ..... "The American people weren't just failed by a president .. "They were failed by much of Washington." ..... Obama later told CNN that Clinton "has been effective in trying to blur the distinctions" on their Iraq records. That drew a quick response from her campaign. ...... promised more direct communication with Americans and greater bipartisan conversation on foreign policy. .... Anthony Lake, President Bill Clinton's former national security adviser and an Obama adviser. ...... Republicans, meanwhile, suggested that Obama's nuclear proposal is naive. ....... Obama also defended his previous statements about being willing to meet—without precondition—in the first year of his presidency with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. ...... Kennedy had a direct line to Khrushchev. Nixon met with Mao. ..... Reagan was negotiating arms agreements with Gorbachev ..... the 2002 speech, an event that was hardly covered by the media at the time. The Tribune reported about the roughly 1,000-person rally at Federal Plaza on its front page, but there was no mention of Obama. ....... He spoke just more than 700 words that day .... bold and reasoned.
Obama urges eliminating nuclear weapons MLive.com
Obama Steps Up the Attack Washington Post campaign manager David Plouffe and chief strategist David Axelrod ...... a critique that moves beyond policy toward her character. .... no law can force a Congress to stand up to the President. No law can make Senators read the intelligence that showed the President was overstating the case for war. ........ We don't need another President who thinks big but doesn't feel the need to tell the American people what they think. ...... We don't need another President who shuts the door on the American people when they make policy ..... refusing to answer questions in a debate last week on several issues and using a closed task force to reform health care in the 1990's ..... "There are folks who will shift positions and policies on all kinds of things depending on which way the wind is blowing.
Obama: Clinton "blurs" distinctions Baltimore Sun “I think that Sen. Clinton has been effective in trying to blur the distinctions,” Obama says..... “And it's our job to make these distinctions clear to the American people ....... Some advisers have been telling Obama for weeks that he needs to go after Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, more aggressively. ..... predicting a sharper effort in the near future to “point out differences.”
Obama 'Brand' Could Halt Attacks on Clinton ABC News
Dodd’s best wishes for Obama MSNBC her first date ..... he took me to a small neighborhood church on the south side of Chicago," she continued, describing his "inspirational" talk to the neighborhood audience. "And that was the day when I realized the man I was going to marry, Barack Obama, was a very different, truly extraordinary, human being." ....... Wherever she campaigns, Michelle Obama writes, people have asked her whether Barack Obama is ready to be president. ....... "The real question…Is America ready for Barack Obama?" ....... "He spent years putting shoe leather on the ground as a community organizer in some of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago.''
Michelle Obama: The candidate is 'extraordinary' Baltimore Sun
2008: Shift From Money Race to PolicyNew York Times policy and retail politics ..... the United States should greatly reduce its stockpiles to lower the threat of nuclear terrorism
Kennedy Aide Back in Iowa for Obama New York Times, United States
Ted Sorensen to join Obama in Iowa Baltimore Sun
Obama's Kennedy Vibe The Nation
Obama: Early opposition to war shows better judgment CNN
Obama calls for nuclear free world Chicago Sun-Times, United States a nuclear free world, more consulates, and declassification of secret intel documents in a “new era of openess.” ..... using Sorenson as a “voucher” who can connect Obama to the hopeful era of Kennedy’s Camelot. 1. Push for a world with no nuclear weapons.
2. Seek first a reduction of stockpiles of fissile material for weapons
3. Open more consulates around the world and grow the foreign service.
4. Double foreign assistance to $50 billion.
5. Conduct fireside webcasts on foreign policy.
6. Push for a National Declassification Center. This is an embrace of a proposal by former Sen. Patrick Moniyhan (D-N.Y.) to put out in the public domain national security information that does not disclose sources and methods.
7. Create a fixed term for the Director of National Intelligence, just like the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
8. Deliver an annual State of the World address.
9. Create a formal, bipartisan congressional Consultive Group to discuss national security issues. Buck stops with Obama. This is a consensus building proposal.