Dear Obama Supporters:
Monday night was a highlight for me, I saw Bruce Springsteen perform for three hours uninterrupted with my daughter who got the tickets . I have been going to see The Boss since the 80's and each time I see him it is better than the last time. Each concert is meaningful and he plays his heart out never leaving his fans disappointed. He didn't do as much political talking as usual and I was sad since you all know he was one of the first super stars to endorse Barck Obama. However, he talked about the need for change and securing our freedoms and most of all ending the war in Iraq. It hit home to me that he knows his crowd of working class people who can identify with his messages and love his music. However, they as a group have more difficulty with his politics. As Lilli pointed out to me, it is this crowd that we Obama supporters have to win over with information and respect for their economic problems and love of their country. I went to the concert with great excitement and having heard that Obama got a bump from his wonderful trip abroad and was leading in the polls by 9 points. Tuesday morning I turned on the TV and there was a new poll that showed McSame up about 4 points. I was shocked as was Ruthie from AZ**. How could this be and what are people thinking of when looking at candidate McSame? Kathy from KC sent in some reassuring words about polls not being worth much and we certainly learned that from the Kerry exit polls. However, what are we missing and how can we correct this situation?
With the invasion of Iraq, Republican policies and questionable activities on the part of this administration, we have lost not only credibility and strength around the world ,and become less secure. Obama's recent travels showed him to be very popular abroad. McSame realizes this and is starting to put a negative spin on Obama's actually being liked around the world. Now, this is what I don't get how can it be negative to elect a president who the majority of the world actually likes and respects? Here we have Obama who would not only be able to lead us with common sense, truth, strength and hopefully prosperity but also bring back some of our past dignity and respect from before W came along.
This brings me back to how could we not be so far ahead in the polls that it is embarrassing? We had a wonderful phone conference yesterday with Becky Carroll, Lee Dugger and Dana Singiser, a senior adviser to Women for Obama. They talked about the 18 battleground states and the importance of women's votes in these states. They actually were helpful in answering some of my questions about how we are gong to turn things around. They suggested that last election women made up 54% of the voters. This means it is up to us to get Obama elected. Now for the how, and this is what this group has been desperately trying to figure out. Dana mentioned that we have to personalize this campaign and wear our buttons all the time, be up on issues, and engage people in conversations. She also suggested that all the marketing firms have learned that the best form of marketing is word of mouth. You call your friends and acquaintances for help with child care providers, recommendations for books to read etc. Our social network is a powerful one. She mentioned her Mom's bridge group for one. They have been through years of divorces, marriages,grandchildren and this is where all the important decisions get made, at this table.
Anyway, I have just returned from a long meeting on an Obama event and I want to get this out so here are the suggestions Lee made and they are good and easy to do:
1)Never go out without your button, wear it as we have been saying to everything, your shirts to exercise class and really let people know where your support is and that they can engage you in conversation
2)Be prepared to educate women on John McSame's horrible stance on women's issues and his voting record. I have done this extensively and will put it in today and several other times as well. John McSame is on the wrong side of every issue and is voting against the equal pay bill again as I type this.You can always e-mail me Sunnyg45@aol.com or women@barackobama.com and someone will get that info to you.*********See info at end of this e-mail
3)Target 10 undecided friends or relatives and ask them if you can send them some information, or just talk to them about why you are feeling so passionate about Obama
4)Make sure you help people know who Obama is, don't let him be defined by the media or McSame's campaign. Always incorporate his personal story being raised by a single mother on food stamps and trying to get her doctoral degree, and grandmother who was a riveter during the war on the assembly line. Obama gets it and his life is his experience, just remember he has come up through the ranks and lived an extraordinary life which helps him to understand the economy and trying to make ends meet.
5)Re launch the phone calls and e-mails we have talked about throughout this campaign, and keep people informed
6) Most importantly help get out the vote, and get people registered. Achebe and Barbara in our meeting said not only get young people registered but follow up to make sure they are voting!
There are lots more things we can do and we will do since there is a Vote for Change Initiative that we can sign up to work on and there will be Women for Obama phone conferences every other Tuesday, and these e-mails will keep coming. Share them with anyone you'd like and send me names of people who want to be added to our 486 person group from 18 states, and 3 continents.
Yes We Can,
Love,Sunny
A Tired Mama 4 Obama
From Judy in Mamaroneck:
I would change the word converted to convinced.. we haven't been converted to support Obama... we have been resolute from the beginning. Note I agree with Judy on this word change!!!
(Judy R mentioned that we in this blog are preaching to the converted and sharing information that makes us better prepared to engage the undecided in intelligent discussions about)
From Ruthie in AZ****:
Sunny - Very interesting - your latest e-mail and discussion was something I've been pondering for a few days. I live in Arizona - have visited Colorado/Missouri/Kansas/Pennsylvania/Alabama/Texas/California/Washington in the past few weeks. I am amazed and more than slightly concerned about the number of people (of various ages) who are planning to vote for JM. These people are mostly politically UNsavy and feel that JM gives them the "kindly grandpa" image. They are concerned that Obama is too liberal and hasn't been around long enough to REALLY understand what's going on in the government.
I love your writings and how passionate you and your NY area workers are about Obama BUT there is an enormous country out there - the BIG MIDDLE that needs to be educated. They are nervous about anyone that New Yorkers and Californians support. To say they Don't Get It might sell them short. They need to be massaged/they need to feel important/they need to feel wanted -
All the art walks and meet and greets in New York and California will NOT get Obama elected.
I UNDERSTAND everything you express and how incredibly IMPORTANT it is to get this man elected to change the direction of this country. I REALIZE that Obama is the only candidate that can even begin to change our soiled image in the world. I certainly UNDERSTAND that Michelle is the type of first lady we want and need and that CM - much like her husband - is a VERY loose canon. BUT we need to get this message to the women and men going in the voting booth who see Obama as Rush Limbaugh portrays him.
That, my friend, is your (our) mission - should we choose to accept it.
#2 All I know is when I ask the taxi driver in Pittsburgh and he says - "I don't think Obama has enough experience" and I explain the differences to a blank stare or I ask the desk clerk at the hotel in Seattle and she says "I don't want to see a Muslim in the white house" I begin to get a sinking feeling and I feel like looking for property in Canada. Ohio, Nevada, Florida and Missouri. Get those and we win. I pretty much wish Florida would just secede from the Union (except for your place, of course!)Very good article. I'm not as concerned with the "educated" masses - My concern is the "middle" masses. The store clerks/factory workers/taxi drivers/repairmen, etc. etc. These articles don't mean squat to them. That's where we have to reach out and they have to feel important.
.
From Judy in Westchester:
Not sure if you saw this one either..That would really be something if Rove were held in contempt.. up to now he has weaseled his way out of any repercussions for his contempt of court! I can't figure out what Congress is so afraid of! And to think, they put Judith Miller in jail for refusing to inform on a source, which I believe was her journalistic right!
Dear Judith,
As hard as it may be to believe, the House Judiciary Committee is gearing up to vote on whether to hold Karl Rove in contempt. And your signature on the Send Rove to Jail petition provides much-needed attention and support for upholding the law. The petition received over 108,000 signatures-a mighty message that conveys the patriotic outcry over Rove's failure to comply with a Congressional subpoena.
This afternoon, Brave New Films Editorial Director ZP Heller will head to Washington DC with our partners the People for the American Way, the Campaign for America's Future, and the Campaign for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to deliver the petition to Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA). They will take our message all the way to the HJC, and Rep. Sanchez will ensure our voices are heard when the HJC votes on holding Rove in contempt.
This is the first critical step in punishing Rove under the law, but it is just the beginning. Once we're through the HJC, we'll take our campaign to the full House. Rove's action is an insult to the most fundamental value of our country and our democracy: the rule of law. It's high time he's held accountable.
Yours,
Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Team
From Judy in Mo in response to FISAand other issues they were getting questions about( note networking does help!!!!):
I have already heard back from many on my list thanking me for sending the answer on...so your goodness is multiplying.
We WILL take MO and Barbara and I will be working hard to make it happen!
From Kathy in KCMO in answer to my panic about the newest polls:
Sunny,
I read the polls every day, but I realize that we cannot put much stock in them. They are a snapshot of a small sampling of people especially the national ones that are supposed to have a few hundred people saying what millions think. I think the polls (even when Obama is up) are really under-sampling his voters. Think about it. They only call landlines not cell phones. How many young people or minority people do you know who even have landlines? They are skipping a huge demographic that can't be reached on a landline. Also the people home evenings who would be more likely to answer a survey tend to trend to older Americans. Many of the surveys also try to sample equal numbers of Repubs and Dems, but all of the statistics show that there are many more people calling themselves Dems nowadays and voter registration on our side is huge compared to the new voters they are bringing in. That stupid poll that all of sudden showed McSame ahead with "likely" voters was a crock. They define likely voters as ones who have voted consistently in past elections. All of the new voters we have registered have never voted so they are not going to be considered likely. I believe they are passionate about Obama and will show up. They also generally do not count minority voters as "likely". I believe they will also show up. It would have been smarter for pollsters to ask people if they participated in a caucus or primary this year. If they did, they should be considered likely voters. If you notice how some of the questions in these polls are asked, you can tell they are often weighted toward McCain.
I also heard that Gallup came under fire in the last two elections for the inaccuracy of their polls...so of course the media treats them as gospel!
I think if you want to watch polls you should look at the state by state. He is doing really well in the states that Kerry got and is really competitive in traditionally red states. He is even competitive in Arizona and out fundraised McCain in his home state last month! He raised more money and had more individual donors!!!! The electoral map right now seems to really favor Obama. With the new states he might get like Iowa, Colorado, Virginia, he will not even need Ohio and Florida!!!! I still don't trust the vote in those states!
I am not worried about the fluctuation in the polls. It might make McSame think he is doing something right and continue to do what he has been doing, which is run a terrible campaign. I also think it might make Obama supporters more active with donations and volunteering. If he appears to have it locked up, people tend to get complacent. We can't do that.
