Hi, everyone!!!
I simply cannot say how excited I am that We The People are getting a chance to actively contribute to this election cycle's Democratic party platform.
So I thought I would give everybody a little head start on the process to get everybody's mind thinking in the right direction. So here's how I'd like to do this:
If I just allow random posts as in the main blog, things will get so confusing so fast. So what I will do is post several replies to this main blog with specific issues in the subject line. If you are interested in contributing to the discussion on a particular subject, simply reply to that subject thread. If you wish to comment on an issue that has not been posted, simply reply to the original message with the new issue in the subject line. That way we stay organized. I will forward the information I gather to HQ for their consumption as part of the process.
Oh, and one more thing. I do intend to open this up to the main blog, but I am on summer vacation from my teaching job, so I will be actively monitoring for trolls on a frequent basis. I don't want them contaminating our discussions.
So blog away!!! I look forward to your replies.
Rick
Mustard seeds for everyone!!!
So what IS exactly going on in this race we hold so dear? Here's my take on what is happening and what we should do about it:
There is an old adage about a lion who made a kill but never got to eat it. Why? Because a pack of hyenas kept nipping at the lion, never letting it focus in one direction until they finally drove it away from the kill, which they then took for themselves.
The Obama campaign has a unifying message that transcends in its royal nature, a.k.a. the LION. The Clinton campaign represents the HYENAS. What they are doing is the old school targeting of specific demographic groups, launching background attacks on Obama on those narrow, limited fronts while maintaining a front of positivity.
Some of you may have heard today that 268 Iowa Republicans and nearly 70 New Hampshire Republicans have crossed party lines and declared their intentions to vote or caucus for Barack Obama. I'm sure that there are those of you who wonder why this matters, since numbers of that size would seem to pale in comparison to the overall voting population of the state. But it makes a difference, trust me. 268 Republicans may not seem like a whole lot when you consider the entire state. But consider this:
The race is expected to be "tight". If you have a precinct where the numbers are close, a few Republican converts could make the difference between getting additional delegates and not getting them.
In some cases in particularly Republican-held areas or areas where Hillary or Edwards support is more prevalent, it may mean that Obama gets above the 15% bottom line that the Iowa Democratic caucuses require for a candidate to be considered viable. This means that he could get delegates where he might not have gotten them otherwise.
In New Hampshire, every extra vote counts. While Hillary may show a lead among Democratic polls, those polls, as has been mentioned on here repeatedly) do not count Independent or crossover Republican votes, though they are free to vote in the open primary. This means that the race is undoubtedly tighter than those supposed polls show. So every vote counts!
I along with the others on this blog, welcome all of our new Republican friends. we appreciate your willingness to see past the blinders of divisive politics to vote for a new day in America.
And I look forward to going up to New Hampshire in two short weeks to try to convert a few myself!
I love marching bands. To me, they are a personification of auditory and visual arts. there nothing more breathtaking than seeing a huge line of players moving inexorably across the field. This, by the way, is called a Company Front.
Another reason I like them is that the performance of a marching band show, be it competitively oriented or not, is that the only way a show can be complete is if ALL of the members contribute the entire way through the show. To me, this is an apt parallel to our presidential race.
I have seen a lot of questions on the HQ blogs recently about poll numbers, and strategy questions, and so on. I get the impression that some people are becoming concerned that the campaign may be losing steam.
Now, I believe that there are some things which we need to keep in mind here. First is that we simply cannot trust polls of any kind. I've said it before, to both enemies and friends. They are NOT scientific, and they are NOT accurate.Secondly, note the fact that he is continuing to flesh out his ideals and policies, not through the soundbite-driven debates, but instead through other media sources that enable him to go directly to the American people with his thoughts. This gives Americans the chance to fully analyze his ideas. When given this chance, most of them believe it makes sense. Note that people have stopped trying to criticize his foreign policies because they have been proven right. As a matter of fact, they don't criticize him at all on that anymore. They are playing the experience card for all it's worth, and beyond. THAT argument, I believe, will come crashing down on them soon. Watch for him to make some sort of reference that his experience consisted of him actually DOING the job, not just being in the same area the job was being done. Third, we must also realize that Mr. Obama's shift towards grassroots and retail politicking are low-profile methods of campaigning. This accomplishes two things: It lowers his profile (thereby shielding him somewhat from attacks) while giving him the chance to put his formidable organizational machine into action. It also allows him to continue to define himself in his own terms, and not the other campaigners' terms.The drawback to all of this is that it creates a somewhat lower profile in the media, and can give the false impression that the Obama campaign is losing momentum. Not so, I say! There are more stories than ever before of Camp Obama attendees, and more stories of Republicans crossing party lines. More stories of people of little means contributing what money they can spare for their candidate of choice. And more stories of people simply doing good deeds out of a renewed sense of hope.So I beseech you to not give up that hope! As has been stated on here ad infinitum: Keep that mustard seed of faith, keep your nose to the grindstone. Do not fall prey to the idea of instant results being needed to maintain your support. Push through to the end of the race without faltering. And on Primary Day, when that big company front of Obama supporters comes marching to that voting booth, we will know that we have made the difference.
