Obama Answers Questions About Finances

From the NTY

Less than two months after ascending to the United States Senate, Barack Obama bought more than $50,000 worth of stock in two speculative companies whose major investors included some of his biggest political donors.

One of the companies was a biotech concern that was starting to develop a drug to treat avian flu. In March 2005, two weeks after buying about $5,000 of its shares, Mr. Obama took the lead in a legislative push for more federal spending to battle the disease.

The Senator responded that:
"...he retained a broker upon the recommendation of a wealthy friend and top contributor, George W. Haywood. The senator said he did not specifically instruct the broker to follow the investment patterns of Mr. Haywood, who along with his wife, Cheryl, has contributed nearly $50,000 to his campaigns and political action committee.

“What I wanted to make sure was that I didn’t want to invest in companies that would potentially bring conflicts with my work here or not abide by some public statements I’ve said in terms of how things work,” Mr. Obama said. “Obviously, the thing didn’t work the way that I wanted it to, which is why we ended up discontinuing it.”

But, he added: “It wouldn’t be surprising to me that he was recommending stocks similar to me that he would be recommending to others.”

Barack Hearts Beyonce

From America's Next First Lady
















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The Audacity of Dissing Your Preacher

From the NYT

The Bill Factor

The overflow crowd outside Brown's Chapel where Barack Obama was speaking was clearly larger than the one outside First Baptist where Hillary Clinton was in the pulpit. But neither one of them caused the kind of excitement among the crowds that former President Bill Clinton elicited whenever his shock of white hair appeared.

From the Montgomery Advertiser:

An estimated 8,000-11,000 people walked across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge Sunday afternoon, the most to take part in the bridge crossing celebration since almost 20,000 people came in 2000 to see then President Bill Clinton.

Although presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton joined a list of civil rights notables in the annual commemoration of “Bloody Sunday“ as well as the successful march from Selma to Montgomery, it was Bill Clinton who was once again the star.

“He’s a rock star. There is just no other word for it,” said Kaye Ivy, 31, of Tuscaloosa. Her 12-year-old Lantz Lipham shook hands with Hillary Clinton and Obama, but started shouting “I got his picture,” when he got a picture of Bill Clinton with his cell phone. The crowd applauded.

Camera flashes were like a strobe light as the former president stepped out of his security vehicle to join in the march. Following the march he was inducted into the National Voting Rights Museum Hall of Fame.

“We want Bill to be the president again!“ said Robin Rembert of Selma. Getting out her cell phone, she began frantically calling a friend. “This is who I’ve been waiting to see all day,“ Rembert said. “I love Bill Clinton.“

But can Bill transfer his popularity to Hill in quantities large enough to beat Obama?
CNN's Queen Crowley asks that very question.

The Selma Secret

The NYT also provided this handy little map to show just how close the churches were.










What VERY few of the news outlets bothered to mention is what lies between the two churches...the George Washington Carver housing projects. A symbol of just how far many black people HAVEN'T come since that march across the Pettus Bridge in 1965.

While Sen. Obama's oratory was more inspiring than Sen. Clinton's - she had one trick up her sleeve besides Big Willie. Hillary took at least a half hour out of all the marching and speechifying to hold a very it-takes-a-villagey meeting with some of the people who run the child care center at those projects. It was the kind of small, face-to-face meeting that could very well help her hold on to some of the votes apparently being siphoned by Obama.

Given Sen. BO's admirable history of working to empower people trapped in public housing - it was surprising that his team did not make sure he spent some quality (highly publicized) time in Carver Homes - and that they did not have him mention the plight of those people...and millions more like them... in at least one of his THREE speeches of the day.

Playing Nice in Selma...But Still Need Buffers

From the NYT
"The visit to Selma, a historically rich, economically struggling city, became a proxy battle for black support between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama, whose candidacy represents a threat to Mrs. Clinton’s traditional base. That competitive dynamic intensified on Sunday with the debut of Mr. Clinton on the campaign trail, six weeks into his wife’s bid, and among a bloc of voters who are at once devoted to the former president and torn between his wife and Mr. Obama.It was the first side-by-side appearance of Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton in the 2008 presidential campaign, and the political theater of the two campaigns overlapped repeatedly, but with a polite tone that contrasted with their political skirmishing of recent weeks."