I am not worried. We have the best candidate with the best vision for America. He has an awesome grassroots organization behind him. People across the country are mobilizing. We just need to keep reaching out to bring more people into his volunteer army so we can get out the vote in November. I am still very hopeful!
Subject: Today's Daily Obama (7/28/08)
Date: Monday, July 28, 2008, 10:21 AM
98 Days To Go
A preview of the next 14 weeks until Election Day
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-27-100days_N.htm
Obama 49, McCain 40
"This represents a continuation of Obama's front-runner position evident in the last three Gallup Poll Daily tracking updates. The margin, coincident with the extensive U.S. news coverage of Obama's foreign tour, is the largest for Obama over McCain measured since Gallup began tracking the general election horserace in March."
http://www.gallup.com/poll/109102/Gallup-Daily-Obama-49-McCain-40.aspx
The Three Point Shot Heard Around The World
"By the time Obama’s plane touched down in Germany, an utterly unanticipated consensus seemed to have emerged: besides having been right about the Iraq war’s beginning (i.e., that it should not have had one), he is right, in broad outline, about the path to its ending."
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/08/04/080804taco_talk_hertzberg
Chuck Hagel Assails John McCain's Latest Smear Ad
“I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives…. John’s better than that.”
http://thepage.time.com/2008/07/27/hagel-mccain-treading-on-some-very-thin-ground/
The Media Is No Friend Of Barack Obama
"When network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative. Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative."
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-onthemedia27-2008jul27,0,712999.story
From Hank:
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 8:14 AM
To: 'letters@nytimes.com'
Subject: To The editor
“Be Afraid, Please” – Op/Ed – July 28, 2008
Why doe’s the Times even have William Kristol on its editorial staff? This man is as backward and out-of-touch as John McCain. What we all need to be afraid of is that fear mongering and racism will deprive the country of the leadership of Barack Obama. Obama is truly a once-in-a-lifetime candidate in the mold of JFK. If elected he will unite the country and the world, and restore respect and confidence in America.
Mr. Kristol seems to be attempting to use humor to write his hateful piece, but he fails at that as well. As Mr. Kristol states, “life is full of disappointments”. This morning my disappointment was picking up my copy of the Times and seeing his Op/Ed piece.
From Kathy in KCMO:
I am feeling much more positive about MO than in 2004. Their resources here were so limited. They didn't think there were any Dems north of the river at all!
I am worried too because of the horrible negative junk they are throwing at him. McCain is desperate and will do anything to win. It is so sickening and ironic that he would employ Rove and Co. after the number they did on him in 2000! I think the tide is turning Obama's way. He can be seen by many to have the skills to be commander in chief. Now he really needs to connect with people on the economy. If he can do that, there will be no stopping him.
Interesting Rove calculations. It stacks up against the other predictions. I think we can win without Ohio and Florida (where they have so many crooks and vote flippers who messed with the last two elections!) I think we will take New Hampshire. He has been ahead in CO, MI, PA, MN. If he can keep these in his column, he will win. MO will be important if he fails to carry any of the states that Kerry got. I think he is in great shape, but we cannot get complacent. When you start relaxing, the other guys get ahead!
I keep remembering what Jean Carnahan said in a speech in 2004 about Al Gore losing so narrowly. She said that Al lost MO by just one vote per precinct. If he had won MO, FL would not have been a factor. He would have had enough electoral votes without it. Surely we could have found him one more vote per precinct! That is what Obama's grassroots effort is really about: one voter reaching out to another, and so on, and so on! If everyone set out to find one more voter for Obama, we would have a landslide!
From Dani in Brooklyn:
Great posting, as always. I've forwarded "Mr. Obama Goes to Shul" to all of my friends, especially the Jewish friends on the fence about him (fortunately, not many are!). I'm hoping they post to all of their friends and relatives, especially those in Florida.
From Mira in NYC:******(See article below!)
Dear Mr. Williams:
Your coverage tonight of John McCain's ad trying to create a link between Senator Obama and celebrities like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton came on a day where the New York Times had a fascinating article about Senator Obama's twelve years teaching law at the University of Chicago Law School (“Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Slightly Apart,” by Jodi Kantor, page 1, -- the impressive and challenging reading lists for his courses can be found online) and I happened to be reading the chapter on the Constitution in his book The Audacity of Hope. Against such a background of serious intellectual accomplishments, the McCain ad is scurrilous, but your superficial coverage of it is equally problematic.
Sincerely,
Mira Schor
From Kathy in KCMO in ressponse to Mira's note):
I know! These ads are right out of Rove's dirty little playbook. McCain has stooped so low. It really says something about him as a candidate that he cannot discuss his own policies (he can't even keep straight what they are!). All he can do is make up crap about Obama. The really frustrating thing is the media as your friend said. McCain made a very small buy of these ads in a few markets but they are getting national play in every market because the press keeps playing them over and over. It is like the swiftboating of John Kerry. If the media had ignored it for the lies it was and refused to play it ad nauseum, it would never have taken hold!
I am also really mad at Dana Milbank of the Wash. Post who had a terrible article on Obama this morning about how "presumptuous" he is and how he operates with so much hubris. He took a very humble quote and chopped it up to make it sound like he was bragging about himself. Here is what Media Matters a watchdog group had to say about it. http://mediamatters.org/items/200807300009?f=h_latest I am writing to Milbank to complain and I think that Keith Olbermann should have his old friend Dana as a "Worst Person in the World" tonight!
I also just got a really hateful email from a rethug friend of a friend of mine. She fowarded my editorial to him and he wrote really hateful crap about me and discarded the facts I quoted that I had "drank the Koolaid" at MoveOn. The worst part is that she sent the whole email that had my comment about having to write under my maiden name so now he can bust me with the KC Star!
I hope I don't explode out of anger and frustration before Nov. 4!!!!
Milbank accuses Obama of "hubris" while cropping quotes, making false insinuations, and neglecting basic reporting
Summary: In his Washington Post column, Dana Milbank claimed that Sen. Barack Obama "has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee." As purported evidence, Milbank misrepresented quotes, neglected to do basic reporting, and advanced the baseless suggestion that actions Obama has reportedly taken are unprecedented for a presidential candidate.
From Judy in Westchester:**********
Op-Ed Columnist
July 30, 2008
The Long Run
***********Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Apart
By JODI KANTOR
CHICAGO — The young law professor stood apart in too many ways to count. At a school where economic analysis was all the rage, he taught rights, race and gender. Other faculty members dreamed of tenured positions; he turned them down. While most colleagues published by the pound, he never completed a single work of legal scholarship.
At a formal institution, Barack Obama was a loose presence, joking with students about their romantic prospects, using first names, referring to case law one moment and “The Godfather” the next. He was also an enigmatic one, often leaving fellow faculty members guessing about his precise views.
Mr. Obama, now the junior senator from Illinois and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, spent 12 years at the University of Chicago Law School. Most aspiring politicians do not dwell in the halls of academia, and few promising young legal thinkers toil in state legislatures. Mr. Obama planted a foot in each, splitting his weeks between an elite law school and the far less rarefied atmosphere of the Illinois Senate.
Before he outraised every other presidential primary candidate in American history, Mr. Obama marched students through the thickets of campaign finance law. Before he helped redraw his own State Senate district, making it whiter and wealthier, he taught districting as a racially fraught study in how power is secured. And before he posed what may be the ultimate test of racial equality — whether Americans will elect a black president — he led students through African-Americans’ long fight for equal status.
Standing in his favorite classroom in the austere main building, sharp-witted students looming above him, Mr. Obama refined his public speaking style, his debating abilities, his beliefs.
“He tested his ideas in classrooms,” said Dennis Hutchinson, a colleague. Every seminar hour brought a new round of, “Is affirmative action justified? Under what circumstances?” as Mr. Hutchinson put it.
But Mr. Obama’s years at the law school are also another chapter — see United States Senate, c. 2006 — in which he seemed as intently focused on his own political rise as on the institution itself. Mr. Obama, who declined to be interviewed for this article, was well liked at the law school, yet he was always slightly apart from it, leaving some colleagues feeling a little cheated that he did not fully engage. The Chicago faculty is more rightward-leaning than that of other top law schools, but if teaching alongside some of the most formidable conservative minds in the country had any impact on Mr. Obama, no one can quite point to it.
“I don’t think anything that went on in these chambers affected him,” said Richard Epstein, a libertarian colleague who says he longed for Mr. Obama to venture beyond his ideological and topical comfort zones. “His entire life, as best I can tell, is one in which he’s always been a thoughtful listener and questioner, but he’s never stepped up to the plate and taken full swings.”
Mr. Obama had other business on his mind, embarking on five political races during his 12 years at the school. Teaching gave him satisfaction, along with a perch and a paycheck, but he was impatient with academic debates over “whether to drop a footnote or not drop a footnote,” said Abner J. Mikva, a mentor whose own career has spanned Congress, the federal bench and the same law school.
Douglas Baird, another colleague, remembers once asking Mr. Obama to assess potential candidates for governor.
“First of all, I’m not running for governor, “ Mr. Obama told him. “But if I did, I would expect you to support me.”
He was a third-year state senator at the time.
Popular and Enigmatic
Mr. Obama arrived at the law school in 1991 thanks to Michael W. McConnell, a conservative scholar who is now a federal appellate judge. As president of The Harvard Law Review, Mr. Obama had impressed Mr. McConnell with editing suggestions on an article; on little more than that, the law school gave him a fellowship, which amounted to an office and a computer, which he used to write his memoir, “Dreams From My Father.”
The school had almost no black faculty members, a special embarrassment given its location on the South Side. Its sleek halls bordered a neighborhood crumbling with poverty and neglect. In his 2000 Congressional primary race, Representative Bobby L. Rush, a former Black Panther running for re-election, used Mr. Obama’s ties to the school to label him an egghead and an elitist.
At the school, Mr. Obama taught three courses, ascending to senior lecturer, a title otherwise carried only by a few federal judges. His most traditional course was in the due process and equal protection areas of constitutional law. His voting rights class traced the evolution of election law, from the disenfranchisement of blacks to contemporary debates over districting and campaign finance. Mr. Obama was so interested in the subject that he helped Richard Pildes, a professor at New York University, develop a leading casebook in the field.