for a quick pick-me up, go to the following link:
http://www.arts.iup.edu/music/legend/player.html
Click on "Traditional", and Click on "Grace" You'll love it!!!
Hi, folks!
It's been awhile since my last blog. Sorry about that. i've been preoccupied with the rest of my life and also with posting on the HQ blogs. I'll try to keep up more... :)
Everybody has noticed that Obama is different when he answers a question in the debates. By making his statement about those who voted for the war are now attacking him, he has shown (at least in my book) that he can deal with attacks in that forum. Hillary makes statements that in previous debates would have brought thunderous applause, yet she gets booed. Why would that be? The only reason I can think of is that the American people have endured six-plus years of soundbites such as "Stay the course", War on Terror", and the like. I wonder if we haven't finally had enough of it, and have become repulsed by it.The Mainstream Media (or as my friend Mehari likes to call it, the Corporate Media) has thrived on reporting such well-executed soundbites for years. And it is no surprise that they would call Hillary the winner for executing them. But there are other indicators that this supposedly time-tested formula isn't working. Indicators such as focus groups going out for Obama, the large numbers of crossover voters, and early number of them at that. And this doesn't even get into the fundraising data.I think that the other campaigners are using the same old playbook from the last war. Obama, with his unparalleled vision, has written a new one. Mustard seeds for everyone!Rick
Just found this on Yahoo! They have a segment called Yahoo! Answers, where celebrities, etc. can ask a question for Yahoo! browsers to answer. Here's the link:
LINK
Enjoy!
Rick Beaule'
CNBC's John Harwood was on the Today show this morning talking about Hillary needing to overcome Barack Obama's ability to stir and light a fire under a crowd, the first time I have heard a reporter talking about her need to overcome something. And now I find this article: Link
Just more evidence that a change in attitudes is happening.....
It never ceases to amaze and delight me when I see the power of faith in action. Faith truly has the power, no matter what your averred religion (or lack of), to heal great wounds, and sustain through the greatest of sorrows. Yet I am hard put to find a more satisfying time when I have witnessed faith than over the past few days.
No, I am not talking about the Presidential commutation of the Libby sentence. That's a whole other ball of wax. I'm talking about the sound of hundreds of self-styled political pundits waiting to write Mr. Obama's political obituary being unceremoniously dumped on their collective keisters by the revelation of his fundraising prowess.
Yet there is another story here. One that lurks beneath the scenes of soundbites and shallow analysis. Even the shallow analysis reveals that Mr. Obama has scored a great victory. On her carefully manicured website even Ms. Clinton's acknowledges that much. But more is revealed when one looks beyond the tactical impact for a look at the strategic implications.
The obvious is the number of donors. That indicates a level of support that no other campaign can match. What is not-so-obvious is the average amount donated, only $125.00. There are those who would explain it away by attributing it to the high number of donors. But look closer and one sees more.
If you look at the number of donors COUPLED with the average amount, I believe it reveals an indirect demographic of the type of people donating to the Obama campaign. It is generally believed that the more well-to-do tend to donate in larger amounts. I believe that the reason Ms. Clinton has not yet revealed her number of donors is because it is much smaller, meaning that her average amount donated is higher. Previously that may have been trumpeted as a good thing. Not anymore.
Now it means that she has fewer actual donors, which translates to less ground support. It also means that her fundraising "power" will wither on the vine if she cannot find more supporters, while Mr. Obama still has vast reserves of people who have not even come close to maxing out yet. This is why MR. Clinton has made his campaigning debut earlier than she wanted him to.