Pouring It On As Thick As Molases

Obama v. Clinton - The Sermon-Off

Hil's Hometown Paper Calls It: Barack Wins Selma Showdown

The New York Daily News says the junior senator from Illinois bested the junior senator from New York as both gave pulpit speeches on civil rights sacred ground.

Both campaigns spent a carefully choreographed Sunday in Selma, Alabama site of "Bloody Sunday" - the 1965 beatdown Black protesters got while demanded their right to vote.

From the Post:

"Hillary Clinton was very good, Barack Obama was a little better.

In the battle for Selma — and the black vote across the U.S. — yesterday's round went to the senator from Illinois.

Both were greeted enthusiastically at historic black churches, where they pumped up the congregations with fiery speeches. Both were cheered as they marched to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, walking in the steps of civil rights pioneers beaten bloody 42 years ago.

But on a day when two presidential heavyweight contenders came to town, it was Obama's intensely personal and provocative remarks at Brown Chapel AME Church - and the rock-star treatment he received along the route of the march - that gave him an edge."

Guess Who ELSE Is Coming to Selma...

That's right none other that the "First Black President" himself, husband of Hillary, Big Willie, William Jefferson Clinton.

From CBS News:
In competition for a key Democratic voting bloc, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is enlisting the help of her husband, former President Clinton, at a weekend civil rights commemoration headlined by a formidable black rival, Sen. Barack Obama.


From CNN:
"As they battle for support in the black community in their quest for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will attend Sunday's commemoration of the historic 1965 Selma voting rights march.

However, Clinton will bring along a not-so-secret weapon -- her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

"There is no white politician in America who is more popular in the African-American community than Bill Clinton," said Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist. "So she has a very strong card to play."

The results of one recent poll suggest that card is one she may need.

An ABC News-Washington Post survey, taken late last week, found that Obama, from Illinois, was the choice of 44 percent of black Democrats, compared to 33 percent for Hillary Clinton, with a sampling error of plus or minus 8 percentage points. That was a marked shift from the beginning of the year, when she led Obama 60 percent to 20 percent.

However, the poll found that the New York senator's favorable rating among black voters was 85 percent, compared to 70 percent for Obama, although his favorability has climbed 16 points since the beginning of the year.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, one of the leaders of the Selma march 42 years ago, said the competition for black voters between the senators is "a very difficult position to be in, but it's a good position to be in."

"We have choices," he said.

Simmons said that while black voters have a great deal of loyalty for Bill Clinton, "the question is whether that loyalty transfers to Hillary Clinton, and that's really the test she'll have to meet."

On Sunday in Selma, the former president will be inducted into the Voting Rights Hall of Fame. It will be the first major public appearance the Clintons have made together since Hillary Clinton announced in January that she would seek the Democratic nomination, and political observers will be looking keenly at how well she fares alongside her husband.

"There is, of course, something of a risk that when the Clintons appear next to one another, sometimes Bill can outshine her, and his connection to the community," said political analyst Stu Rothenberg of The Rothenberg Political Report."

'No Nukes for Iran' says Obama

From AP via ABC News

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday blamed Bush administration failings in Iraq for strengthening the strategic position of Iran, which he says must be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The Illinois senator said that means "direct engagement" with Iran similar to the meetings with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War."

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Obama on Gore

Senator Obama talks to CBS News about the prospect of former veep Al Gore squeezing into an already crowded race.

"Barack Obama concedes that Al Gore entering the presidential race would seriously alter the political landscape.

The Illinois senator told The Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith that the former vice president would be an "extraordinarily formidable" candidate if he were to join the Democratic fray, adding, "He would have as good a resume as anyone in the field, better — uh — than anybody in the field."

Campaign Finance Victory for Obama

From The Hill

• Obama Ruling Could Prove Moot, Backfire (The Politico)
• Obama, McCain Say They Would Agree to Public Campaign Financing (Bloomberg)
  

Obama Hasn't Quit His Day Job

From AP via abcnews.com

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wants to change the government's formula for giving states money for homeland security, with the early voting states getting a little extra.