His most original course, a historical and political seminar as much as a legal one, was on racism and law. Mr. Obama improvised his own textbook, including classic cases like Brown v. Board of Education, and essays by Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Dubois, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, as well as conservative thinkers like Robert H. Bork.
Mr. Obama was especially eager for his charges to understand the horrors of the past, students say. He assigned a 1919 catalog of lynching victims, including some who were first raped or stripped of their ears and fingers, others who were pregnant or lynched with their children, and some whose charred bodies were sold off, bone fragment by bone fragment, to gawkers.
“Are there legal remedies that alleviate not just existing racism, but racism from the past?” Adam Gross, now a public interest lawyer in Chicago, wrote in his class notes in April 1994.
For all the weighty material, Mr. Obama had a disarming touch. He did not belittle students; instead he drew them out, restating and polishing halting answers, students recall. In one class on race, he imitated the way clueless white people talked. “Why are your friends at the housing projects shooting each other?” he asked in a mock-innocent voice.
A favorite theme, said Salil Mehra, now a law professor at Temple University, were the values and cultural touchstones that Americans share. Mr. Obama’s case in point: his wife, Michelle, a black woman, loved “The Brady Bunch” so much that she could identify every episode by its opening shots.
As his reputation for frank, exciting discussion spread, enrollment in his classes swelled. Most scores on his teaching evaluations were positive to superlative. Some students started referring to themselves as his groupies. (Mr. Obama, in turn, could play the star. In what even some fans saw as self-absorption, Mr. Obama’s hypothetical cases occasionally featured himself. “Take Barack Obama, there’s a good-looking guy,” he would introduce a twisty legal case.)Challenging Assumptions
Liberals flocked to his classes, seeking refuge. After all, the professor was a progressive politician who backed child care subsidies and laws against racial profiling, and in a 1996 interview with the school newspaper sounded skeptical of President Bill Clinton’s efforts to reach across the aisle.
“On the national level, bipartisanship usually means Democrats ignore the needs of the poor and abandon the idea that government can play a role in issues of poverty, race discrimination, sex discrimination or environmental protection,” Mr. Obama said.
But the liberal students did not necessarily find reassurance. “For people who thought they were getting a doctrinal, rah-rah experience, it wasn’t that kind of class,” said D. Daniel Sokol, a former student who now teaches law at the University of Florida at Gainesville.
For one thing, Mr. Obama’s courses chronicled the failure of liberal policies and court-led efforts at social change: the Reconstruction-era amendments that were rendered meaningless by a century of resistance, the way the triumph of Brown gave way to fights over busing, the voting rights laws that crowded blacks into as few districts as possible. He was wary of noble theories, students say; instead, they call Mr. Obama a contextualist, willing to look past legal niceties to get results.
For another, Mr. Obama liked to provoke. He wanted his charges to try arguing that life was better under segregation, that black people were better athletes than white ones.
“I remember thinking, ‘You’re offending my liberal instincts,’ ” Mary Ellen Callahan, now a privacy lawyer in Washington, recalled.
In his voting rights course, Mr. Obama taught Lani Guinier’s proposals for structuring elections differently to increase minority representation. Opponents attacked those suggestions when Ms. Guinier was nominated as assistant attorney general for civil rights in 1993, costing her the post.
“I think he thought they were good and worth trying,” said David Franklin, who now teaches law at DePaul University in Chicago.
But whether out of professorial reserve or budding political caution, Mr. Obama would not say so directly. “He surfaced all the competing points of view on Guinier’s proposals with total neutrality and equanimity,” Mr. Franklin said. “He just let the class debate the merits of them back and forth.”
While students appreciated Mr. Obama’s evenhandedness, colleagues sometimes wanted him to take a stand. When two fellow faculty members asked him to support a controversial antigang measure, allowing the Chicago police to disperse and eventually arrest loiterers who had no clear reason to gather, Mr. Obama discussed the issue with unusual thoughtfulness, they say, but gave little sign of who should prevail — the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposed the measure, or the community groups that supported it out of concern about crime.
“He just observed it with a kind of interest,” said Daniel Kahan, now a professor at Yale.
Nor could his views be gleaned from scholarship; Mr. Obama has never published any. He was too busy, but also, Mr. Epstein believes, he was unwilling to put his name to anything that could haunt him politically, as Ms. Guinier’s writings had hurt her. “He figured out, you lay low,” Mr. Epstein said.
The Chicago law faculty is full of intellectually fiery friendships that burn across ideological lines. Three times a week, professors do combat over lunch at a special round table in the university’s faculty club, and they share and defend their research in workshop discussions. Mr. Obama rarely attended, even when he was in town.
“I’m not sure he was close to anyone,” Mr. Hutchinson said, except for a few liberal constitutional law professors, like Cass Sunstein, now an occasional adviser to his campaign. Mr. Obama was working two other jobs, after all, in the State Senate and at a civil rights law firm.
Several colleagues say Mr. Obama was surely influenced by the ideas swirling around the law school campus: the prevailing market-friendliness, or economic analysis of the impact of laws. But none could say how. “I’m not sure we changed him,” Mr. Baird said.
Because he never fully engaged, Mr. Obama “doesn’t have the slightest sense of where folks like me are coming from,” Mr. Epstein said. “He was a successful teacher and an absentee tenant on the other issues.”...(Read rest on line Click here: The Long Run - As a Professor, Obama Enthralled Students and Puzzled Faculty - Series - NYTimes.com )
From Kathy in KCMO:
Here is my latest editorial that I sent to The Star. They contacted me that they intend to publish it. Notice this one is under my maiden name "Stiles" to see if I can eliminate the hate mail I got last time!Kathy
I often read letters in The Star blaming Democrats for higher gas prices and for accomplishing nothing. Democrats do not have a filibuster-proof majority, and Republicans have used this to block nearly every bill that has been proposed. They have blocked more bills than any other Congress in history.
Last week, Republicans blocked three bills that would have given us some immediate relief. They blocked release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves that significantly reduced prices at the pump in the past: 33% in 1991, 19% in 2000 and 9% in 2005. They blocked legislation that would have closed the loophole on speculators who manipulate the price of oil on world markets. They also blocked aid to the poor in paying their rising heating and cooling bills. The only bill they will support is offshore drilling which benefits oil companies more than consumers. Offshore drilling is not an immediate solution at the pump. Experts agree that it won’t bring us any oil for decades and will not significantly lower prices. It is more of a “psychological benefit” according to McCain and Bush. With us having only 3% of the world’s oil and consuming 24%, we cannot drill our way out of this problem even with every drop of domestic oil. We need long term alternative energy solutions, but Republicans have also blocked those.
Tell Republicans in Congress to start putting the needs of the American people above their party and special interest groups. We need real solutions not party politics! They have made the GOP “The Grand Obstructionist Party.”
Kathy Stiles
Kansas City, MO
PS: I did read about McSame getting more than a million dollars from big oil after his big flipflop on offshore drilling. They are really pushing this offshore drilling crap like it will solve everyone's problems. That is why I wrote my editorial about the Rethugs blocking measures for real immediate relief. I have another one about lies they are telling about offshore drilling to ram it down people's throats. It is a huge gift to their biggest, wealthiest special interest group! The Rethugs are standing lockstep in their lies to pass offshore drilling and to block everything else until they get it. They could all use a big cash infusion from Big Oil. Their fundraising these days is not as good as the Dems!
Can Obama Run the Offense?
By BOB HERBERT
Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. Barack Obama is a United States senator, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and his party’s candidate for president of the United States — and yet it was somehow presumptuous of him to meet with foreign leaders last week during his trip to the Middle East and Europe.
I’ll say this about Senator Obama. He sure raises people’s hackles. I’ve never seen anyone so roundly criticized for such grievous offenses as giving excellent speeches and urging people of different backgrounds to take a chance on working together. How dare he? And 200,000 people turned out to hear him in Berlin. Unforgivable.
The man has been taken to task for promoting hope, threatened with mutilation by Jesse Jackson for suggesting that a lot of black fathers could do better by their kids and had his patriotism called into question because he wants to wind down a war that most Americans would dearly love to be rid of.
John McCain can barely stop himself from sputtering at the mere mention of Senator Obama’s name. He actually ran an ad blaming Mr. Obama for high gasoline prices. Even Republicans had a good laugh at that one.
And yet Mr. Obama continues to treat Senator McCain respectfully. As far as personal character is concerned, Mr. Obama has scored very well, indeed.
What remains to be seen, now that the overseas tour is over, is whether Team Obama can play offense here at home and pile up enough points to win this election. Mr. McCain has been a surprisingly inept candidate (riding on a golf cart with Poppy Bush was almost as deadly an image as the helmeted Mike Dukakis bouncing around in a tank), but he has stayed within striking distance.
And you can’t trust any of the polls this year. I was in New Hampshire when the polls and the pundits said Mr. Obama was a lock to win that primary. He lost. And I was in California on Super Tuesday when the polls said he was closing fast. He wasn’t.
So this is not your ordinary election. Senator Obama will have to turn people on big-time just to win by a little. And for all the tedious talk about timelines and what the surge in Iraq has or has not accomplished, the top three issues in this campaign are still the economy, the economy and the economy.
Americans are losing jobs, losing the equity in their homes, losing their retirement nest eggs, and tragically, in increasing numbers, actually losing the family home itself. This is the issue on which the Obama people should long since have pounced.
A recent survey found that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the social contract of the 20th century — in which the government, employers and the society as a whole pulled together to see that those who worked hard and played by the rules were afforded the basic necessities of daily life and a shot at the American dream — “appears to be unraveling.”
Nearly 80 percent of those who responded to the survey, conducted for the Rockefeller Foundation and Time magazine, said they are facing greater financial risks now than in the past.
This anxiety is pervasive, and it was clearly evident a little more than two weeks ago when Phil Gramm, then John McCain’s key economic adviser, callously remarked that we were suffering from a “mental recession” and that the U.S. had become “a nation of whiners.”
The Obama crowd should have instantly seen the Gramm gaffe for what it was, a gift from the political gods. They should have run with it. I would have dragged out that old Maxine Brown song with the lyric: “Maybe it’s all in my mind.”
