Monday, February 26, 2007

Campaigning Hollywood Style: Worthy of an Oscar

It's no surprise that Hillary Clinton is calling for Obama to return $1.3 million in campaign funds when the organizer of the gala event was a past support of Bill Clinton. Yet, Clinton must realize movie mogual David Geffen was a supporter of her husband, not her.

Geffen commented to a New York Times reporter that "Everyone in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling." He called Clinton unelectable and raised questions about both Clintons' ethics and trustworthiness.

Instead of leaving it there, Clinton's people had to come back fighting, calling on Obama to both denounce the comments and return the money. Are you serious?! Would Clinton do likewise if the situation were reversed?! No way.

Geffen can say whatever he wants about any of the candidates. If Clinton weren't counting on him to once again raise a lot of money for her, the comments would go unnoticed.

One Step Closer

The presidential campaign already has one casualty: Tom Vilsack. Obama needs to capitalize on those Iowa votes, and a rally in the state last week can't have hurt his case.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Even Republicans Like Him


When Obama visited Iowa, he attracted crowds larger than the state's own governor and presidential hopeful, Tom Vilsack, was able to muster. Iowans are typically late to pick favorites, but even some registered Republicans have succumbed.

Monica Green voted for George Bush last time. But at the town hall session, she was volunteering for Obama. She even contributed $250 to his campaign. She has never done that before, not even for a Republican. "I trust him when he says he wants to transform politics," she says. "Just call me a Republican voting for Barack Obama."

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Australian PM said what?

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is a staunch supporter of President Bush, so it comes as no surprise that he is opposed to any Iraq troop withdrawl.

Howard, who faces reelection this year, has only committed 1,000 Australian troops to help the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, many of the troops are in non-combat roles, leaving the U.S. take the combat roles. Like Bush, Howard has come under increased criticism at home for supporting the unpopular war.

Obama, campaigning in Iowa, told reporters Sunday he's flattered that one of Bush's allies "started attacking me the day after I announced (his presidential run) -- I take that as a compliment."

The Democratic presidential hopeful said if the Australian prime minister was "ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq," he needs to send another 20,000 Australians to the war. "Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," Obama said.

"Prime Minister Howard knows that setting a timeline for a withdrawal sends the wrong signal to our enemies and sends the wrong signal to the Iraqi people," the official told CNN.



So, according to the White House, it is clearly better to have no plan...? It's confusing to me why the Aussie PM's opinion matters, though?! The day he made his critical remarks, that was the only thing about Obama on the news. What is thought to be newsworthy continues to amaze me, and the fact that the leader of a small and not very politically powerful country denounced a front-runner, who is not a conservative like him, is no surprise.

Monday, February 12, 2007

The Race is On!

THE RACE IS ON! Well, it's finally official: Barack Obama is running for president. Obama made his intentions known in front of the historic Springfield, Illinois, Old State Capitol Building on Saturday, February 10. Despite well-below freezing temperatures, 15,000 supporters turned out to hear the official announcement first-hand.

"People who love their country can change it," he declared. I agree, and I think he's the man who has the ability to bring our red-state and blue-state divided nation together for the good of change. Let's hope he's given the opportunity.

I believe he'll face tough scruntity in the deep-south where, to be honest, a civil war is still waging and blacks still aren't equals. People like my 86-year-old Grandmother, who lives in Ohio, also pose a challenge, as he'll have to work to change their preconceived notions. She doesn't believe Obama should even be allowed to run because 1) he's black and 2) he's Muslim. Give me a break. For starters, he's NOT Muslim and secondly, everyone should be able to run for government if they feel so strongly about it. It's nice to see someone take a stand rather than just complain and not do anything about it, like my Grandma. This year we had the first black coaches in the Superbowl, and it's time for the first black president.

I am glad to see this is not the focus of Obama's campaign. The question is how much the media will play up this angle, which should really be a non-issue. The true "issues" should be the focus of the election.

I think Obama's greatest challenger is Hillary Clinton, who is so far leading him in the polls. But it's still early. Remember last time around, when Howard Dean was the front-runner early on? Look what happened to him.

Obama needs to play up the fact that he voted against the war in Iraq, which sets him apart from his opponents. The war is so greatly hated among voters right now, that this is a strength. And he's the first to have an announced exit-strategy for withdrawing troops in Iraq. Many of his opponents want to withdrawl, but have no plan to date.

I plan to follow Barack Obama in the coming weeks and look at his stance on key issues on this blog.