Obama wants states that have a bigger risk from the terrorist threat to get more of federal homeland security dollars also a recommendation from the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks. That's an unpopular idea among lawmakers from smaller states who would lose funding on the switch."

Guess Who's Coming to Selma: Barack and Hillary

A new poll shows Obama gaining in popularity among black voters - and this trip to the site of the Civil Rights Movement's "Bloody Sunday" is sure to give him an even stronger foothold in the demographic. Listen to Senator BO's interview on NPR.

Limbaugh on Barack Sr.'s Bigamy

From rushlimbaugh.com

Rush says he magnanimous ignored this detail about the Obama family until the attack on Mormon Mitt Romney's mulit-wived father.

It's Monday...must be Ohio

Senator BO continues his little money followed by BIG MONEY tour across America. But as this AP photo at CantonRep.com shows not evvverrrryyybody was happy about Obama's visit.
Not to worry - the female Barack supporter in the pic poked the protesters eyes out with the pin of a "Barack in the Day" campaign button.

Move Over Brownback, Here Comes Obama

The junior senator from Illinois scooted on down to neighboring Kentucky over the weekend...even though Brownback had Jesus send a snowstorm to Chicago to try to keep Obama out.

"Obama apologized for the delay, saying snow in Chicago kept him from arriving sooner.
"There was no way I was not going to make 3,000 people coming out," he said to audience members who paid $25 a ticket for the event. A higher dollar fundraising event was scheduled later at a nearby hotel."

Oscar Who?

From the nationalledger.com

Obama v. Clinton. And the Winner Is...

The Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page opines about Clinton and Obama's Oscar Winning Perofrmance

Quickly on the heels of the big crowds and big-money fundraisers came a titanic war of words between the Illinois senator's supporters and those of the presidential frontrunner, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Oh, pass the popcorn!
In this corner, we have movie mogul David Geffen, whom you may recall from earlier episodes of Washington life as a big booster and running buddy of President Bill Clinton. That was so last century.
Last week, Geffen co-hosted a $1.3 million star-studded Beverly Hills fund-raiser for Obama, followed by dinner for a few VIP donors with the senator and his wife, Michelle, at Geffen's palatial home. Geffen also slung a few barbs at Sen. Clinton. In an interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, he called her unelectable and raised questions about both Clintons' ethics and trustworthiness. "Everyone in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling," Geffen told Dowd. Ouch.
Round Two: Clinton's chief spokesman, Howard Wolfson, responded with a demand that Obama disavow attacks from Geffen, whom Wolfson incorrectly called Obama's "finance chair," and return Geffen's money - "If Senator Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics," Wolfson said.
In fact, Geffen is only a fundraiser, not a member of Obama's campaign. Obama's chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, dismissed Wolfson's demands.
"We aren't going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters," Gibbs said. "It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom." Ouch again.
With that double-barrelled counterpunch, Gibbs reminded everyone of the mid-1990s Lincoln bedroom campaign finance scandals that the Clintons would rather we forgot.

Page (sorta) says the winner is...

"With misgivings about Mrs. Clinton's viability already worrying many in her base, despite her frontrunner status in the polls, I don't see how reminders of the grim side of the Clinton years hurts Obama in any way.
And Wolfson's reaction revealed a curious touchiness for a frontrunner's spokesman. I imagine it must be quite painful for Team Clinton to watch what they see as another free pass for Obama in his mostly favorable media coverage. But, if anyone should know better than to try holding candidates accountable for what each and every one of their supporters say, it is the Clintons.
Meanwhile, Obama was wise to lay low and emerge later at a Houston fundraiser with his halo intact as Senator Peacemaker. He called for an end to the "tit-for-tat" that dominates politics. That was a good move to make before another "tat" could come flying his way from the Clinton camp.
Since the country is waiting with either hope or dread for Obama to stumble in his rapid ascendancy, it says a lot about his instincts and the reflexes of his campaign team that they responded rapidly and passionately to the Hillary aide's jabs. Obama and his people appear to have learned from the mistakes of earlier candidates who let accusations fester for too long in the media boilers until they took on an undeserved appearance of truth.
I often hear from people who complain about news coverage that "focuses on the candidates instead of the issues." But that ignores, in my view, how much the candidates themselves are the issue."