The Democrats could have had some fun and made political hay, using the Gramm comments to highlight what has happened to working people under Republican rule. But the Obama folks let the matter drop, and instead of an endless loop of “mental recession,” what we’ve heard incessantly over the past couple of weeks has been Mr. McCain pounding on Mr. Obama about the surge.
The word is that an economic offensive may finally be coming from the Obama campaign.
Anna Burger, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, was part of a wide-ranging group of advisers on economic issues who met with Mr. Obama in Washington on Monday. “He has very serious policies, not sound bites, for addressing the long-term and short-term issues that are having such a dramatic effect on people who are working and trying to make ends meet,” she said.
Translating those ideas into a compelling economic narrative for his campaign — something Mr. Obama has not yet done — is the key to defeating John McCain.
From Linda in GA and Fran:
Fran,
That was an excellent email. I have seen these answers, but the set up of this email is very organized. I am forwarding this to my friend Sunny, who is a Blogger, maybe she can put it on the BLOG for people to use when they need "facts."
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 4:44 PM
Subject: FW: Re: Think you know who this man is? Checked sources
Here are the exact quotes. Former ones are not all true
Sent: 7/24/2008 1:04:31 PM
Subject: Re: Think you know who this man is?
Hi Guys: Please check out this link regarding the email on Obama. It's important that you read it. I am not voting for him, but we need to be accurate when quoting the "enemy".... Love you, Rhonda
SUBSCRIBE to TruthOrFiction.com Email Alerts, Advisories, and Virus Warnings!
Be among the first to know about new eRumors, viruses, Internet hoaxes...and more.
CLICK HERE for details
Quotes From Barack Obama Books-Truth! & Fiction!
Summary of the eRumor:
A collection of quotes from two books written by Senator Barack Obama that try to highlight his attitudes about race and Islam.
The Truth:
All but two of the quotes seem to be accurate, but are taken out of context.
One of the quotes does not exist and the one about Islam is fabricated.
Also, whoever constructed this eRumor claims that some of the quotes are from a book by Obama titled Dreams of My Father. The actual title of Obama's book is Dreams From my Father.
In response to email rumors that have circulated about Obama, his campaign has created a page to respond to the rumors. CLICK HERE for the "Fight the Smears" page.
(CLICK HERE for a list of other related stories about Barack Obama)
Let's look at them one-at-a-time:
"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."-Truth!
This is an accurate quote from the introduction to Dreams from My Father. The book chronicles Obama's experience as the son of an African father and an American mother.
"I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."-Fiction!
This quote does not exist in either of Obama's books.
"There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white."-Truth!
This is a quote from Dreams from My Father. It it in a section in which Obama describes a job interview with a man in Chicago. Race had been a part of their discussion and the full quote is, "There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white---he'd said himself that was a problem."
It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."-Truth!
This one is also from Dreams from My Father. It is from a section when Obama was a college student and wrestling with his identity including as an African-American. The quote describes his observation of what was required among his fellow students.
"I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, Dubois and Mandela."-Truth!
This is from Dreams from my Father. The more complete quote is, ""Yes, I’d seen weakness in other men— Gramps and his disappointments, Lolo and his compromise. But these men had become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela."
"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."-Fiction!
This is a corruption of a quote from Obama's book The Audacity of Hope. It is from a section that talks about the concerns of immigrants who are American citizens.
Here is the accurate and more complete quote: "Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
Updated 5/13/08
A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:
Subject: Obama and his thoughts from HIS BOOKS
I wouldn’t recommend purchasing his books, but checking them out from the public library
and verifying the quotes this is a dangerous individual that has not been truthful, evidently
with very much he has uttered in public. Particularly the last quote!
This guy wants to be our President and control our government. Pay close attention to the last comment!! Below are a few lines from Obama's books " his words:
From Dreams of My Father: "I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."...(See all discussed in the above e-mail)
Holy Cow ! He's lost his mind, and so has anyone that votes for him ! Go be President of a Muslim country, then !
From Judy R in Mamaroenck:
Sunny..
You have been puzzled at why Obama isn't having a more substantial lead in the polls. Read the AOL members comments below this article and it will give you a picture of how many people in this country perceive Obama. It is taking what they see and hear and totally distorting the picture and sound. I don't know how Obama and the DNC can break through these extreme biases!
Click here: Media Biased Against Obama - Political Machine
From Linda in FL/GA:
Sunny I have thought from time to time to forward your BLOG to more reasonable "open" people, but you need to tone down a bit, less strident. Just the facts. Act like you can understand where the other side is coming from, their fears and uncertainties, (you've read my emails of this sort), but answer them with all your knowledge of the facts.
I was the only one that showed up today. I went to the Mall. Kelly, there, told me she would be happy with 2 people registering, and I got 2, but I asked dozens and dozens. Many said they were already registered, some said they did not want to register or vote. Some were too young and some were foreign.
From Vicki in KCMO:
For those who missed the show today- you missed a good one. I talked to Jim Slattery, former KS Congressman who is running against Sen. Pat Roberts. Thursday, I am substituting for Barbara Crist on 12 BC - at noon on July 31. We're talking trash - in KC - what it is, where it goes, how can we reduce, reuse or compost it. Tune in.
Also - remember - please sign the water bottle ban at www.noplasticbottles.org
Now - for the juice! KKFI has one week left on our on-air auction and OMG! - You better go on and LOOK at the stuff we have! (wine tasting, music lessons, dinners, yoga classes, financial planning (God knows, Many of us could use this service!), concert and theater tickets, collectibles, books, carpentry, auto-mechanics, gardening, golf, hotel accomodations, massage. This goes on and on! Plus- the pdf is a new list of music stuff! Lessons, guitar signed by Willie Nelson.
Think longer ahead than tomorrow - think birthdays (imagine being able to give a gift that WON"t be put in the next garage sale, or added to the growing mound of trash as we 'wear things out, get tired of things, or grow out of them') Anniversaries, a BFF surprise gift of a massage, Christmas or Hannuka jewels that will keep on giving because they are not 'stuff' but experiences! (Ok - there are a few 'stuffs').
KKFI is on the move and raising money online is a no-brainer. Check it out and support KKFI and Community Radio at the same time you are getting great deals!
Please pass this on to those who could, should, would use it!
From Randy in CA:
Sunny: the only people I know who are undecided are those who only care
about Israel and somehow, these people think mc cain would be better. I don't understand it. and those who don't like him and won't vote for him also rest their decisions on Israel. it seems Israel is becoming a very important factor in this election, more so to some Jews that our own country. While Obama may be in the lead, 4% points are not very much and certainly fall within the range of a margin of error. I agree with Bob Herbert's column yesterday and frank rich's today. His was really superb as always. For mccain to complain that he is feeling "left out" from the news media reminds me of a 4 year old, a child. only 100 days to go.
From Lee in NYC:
Dear Women for Obama:
Here is the latest collection of information to help us keep the momentum going for Senator Barack Obama.
1. Upcoming Fundraising Events
2. Sign up as Women for Obama Team Leader
3. Attend the ObamaNYC Party
4. Obama on the Issues
5. Volunteer Opportunities
2. UPCOMING FUNDRAISING EVENTS:
Wednesday, July 30th in Ridgefield, CT.
Environmental Policy Gathering with Senator Obama’s senior energy and environmental advisor, Jason Grumet calling in for commentary.
6-8 pm
Cost: $100
RSVP and contribute here: http://my.barackobama.com/JasonGrumet
Saturday, August 9th in the Hamptons, NY
African American Leadership Council Cocktails to celebrate an Obama Victory in 2008 at the home of Star Jones
5:00pm
Chair/Host/Council Member/Guest: $10,000,$4,600,$1,000,$250
Contact: Alix Dejean, (202)863-7164, dejeana@dnc.org
Sunday, August 10th in Fire Island, NY.
Join Governor Howard Dean at a GLLC Brunch at the home of Brandon Fradd, 72 Bay Walk
12:00pm
Co-Chair/Vice-Chair/Host/Full Share/Half Share/Quarter Share/Weekend Visitor: $10,000, $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100
Contact: Tom Petrillo, (202)488-5015, petrillot@dnc.org
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/PinesBrunch
Saturday, August 16th in Long Beach Island, NJ.
Join NJ Field Organizer Mario Bonafacio and supporters in NJ for an event to benefit Obama Victory Fund
4-6pm
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/fundraising/44594
Sunday, August 17th in the Hamptons, NY
Join special guest Caroline Kennedy for brunch in Sagaponack, NY to benefit Obama Victory Fund. We are still working on additional political speakers and will be joined by some of the campaign’s top policy advisors.
11:00 am
Cost: $2,300 and $1,000
RSVP and contribute today: http://my.barackobama.com/EastEnd
3. SIGN UP AS WOMEN FOR OBAMA TEAM LEADER:
As we move towards the general election, organizing women on the ground is becoming an increasingly central focus for us. With this in mind, we are looking to sign up Women for Obama Team Leaders - women who show exceptional commitment to take the lead in their states and communities. Among other things, Team Leaders will work side by side with field organizers to help organize women in your state or region through such methods as: voter registration, organizing parties, and canvassing. Team Leaders may also have the opportunity to travel to targeted battleground states nearby to help to Get-Out-The-Vote among women. Please let us know if you are interested in becoming a WFO Team Leader by emailing women@barackobama.com, and providing your name, phone number, and email address. Please put WFO Team Leader in the subject line.
4. ATTEND THE OBAMA NYC PARTY:
On Sunday, August 3rd from 12pm to 4pm ObamaNYC is hosting a party in Central Park to help unite Democrats, Independents and Republicans for Obama! This is a great way to meet other supporters and learn ways to get involved with the campaign on a local level. Live Music, Stencil America, Obama Photobooth, Voter Registration, and more!
When: Sunday, August 3rd, 12 to 4PM (group photo at 1PM)
Where: 72nd Street in mid-Central Park near the Bandshell. Enter the park from Central Park West or 5th Ave.
To RSVP and for more information: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/44crt
To volunteer, email amymiller3@gmail.com
5. OBAMA ON THE ISSUES:
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy (Read here for a side by side comparison of Senator Obama’s positions and those of Senator McCain’s. The list addresses everything from financial relief for America’s families this summer, America’s long term competitiveness, reducing dependence on foreign oil, and increasing green jobs.)
ECONOMY: (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/) (To read about specific positions, please hold down the Control key and left click.)
• Jumpstart the Economy
• Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief
• Trade
• Job Creation
• Support Small Business
• Labor
• Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud
• Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
• Reform Bankruptcy Laws
• Work/Family Balance
EDUCATION:
• Early Childhood Education
• K-12
• Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward Teachers
• Higher Education
HEALTHCARE
• Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All
• Lower Costs by Modernizing The U.S. Health Care System
• Fight for New Initiatives
6. VOLUNTEERING FOR THE CAMPAIGN:
We are still waiting patiently for the political offices to open in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut which will handle volunteer activities. That doesn't mean that there aren't grassroots volunteer operations in existence. Volunteers are using the on-line campaign tools to organizer their communities.
a. Go to the barackobama.com website and sign up for the Women for Obama newsletter. Use this link: women.barackobama.com
b. Go to your state page to receive updates from the campaign specific to your state.
Click here for New York for Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/nysignup
Click here for New Jersey for Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/njhome
Click here for Connecticut for Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/cthome
c. Here is a more general list of activities volunteers can do for the campaign on their own:
- fundraising, reaching new donors
- organize house parties and gatherings to speak to friends and family
- travel to see friends in other states to speak to them about Obama
- participate in the Vote for Change initiative to register voters http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/vfchome
- participate in volunteer activities in other states
- write letters to the editor in support of Obama
- call in to radio stations in support of Obama
- write blog posts in support of Obama
USEFUL RESOURCES
Contribute
Tri-State Fundraising Link: https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/OVFTriState
Obama Links
- Women for Obama: women.barackobama.com
- The Issues: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
- Factcheck: http://factcheck.barackobama.com/
- Obama for America Blog: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hqblog
- Obama Gear: http://store.barackobama.com/
New York Obama Volunteer Links:
- NYC Obama Volunteer Info: www.nyobama.com/
- Obama NYC Volunteer Info: www.obamanyc.com
And finally, if you would like to be added to the Tri-State Women for Obama list please contact Lee Dugger ldugger@barackobama.com
Lee Dugger
Obama for America
Director of Women and Constituency Fundraising
Tel: 212-763-4850
From Jen in NYC for all of you in varying states,please send out to people you know and think would be interested:
7/31/08 – Houston, TX
The home of Ginni & Richard Mithoff
2930 Lazy Lane Boulevard
5:00pm – Reception with Senator Obama followed by Special Dinner with Senator Obama
Reception Sponsor/Reception Guest/Dinner: Write $10,000 or raise $23,000, $2,300, $28,000 per dinner guest
Contact: (202)543-5704, texasobama@barackobama.com
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/HoustonJuly31
7/31/08 – Chicago, IL
Location available upon RSVP
2:00pm-5:00pm – Political & Policy Briefing with David Axelrod, David Plouffe & Penny Pritzker
6:30pm-8:30pm – Dinner with David Axelrod, David Plouffe & Penny Pritzker
Ticket Price: $10,000 (Includes Briefing and Dinner)
Contact: Ari Koban, (312)819-2789, akoban@barackobama.com
8/2/08 – Stockbridge, MA
The home of Patricia & Joel Ellis
24 Prospect Hill Road
4:00pm – Sponsor Reception with Gov. Dean
5:00pm – Main Reception with Gov. Dean
Sponsor/Ticket Price: $500, $250
Contact: nefinance@barackobama.com
8/2/08 – Miami Beach, FL
Address provided upon RSVP
7:30pm – Reception with Luciana & Matt Damon and Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck
Private Table/VIP/Ticket Price: $2,500, $1,000, $250
Contact: Jessica Clark, (305)442-7464, Jessica.Clark@barackobama.com
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/MiamiBeachAug2
8/4/08 – Boston, MA
The State Room
60 State Street, 33rd Floor
4:00pm – Doors open for Birthday Celebration with Senator Obama
5:00pm – Doors open for Birthday Dinner and Photoline Reception with Senator Obama
Event Chair/Event Co-Chair: $285,000, $142,500
Celebration Co-Chair/Sponsor/Friend/Ticket Price: $25,000, $4,600, $2,300, $1,000
Dinner and Photoline: $28,500 per couple, $15,000 per seat
Contact: (617)418-3437, nefinance@barackobama.com
8/5/08 – Nantucket, MA
The home of Margie & Lou Susman
35 Washing Pond Road
5:00pm – VIP Reception with Vice President Gore
5:30pm – General Reception with Vice President Gore
7:00pm – Dinner & Conversation with Vice President Gore
VIP sponsor/VIP ticket price/General Reception/Dinner reception: $4,600, $2,300, $1,000, $10,000 per couple
Contact: (617)381-4008, nefinance@barackobama.com
8/6/08 – Minneapolis, MN
The Hilton
1001 Marquette Avenue
4:30pm – Photo Reception with Senator Obama
5:00pm – General Reception with Senator Obama
Dinner/Photo Reception/Ticket Price: $28,500, $5,000, $1,000
Contact: Roz Skozen, (312)819-2783, rskozen@barackobama.com
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/BOminnAug6
8/6/08 – Norfolk, VA
Harrison Opera House
160 East Virginia Beach Boulevard
6:00pm – Reception with Michelle Obama and Bruce Hornsby
Co-Host/Box Seating/VIP/Priority Seating/Orchestra/Ticket Price: $10,000, $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $250, $125
Contact: Joanna Martin, (202)543-2660, jmartin@barackobama.com
8/10/08 – Fire Island, NY
The home of Brandon Fradd
72 Bay Walk
12:00pm – GLLC Brunch with Governor Howard Dean
Co-Chair/Vice-Chair/Host/Full Share/Half Share/Quarter Share/Weekend Visitor: $10,000, $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100
Contact: Tom Petrillo, (202)488-5015, petrillot@dnc.org
8/12/08 – Boston, MA
The home of Dorothy Keville
376 Commercial St., 6E
6:30pm – Health care policy discussion with Carol Fulp & Professor David Cutler
Ticket Price: $100/$150
Contact: (617)381-4008, nefinance@barackobama.com
8/17/08 – San Francisco, CA
The Westin St. Francis Hotel
335 Powell Street
4:30pm – VIP Dinner with Senator Obama
5:30pm – General reception
VIP/Ticket Price: $28,000 per couple, $2,300
Contact: Chris Young, (415)971-2549, cyoung@barackobama.com
9/7/08 – Phoenix, MD
Residence & Art Galleries of Robert E. Meyerhoff
Address provided upon RSVP
5:00pm – Cocktails and Hors D’oeuvres in the galleries
6:00pm – Performance by Leon Fleisher, Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman
Ticket Price: $5,000
Contact: Shomik Dutta, (202)543-4673, sdutta@barackobama.com
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/BaltimoreSeptember7
From Randy in CA:
have you seen this? why not include it in the blog or some of it? it's
impt because it may be reaching a young population aside from others. randy
The Republicans have started running Obama attack ads on MTV. We've got a funny, positive, hopeful way to fight back. Can you watch this ad and help put it on the air?
Watch the ad
Dear MoveOn member,
MTV just started accepting political ads. And the first political ad that millions of young people will see is a negative attack on Barack Obama—saying he's "worse than a flip-flopper" and accusing him of no longer being against the war.1 It's outrageous.
The Republicans' strategy is clear: kill the hope that's brought millions of new young voters out of the woodwork.
We can't let that happen. And as it turns out, we've got a funny, positive, hopeful way to fight back.
The "funniest ad" award winner in our Obama in 30 Seconds contest is a perfect counterpoint to the cynicism-mongering ad on MTV. Plus, it was made by actor (and MoveOn member) Rider Strong.
We just found out that we can run this ad on MTV and Comedy Central (as their first political ad ever) for $150,000. If 6000 of us contribute $25, we can do it. Can you check out the ad below—and if you like it, will you chip in to get it on the air?
https://pol.moveon.org/donate/brainonhope.html?id=13345-622235-NOKHDex&t=4
Thanks for all you do.
–Peter, Ray, Daniel, Justin and the rest of the team
1. "Barack Obama Attacked In First National Political Ad Ever To Air On MTV," MTV News, July 23, 2008, http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3983&id=13345-622235-NOKHDex&t=5
From Wendy in Westchester:
I'm sending you a pdf of an article in the new republic a couple of weeks ago on what the U Chicago right thinks of Obama. Laura suggested I send it to you as Dave's step-dad, Dan Fischel is mentioned - I think we mentioned this story to you. Anyway, I thought you might find it interesting and maybe even useful. If you can't open it, please let me know and I'll send a different link to the exact date it ran so you can look it up that way.
The New Republic July “Question my patriotism again and you’ll get the foreign object.”
Con Law written by Jason Zengerle
What the University of Chicago right
thinks of Obama.
In the spring of 2000, not long after
Barack Obama was trounced in the
Democratic primary for a South Side
Chicago congressional seat, Daniel Fischel
staged an intervention. Meeting with
Obama in the main lounge at the University
of Chicago Law School, where Fischel
was then dean and Obama was a part-time
senior lecturer, Fischel offered Obama
some unsolicited advice. “I told him that
it was obvious his political career was
going nowhere,” Fischel recalls, “and that
he really ought to think about doing something else.”
The particular “something else”
Fischel had in mind was a full-time tenured
professorship; to sweeten the offer,
Fischel said the law school would even hire
Obama’s wife, Michelle, to run its legal
clinic. Although the move would require
Obama to give up his state Senate seat,
Fischel tried to convince his junior colleague
that Chicago professor might be a
more natural role than Chicago politician
for a cerebral guy like him. “I mentioned
people who’d been faculty members like
[Antonin] Scalia and [Richard] Posner
and [Frank] Easterbrook and many others
who had gone on to very distinguished
careers outside of academia or in combination
with academia,” Fischel says. “I told
him he could be a faculty member as well
as a public intellectual.”
Obama declined Fischel’s overture,
saying that he wanted to
give elected politics another shot. And
today, of course, it’s hard to find any fault
with the wisdom of that decision. Still,
the episode is interesting not only as a
counterfactual (how much does Hillary
Clinton wish Obama had spent last December
grading Con Law exams instead
of stumping in Iowa?) but as a window
onto Obama’s relationship with those
who don’t share his ideology. The University
of Chicago Law School, after all,
is a famously conservative institution—
the birthplace of the law-and-economics
movement and the incubator of numerous
conservative intellectuals; Fischel
himself literally wrote (with Easterbrook)
one of the fundamental books
on law and economics, in addition to
another book arguing that the government’s
prosecution of Michael Milken
was unjust. Yet, eight years ago, there
was something about Obama that made
Fischel and other Chicago conservative
legal scholars want Obama to be their
colleague—and today, at least for some
of them, maybe even their president.
Obama first came to the University
of Chicago Law School’s
attention via one of its more celebrated
conservative faculty members,
Michael McConnell, who’s now a federal
judge on the Tenth Circuit Court
of Appeals and reportedly was on
George W. Bush’s short list of potential
Supreme Court nominees.
Back in 1990, when McConnell
was still teaching at Chicago, he wrote
an article about church-state relations
for the Harvard Law Review that Obama,
who was then the Law Review’s president,
edited. As McConnell recently recalled
the experience to Politico: “A frequent
problem with student editors is that they
try to turn an article into something they
want it to be. It was striking that Obama
didn’t do that. He tried to make it better
from my point of view.” McConnell
was so impressed with Obama that he
recommended him to the head of Chicago’s
appointments committee at the
8 July , The New Republic
not of the law school, like Posner and
Easterbrook,” says Richard Epstein, the
famously libertarian law professor. “He’s
not someone who came to lunch when
the topic wasn’t one of his choosing.” But
other faculty said Obama made contributions
outside the classroom in other
ways. Obama was particularly good
at “bonding with students and being
a forceful mentor with students,” says
Baird. “The hours he kept tended to be
different. Frank Easterbrook doesn’t
get up before ten o’clock, where Barack
would be there at eight o’clock. Students
could have a cup of coffee with him at
eight o’clock, and many did.”
Obama’s closest colleagues at the
law school tended to be the more liberal
members of the faculty—such as
Cass Sunstein and Geoffrey Stone—but
many conservatives were fond of him,
even though they often didn’t see eye to
eye. Saul Levmore, the school’s current
dean, whose politics are hard to characterize
but generally right-leaning, says,
“We were intensely interested in him.
We were looking for him to say, ‘I’m giving
up politics, I want to be an academic.’
We were always in recruiting mode with
him.” Epstein, who once almost sold his
Hyde Park home to Obama and would
buttonhole him to talk about things like
state mandates for health insurance, offers
one reason why: “He was always a
terrific listener. He’d sit there and cock
his head, take it all in.”
Of course, as Epstein points out,
Obama’s willingness to listen didn’t necessarily
mean he was willing to be convinced.
“What you don’t get, alas and
alack, out of all this is a change in point
of view,” Epstein says. “If you ask me
whether I had any influence on his intellectual
or moral development, I’d say no,
not even a little.”
But other Chicago conservatives
seem content with the fact that Obama
tried to understand their point of view,
even if he didn’t wind up adopting it.
“What I know from my dealings with
him at the law school is that he does
really attempt to understand the points
of view of other people who look at
the world or a particular issue differently
than he does,” says Fischel. “He’s
much more intellectual, much more
thoughtful, much more interested in
discussion, debate, and dialogue than
the typical politician. And that gives
me some confidence about him, even
though from my perspective he’s much
too liberal. I’ve never voted for a Democrat
in my entire life. He’s the first one
I might vote for.”
Jason Zengerle
to become a senior lecturer—then a title
held only by Posner and Easterbrook—
and teach a reduced course load of three
classes per year.
For the next eight years, Obama taught
upper-level constitutional law courses on
equal protection and voting rights. He
was a huge hit with his students. According
to the Chicago Sun-Times, which reviewed
students’ evaluations of Obama’s
courses, he was almost always rated one
of their favorite instructors during his
time at Chicago. Given the subject matter
of Obama’s courses, one might assume
that students in the classes—which were
electives—would have been disproportionately
liberal. But Chicago’s reputation
for producing law professors tended
to mitigate against that. “Anybody who’s
thinking they want to go into academia,
conservative or liberal, kind of knows
they have to take equal protection,” says
Kenworthey Bilz, who took equal protection
from Obama in 1997 and is now a
professor at Northwestern Law School.
“I can very confidently say he didn’t strike
me as liberal or conservative.”
Because of his political duties in
Springfield, Obama scheduled most of
his classes on Monday mornings and
Friday afternoons—before or after the
weekends he’d spend with his family in
Chicago—which meant he rarely participated
in the law school’s famous faculty
seminars and workshops. This caused a
little grumbling among some of his colleagues.
“He was at the law school but
time, Douglas Baird, a bankruptcy expert
and a law-and-economics devotee.
“Michael’s a very smart guy who’s basically
a very good judge of horse flesh—
he wouldn’t typically recommend people,”
says Baird.
Baird approached Obama about a
teaching job at Chicago during his third
and final year as a student at Harvard.
“You look at his background—Harvard
Law Review president, magna cum laude,
and he’s African American,” Baird says.
“This is a no-brainer hiring decision at
the entry level of any law school in the
country.” But Obama wasn’t interested.
Obama did, however, mention that he
was writing a book on voting rights, so
Baird arranged for him to become a Law
and Government Fellow at the school—
a position that provided Obama with
an office and a modest stipend he could
use in the course of his writing. When
Obama came to Baird in the middle of
his fellowship to report that his book
on voting rights had morphed into the
memoir that would become Dreams
From My Father, Baird told him not
to worry. “It was a good deal for us,”
Baird explains, “because he was a good
teaching prospect and we wanted him
around.” Indeed, after the publication
of Dreams, Baird, who was then dean of
the law school, took another shot at hiring
Obama as a professor. Obama, who
was in the midst of successfully running
for the state Senate, once again declined.
From Beth in Westchester:
Did you see this article yet?
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/ov/archive/2008/07/29/israel-reacts-to-obama-s-private-prayer.aspx
From Ben Rosen new post on his blog: http://benrosen.com/
North Korea and the N. Y. Philharmonic: The "Why?" Question Gets Answered
From Obama for America:
Dear National Call Team --
During the primaries, the National Call Team made millions of phone calls to voters in almost every state. These calls helped identify supporters, recruit volunteers, sway undecided voters, and provide valuable election information. Your efforts helped us win hundreds of additional delegates and in some cases quite literally made the difference between winning and losing.
With fewer than 100 days until the November 4th election, now is the time to share why you support Barack Obama by once again calling voters across the country:
http://my.barackobama.com/call
In all 50 states, field offices are opening, grassroots groups are organizing, and members of the Call Team are picking up the phone to reach out to voters and help transform our nation, one conversation at a time.
Whether you've made hundreds of calls over the last seventeen months or will be picking up the phone for the first time, our online call tool makes it easy to reach out and share your story with undecided voters in crucial states like New Hampshire, Ohio, and New Mexico.
We'll provide you with a script and targeted list of names to call. Just select the state you'd like to impact and get started calling right away to bring someone new into this campaign for change.
Let voters hear from the passionate supporters who have made this campaign possible from the very beginning:
http://my.barackobama.com/call
Thank you for making this movement possible.
Nikki
Nikki Sutton
My.BarackObama
P.S. -- Speak Spanish? Call Spanish speaking voters in New Mexico:
http://my.barackobama.com/callnmspanish
From Judy in Westchester:
Click here: Conyers Announces Hearing on Imperial Presidency
Conyers Announces Hearing on Imperial Presidency
For Immediate Release
July 17, 2008 Contact: Jonathan Godfrey (Conyers)
(Washington)—Today House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. announced that, on July 25, the House Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush and possible legal responses.
“Over the last seven plus years, there have been numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the Bush Administration,” said Conyers. “At the same time, the administration has adopted what many would describe as a radical view of its own powers and authorities. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I believe it is imperative that we pursue a comprehensive review commensurate to this constitutionally dangerous combination of circumstances. Next Friday’s hearings will be an important part of that ongoing effort.”...(See rest on line!)
#2 From Judy:
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July 30, 2008
The Long Run
Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Apart
By JODI KANTOR
CHICAGO — The young law professor stood apart in too many ways to count. At a school where economic analysis was all the rage, he taught rights, race and gender. Other faculty members dreamed of tenured positions; he turned them down. While most colleagues published by the pound, he never completed a single work of legal scholarship.
At a formal institution, Barack Obama was a loose presence, joking with students about their romantic prospects, using first names, referring to case law one moment and “The Godfather” the next. He was also an enigmatic one, often leaving fellow faculty members guessing about his precise views.
Mr. Obama, now the junior senator from Illinois and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, spent 12 years at the University of Chicago Law School. Most aspiring politicians do not dwell in the halls of academia, and few promising young legal thinkers toil in state legislatures. Mr. Obama planted a foot in each, splitting his weeks between an elite law school and the far less rarefied atmosphere of the Illinois Senate.
Before he outraised every other presidential primary candidate in American history, Mr. Obama marched students through the thickets of campaign finance law. Before he helped redraw his own State Senate district, making it whiter and wealthier, he taught districting as a racially fraught study in how power is secured. And before he posed what may be the ultimate test of racial equality — whether Americans will elect a black president — he led students through African-Americans’ long fight for equal status.
Standing in his favorite classroom in the austere main building, sharp-witted students looming above him, Mr. Obama refined his public speaking style, his debating abilities, his beliefs.
“He tested his ideas in classrooms,” said Dennis Hutchinson, a colleague. Every seminar hour brought a new round of, “Is affirmative action justified? Under what circumstances?” as Mr. Hutchinson put it.
But Mr. Obama’s years at the law school are also another chapter — see United States Senate, c. 2006 — in which he seemed as intently focused on his own political rise as on the institution itself. Mr. Obama, who declined to be interviewed for this article, was well liked at the law school, yet he was always slightly apart from it, leaving some colleagues feeling a little cheated that he did not fully engage. The Chicago faculty is more rightward-leaning than that of other top law schools, but if teaching alongside some of the most formidable conservative minds in the country had any impact on Mr. Obama, no one can quite point to it.
“I don’t think anything that went on in these chambers affected him,” said Richard Epstein, a libertarian colleague who says he longed for Mr. Obama to venture beyond his ideological and topical comfort zones. “His entire life, as best I can tell, is one in which he’s always been a thoughtful listener and questioner, but he’s never stepped up to the plate and taken full swings.”
Mr. Obama had other business on his mind, embarking on five political races during his 12 years at the school. Teaching gave him satisfaction, along with a perch and a paycheck, but he was impatient with academic debates over “whether to drop a footnote or not drop a footnote,” said Abner J. Mikva, a mentor whose own career has spanned Congress, the federal bench and the same law school.
Douglas Baird, another colleague, remembers once asking Mr. Obama to assess potential candidates for governor.
“First of all, I’m not running for governor, “ Mr. Obama told him. “But if I did, I would expect you to support me.”
He was a third-year state senator at the time.
Popular and Enigmatic
Mr. Obama arrived at the law school in 1991 thanks to Michael W. McConnell, a conservative scholar who is now a federal appellate judge. As president of The Harvard Law Review, Mr. Obama had impressed Mr. McConnell with editing suggestions on an article; on little more than that, the law school gave him a fellowship, which amounted to an office and a computer, which he used to write his memoir, “Dreams From My Father.”
The school had almost no black faculty members, a special embarrassment given its location on the South Side. Its sleek halls bordered a neighborhood crumbling with poverty and neglect. In his 2000 Congressional primary race, Representative Bobby L. Rush, a former Black Panther running for re-election, used Mr. Obama’s ties to the school to label him an egghead and an elitist.
At the school, Mr. Obama taught three courses, ascending to senior lecturer, a title otherwise carried only by a few federal judges. His most traditional course was in the due process and equal protection areas of constitutional law. His voting rights class traced the evolution of election law, from the disenfranchisement of blacks to contemporary debates over districting and campaign finance. Mr. Obama was so interested in the subject that he helped Richard Pildes, a professor at New York University, develop a leading casebook in the field.
His most original course, a historical and political seminar as much as a legal one, was on racism and law. Mr. Obama improvised his own textbook, including classic cases like Brown v. Board of Education, and essays by Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Dubois, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, as well as conservative thinkers like Robert H. Bork.
Mr. Obama was especially eager for his charges to understand the horrors of the past, students say. He assigned a 1919 catalog of lynching victims, including some who were first raped or stripped of their ears and fingers, others who were pregnant or lynched with their children, and some whose charred bodies were sold off, bone fragment by bone fragment, to gawkers.
“Are there legal remedies that alleviate not just existing racism, but racism from the past?” Adam Gross, now a public interest lawyer in Chicago, wrote in his class notes in April 1994...(Read rest on line Click here: The Long Run - As a Professor, Obama Enthralled Students and Puzzled Faculty - Series - NYTimes.com)
From Hank:
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 8:36 AM
To: 'letters@nytimes.com'
Subject: To The Editor
“Low-Road Express” – Editorial – July 30, 2008
You can usually tell how much trouble a politician is in by how low he or she sinks in attacking their opponent. John McCain, who has lost all the wheels on his “Straight Talk Express”, is now taking pages out of the Bill and Hillary notebook on how to smear and degrade your foes. The idea of calling anyone who would run for the highest office in the world “un-patriotic” is so absurd that it is insulting. John McCain’s years spent as a POW in Vietnam do not make him any more or less patriotic or qualified than Barack Obama.
Senator McCain is exposing himself as a tired old man who would rather stoop to the gutter than confront the major issues of the day with a more than worthy opponent.
Dear Sunny --
Yesterday in Chicago, at a Women for Obama luncheon, Michelle Obama joined us to introduce Barack's plan to support women and families.
At the luncheon, Michelle outlined Barack's Women and Families Blueprint and how it will empower women to reclaim their dreams for themselves and their families -- without having to worry about whether they can take time off to care for a sick child or afford to feed their families.
The campaign put together a short video of Michelle's talk. Watch the video now and read about the Women and Families Blueprint:
http://women.barackobama.com/blueprintvideo
The stakes in this election are higher than ever, especially for women who are struggling to make ends meet, with rising prices of gas and groceries and salaries falling farther behind.
Michelle understands the challenges women are facing all over America today because she spent years juggling motherhood with the demands of her career, just like working mothers across the country.
As Michelle explained today, Barack's plan will move our nation in a fundamentally different direction. The Women and Families Blueprint will help ensure that the American dream for our jobs and families is available to all.
Watch the video of Michelle's talk about the Blueprint and share it with your friends and family:
http://women.barackobama.com/blueprintvideo
Thank you,
Becky
Becky Carroll
National Director
Women for Obama
Paid for by Obama for America
This email was sent to: sunnyg45@aol.com
To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe
From Sue in the Hamptons:
Hi—
Thanks to all of you who hosted or attended a platform meeting! The thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the recommendations are a real tribute to your commitment to democracy in action. And thanks to Terri for overseeing the Obama team’s Live After Five voter registration effort every Friday in Patchogue and to her volunteers.
We have lots going on this week, as well. Let’s have a big turnout for the Sag Harbor yard sale and bake sale on Saturday (Great buys! Great goodies! Good fun!) And for the Brookhaven Women’s Caucus unity party on Sunday (Lively discussion!). On Monday we will formally inaugurate our Brookhaven Obama office in Farmingville at a kick-off meeting sponsored by the Brookhaven Democratic Clubs and organized by the Rosa Parks Democratic Assn. Please join us! And save the date for the upcoming fundraisers listed below!
VOTER REGISTRATION AND LEAFLETING IN PATCHOGUE
Friday 8/1- Volunteers welcome!
Join the Jeffersonian Democratic Club and the Obama team to register voters and hand out leaflets for Obama and local Democratic candidates.
Patchogue Live After Five
Live music, outside dining, vendors, children's activities, Main Street closed to traffic.
Consecutive Fridays August 1, 8, 15, 6-10 p.m.
Main Street, Patchogue
To volunteer, contact Terri at ltwatkin@suffolk.lib.ny.us or Sue at suehornik@aol.com or 631-294-9324.
THE ULTIMATE OBAMA YARD-SALE AND BAKE-SALE FUND RAISER
Sag Harbor, Saturday 8/2
We need good stuff, and lots of it!
Please donate only gently used, nearly new items in good condition --
items that might tempt you at a yard sale.
Pre-price your donations.
(Remember, it's a fund raiser - don't under value.)
Drop off donations between 7:30 - 9:30 Saturday morning ONLY.
We need volunteers:
to make great road signs leading to the sale.
to place ads with local radio stations.
to accept donations, help with pricing and set up from 7:30 - 9:30
to sell from 10:00 - 12:00
to sell from 12:00 - 2:00
to sell from 2:00 - 4:00
to clean up from 4:00 - 6:00
We need volunteers to BAKE!
The last Obama bake sale made big bucks,
so we plan to offer baked goods as well,
with Kids for Obama selling lemonade.
Saturday, Aug. 2 (Rain date, Sunday Aug. 3 ), 10-4
East End Yard Sale
54 Palmer Terrace,
Sag Harbor
Questions? E-mail Marianna Levine at dascinema@optonline.net
or phone her at 631.875.8294
To volunteer: e-mail Kate McMullan at kmcm@optonline.net
VOTER REGISTRATION IN GORDON HEIGHTS on Saturday, 8/2
Help register voters!
Gordon Heights Day
Saturday, August 2, at 10 am
Granny Road Park directly across the street from Community Baptist Church
To volunteer or for more details, contact Rabia at Rabia_Aziz1@hotmail.com
UNITY PARTY: BROOKHAVEN WOMEN'S CAUCUS on Sunday, 8/3
Brookhaven Women's Caucus invites all Brookhaven women to a unity event and fundraiser, featuring:
Lee Dugger, coordinator of NY Women for Obama
Marsha Laufer, Brookhaven Town Democratic Chair
Honorable Vivian Viloria-Fisher, and David Ochoa, Obama Delegates to the Democratic Convention
Bring your spare change and a check or credit card to donate that amount to the campaign. We'll have change counting machines and donation forms on hand. This is part of CD1's Change We Can Believe In campaign!
Sunday, August 3, 2 to 5 PM
Hosts: Jane Corrarino and Nancy Ellis, Caucus Co-Chairs
Jane Corrarino and Michael Schaefer's home
6 Osprey Lane
Poquott 11733
RSVP: Nancy at 631-928-6450 or Sue at suehornik@aol.com
Directions: LIE to Exit 62, North on Nicolls Rd. to end and bear right onto Rt.25A. Go through 6 more traffic lights (HSBC on right, deli on left) and turn left onto Shore Rd. Follow Shore Rd. around water; after Poquott sign, Shore runs into Van Brunt Rd. Turn left onto Van Brunt and at 1st stop sign, turn right onto White Pine Lane. Go up hill to first left, Osprey Lane. #6 is the shingled Dutch colonial at end of cul-de-sac on the left. Please obey parking signs.
YES WE CAN! BROOKHAVEN DEMS PRE-CONVENTION RALLY AND OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE BROOKHAVEN OBAMA OFFICE! on Monday, 8/4
Brookhaven’s Democratic clubs are hosting a Town kick off for the Obama campaign, readying for the Convention in Denver. Meet CD1 Obama delegates, David Ochoa and Vivian Viloria-Fisher. Join us to inaugurate our new Obama office! Buttons and literature available!
Monday, August 4, 7 pm
Brookhaven Town Democratic headquarters in Farmingville
757 Horseblock Rd.
Farmingville
FUNDRAISER: SUPPORT SOUTHAMPTON DEMOCRATS AND OBAMA!
on Friday 8/8
Celebrate an historic Democratic year on 08-08-08! Join the South Hampton Democratic Party for an evening of fabulous food, music and dancing. Entertainment by Bakithi Kumalo (featured on Paul Simon's Graceland album). $150 per person, to benefit the Southampton Democrats. Visit the Obama table for literature, scads of Obama items, or to make a contribution to the Obama campaign!
Friday, August 8, 8-11pm
Hosted by Bettina and Fred Stelle
38 Actors Colony Rd., North Haven
Sag Harbor
For more information and to RSVP contact Grania Brolin at 631-537-1428 or info@shdems.org
OBAMA FUNDRAISER IN SAG HARBOR! on Saturday 8/9
Join us in support of Barack Obama for President!
Guest Speaker: Valdar Coryat, member DNC '08 Credentials Committee, CD4 volunteer coordinator for the Obama campaign and LI co-coordinator. MINIMUM DONATION: $50
Light refreshments will be served.
Saturday August 9, 4-6 pm
The home of Eileen and Major E. Thomas, Jr.
30 Lighthouse Lane
Sag Harbor
Please RSVP by August 1 to hosts:
Audrey Gaul at 631-725-0398
Sharon Simmons at ssimmons68@aol.com
Eileen Thomas at eileenct@aol.com
VOTER REGISTRATION IN CENTER MORICHES 8/16- Need volunteers!
We'll register voters in cooperation with the Brookhaven Southeastern Dems.
NOTE DATE CHANGE! August 16, 9-4:30
Old Ship of Zion Craft and Flea Market Fair
Corner of Railroad Ave. and Frowein Rd.
Center Moriches
To volunteer, contact Sue at suehornik@aol.com or 631-294-9324
UNITY MEETING IN SAG HARBOR, on Sunday 8/17
Please join us for a unity meeting bringing together Hillary and Barack supporters to discuss issues of importance and how we work together to be certain a Democrat is in the White House in January 2009! Pleasew come and share your thoughts and ideas! Refreshments served.
Sunday, August 17, 1-3:30 PM
Moyer home
4284 Noyac Rd.
Sag Harbor
Please RSVP by August 15 susanmoyerlandscape@mac.com or 631.725.8489
CABARET FUNDRAISER IN SUPPORT OF OBAMA, Southampton, on Friday 8/29
There Is Nothing Like A Dem! A Satirical Cabaret Revue
Enjoy sophisticated entertainment with the satisfaction of knowing your admission supports Barack Obama! Bring your friends and make an evening of it! With your favorite tunes from Broadway and the Great American Songbook, spiced with topical lyrics. Starring Rhonda Liss, Morgan, Nicholas Rudd, Allan Wieman, Tom Zimmerman, directed by Todd Caporizzo, music direction by Tom Buckley.
Friday, August 29, 7:30
Southampton Inn
91 Hill Rd.
Southampton
Admission: $100 contribution to the Obama campaign
$25 prix fixe dinner will be served at 6 pm, payable separately to Southampton Inn on 8/29. Cash bar.
Print out your contribution form here:
http://thereisnothinglikeadem.com/images/ContributionForm.pdf
Select the number of seats you want and mail the Contribution Form with your credit card information or personal check payable to:
Obama for America
c/o There Is Nothing Like A Dem!
20 Sea Spray Road
Westport CT 06880
Unreserved seats available for sale at the door. For further information, go to:
thereisnothinglikeadem.com
Or write to: info@thereisnothinglikeadem.com
NORTH FORK FUNDRAISER ! on Saturday, 9/13
Join us for cocktails and lively conversation on our back porch overlooking beautiful East Creek and Peconic Bay in Cutchogue. Get involved! Stay involved! Do your part while having fun and meeting other supporters! Tell your friends and help us spread the word.
Minimum contribution is $50 per person -- it's worth it! OK, we'll throw in a Free Obama Button, too! This is the most important election of your lifetime! Show your commitment to change!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
At Anne and Mort’s home
1395 Fleetwood Rd.
Cutchogue 11935
RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/fundraising/44jjj
For more details, contact Anne at: coho@optonline.net
Directions:
Take the Long Island Expressway East toward Riverhead to Exit 71 (Montauk) Route 24 Hampton Bays/Calverton. At stop sign turn right onto Route 24, toward Hampton Bays/Riverhead. Travel on Route 24 to the traffic circle (4.1 miles). Go through the traffic circle and continue on Route 24 south to the light at Route 105. Turn left. Go to second light and turn right onto Route 25 toward Orient Point. Welcome to Long Island Wine Country! Continue on Route 25 East to the light in downtown Cutchogue (9.9 miles). Continue to Pequash Ave. Turn right on Pequash Ave. at Hertz sign. Continue about 1 mile on Pequash, past Midwood to Fleetwood Road. Turn left. Fleetwood runs along the water on the left. Go to top of the first hill. Our house is set back from the road, on the left (1395 Fleetwood, sign on tree for Cogen/Howard and Commoners Hill).
HOST YOUR OWN EVENT! Organize your own unity parties, Change-we-can-believe-in parties, fundraisers, or voter registration events—and post them on barackcobama.com. Looking for buttons, bumper stickers, t-shirts or yard signs? Order them at Barackobama.com (counts as a contribution to the campaign) or demstore.com or democraticstuff.com.
To download your own issues flyers for events, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/resourceflyers/
********************************************************************************************************************
From Sunny for talking Points for Women for Obama: Five little words, Its The Supreme Court People!!!
Barack Obama vs. John McSame:
Records on Women’s Reproductive Rights/Health
Barack Obama:
Received a 100% pro-choice vote rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America
Obama received a 100% rating from the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council as a state senator for all years where ratings were available and was endorsed by the council in his 2002 race for U.S. Senate.
Obama was the only presidential candidate who rose in support of Illinois Planned Parenthood when their new Aurora clinic faced a threatened shut-down last year.
Obama was the ONLY U.S. Senator who helped raise funds in 2006 to successfully repeal a South Dakota law that banned abortions.
In 2005 Obama voted to repeal the Mexico Policy, which bars U.S. air to international family planning organizations that provide or promote abortion.
As an Illinois state senator, Obama supported a successful law to require insurance plans to cover FDA-approved contraceptives in Illinois.
Obama co-sponsored legislation with Sen. Claire McCaskill to make birth control affordable for low-income women and students after Federal changes to regulations caused birth control costs to skyrocket.
Obama voted against allowing anti-abortion activists to escape court-ordered fines or judgments by filing for bankruptcy protection.
Obama twice voted against making it a crime to take a minor across state lines for an abortion.
As an Illinois state Senator, Obama worked closely with the Illinois Pro-choice community - led by Planned Parenthood - to employ a "present vote" strategy to successfully defeat a series of anti-choice legislation proposed by republicans.
Obama sponsored a bill to provide information about emergency contraception to sexual assault victims.
Obama Passed the Prevention First Act. Obama co-sponsored the Prevention First Act which increases funding to family planning programs.
Obama has said that protecting and safeguarding Roe v. Wade will be a priority in his administration.
John McSame:
McSame has received a 0% pro-choice rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America
Since 1983, in votes in the House and the Senate (where he has served since 1987), McSame has cast 130 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. 125 of those votes were anti-choice.
McSame co-sponsored and voted for the Federal Abortion Ban.
He voted to uphold the Global Gag Rule. The Global and Gag Rule is a policy that bans aid to global and if they use their own funds to provide legal abortion services or even adopt a pro-choice position. He has also voted for a similar a ban on grants for domestic health centers that offer abortion or take a pro-choice position.
McSame has consistently voted against legislation requiring insurance companies to cover birth control.
He voted against legislation that established criminal and civil penalties for those who use threats and violence to keep women from gaining access to reproductive health clinics.
McSame voted to shut down the Title X family-planning program. This program provides millions of women with health care services ranging from birth control to cancer screenings.
McSame has consistently voted against expanding access to programs that reduce pregnancy and the need for abortion and in favor of abstinence-only programs.
Voted to impose a Federal Parental Consent Law on teens seeking birth control.
McSame has pledged to fill Supreme Court vacancies with justices who will overturn Roe. V. Wade. McSame voted for four anti-choice nominees for the Supreme Court including Roberts and Alito.
Voted against reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program for five years. McSame voted against reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years. His health care plan provdes $2 billion in tax cuts to health insurance
When Congress was considering the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, McCain voted to suspend it.
Barack on Women’s health care:
· Obama Passed Law Creating Special Task Force on Cervical Cancer Elimination. This required the task force to examine the prevalence and burden of cervical cancer, raise awareness concerning the causes and nature of cervical cancer, and identify prevention and control strategies and technologies.
Obama Passed Law to Cover Breast And Cervical Cancer Screenings. Obama sponsored a bill and voted to amend the Illinois Public Aid Code that expands eligibility and medical assistance for breast and cervical cancer screenings.
Obama Passed Law Creating The PREEMIE Act (Prematurity Research Expansion And Education For Mothers Who Deliver Infants Early Act). Obama co-sponsored this bill that amended and expanded the Public Health Service Act to address and examine the risk of death, birth defects, and developmental disorders in infants born prematurely.
Obama Passed The Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2005 or Johanna's Law. Obama co-sponsored a bill that would amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a national campaign to increase the awareness and knowledge of health care providers and women with respect to gynecologic cancers.
Obama Passed A Law Promoting Inclusion Of Women and Minorities In Clinical Research.
Obama Passed Law Requiring Hearing Screening of All Newborn Infants.
Obama Passed Law to Allow the Department of Public Health to Provide Medicaid Reimbursement for Prenatal And Perinatal Health Care Facilities.
Obama Passed Law Guaranteeing Mother's Right to Breastfeed Her Baby in Any Location. Obama helped pass the Right to Breastfeed Act, which affirms a mother's right to breastfeed her baby in any location, public or private.
Obama Passed Law to Help Address Postpartum Depression. Obama was the chief sponsor and voted for bill requiring the State of Illinois Departments of Public Health and Professional Regulation to work with licensed health care facilities and licensed health care professionals to develop policies and procedures that address the issue of postpartum depression.
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
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