So, how did this happen? The mustard seed. If you're a Christian, you've known the story since way back in Sunday School or catechism. Where faith as small as a mustard seed can create miracles.
Mr. Obama is a man of faith. Of that there can be no question or doubt. Who else but a faithful man would press on with his message when the aura and mantle of inevitability was all but placed upon someone else's brow? Who else but a faithful man would maintain his campaign of faith. hope, and chrity when even some of those who love him were beggin him to use the same tactics as his opponents by "taking the gloves off"?
We are the living manifestation and reward of his unyielding faith. We are the proof and the truth that his faith and vision was not misplaced or misguided. And it is now up to us to plant seeds of our own, in the faith that they, too, will grow, be fruitful, and multiply.
There is a miracle happening here. Do you believe?
There are many folks who are getting antsy with all of the press coverage portraying Hillary as "widening her lead", "campaign momentum", and so on and so forth.
I just heard on MSNBC's "Tucker" the following comment: "Barack Obama is exactly where he wants to be. It's like the Kentucky Derby. Hang back in a comfortable second until the right moment, and then sprint past her to the finish."
Remember folks, it's JUNE. Even with the moved-up primaries, we still have 6 whole MONTHS. The press will get tired of the way that things are and will begin to stir things up by beginning to question Hillary's worthiness and electability. And that doesn't even take into account that the other candidates will begin to attack Hillary to try and give their own campaigns some traction, which by the end of the summer they will need. I look for Edwards to really go for the throat on this front. He needs it, and by all accounts is still struggling in Iowa, which he desperately needs.
In the meantime, we simply need to keep talking up Barack on the grassroots level, and be patient and faithful. This will happen as long as we don't let him down by giving up. I know I won't!
Just some quick, unscientific observations on last night's debate:
Obama: Did much better articulating than the first debate, although the stuttering could be worked on. More definitive in his answers as well. Excellent job in taking on other candidates who chose to attack him...
Clinton: Achieved what she set out to do, which was to not do anything to shoot herself in the foot, and muddy the waters by attempting to link all the candidates together. The question is whether or not it is a wise strategic move....
Edwards: Not a good night. He established a willingness to go after others, but he did so in an ineffective manner. Alternating compliments with attacks was something that, to me, backfired. Also misfired on several questions, including the definition of rich....
Biden: The surprise of the night, IMHO. Articulate and funny, he raised his electability profile. The forcefulness needs to be watched, though. He almost overdid it last night....
Dodd: Solid, well-spoken, but uninspiring. Would make a great VP candidate....
Richardson: Mixed results, I think. His points were good, but he spends too much time establishing how he is already established. He would do better by simply stating his points and not burnishing his resume.....
Kucinich: His ideas are articulate and cohesive, but too drastic and too far out of the mainstream to gain any traction. He has no choice but to attack to get anywhere, which marginalizes him further....
Gravel: What can I say? He's out there. Waaaaaaay out....
What I would like to hear more of in the next one: More domestic policy talk, especially education. As a teacher, I believe it all starts here, both long-term and short-term. And while I don't wish to see attacks, it would be nice to see some more comparative analysis between the candidates.....
RB
The following is an article from this Sunday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. enjoy!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
By David Shribman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
CONWAY, N.H. -- This is a crowd that is virtually all white. This is the least emotive state in the Union. This is a town that voted decisively for Barry Goldwater in 1964. This is where thousands of people filled the parking lot of Kennett High School in the hope of crowding in to see a black man who is running for president.
David M. Shribman is executive editor of the Post-Gazette (dshribman@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1890). This also may be the political phenomenon of the age. Inside the high school, where a banner boasts of 15 state high school boys' skiing championships since 1979, voters of a state where natives like to tell visitors that they can't get there from here are straining -- you can almost see their eyes squinting to will this to come true -- to believe that Barack Obama can go from the gym in Conway to the White House in Washington.
Because this is a place where the phrase mildly enthusiastic means wildly enthusiastic, an outsider has to adjust his perceptions. But by any measure -- and the best one was the way the cars were parked all the way down Main Street, past the Conway Cafe to the swath of land that hardly anyone anymore remembers was the site of the dignified old Presidential Inn -- this was a remarkable turnout. A whole lot bigger than the crowd Paul Newman attracted in 1972 when he landed at the little air strip up the road (now long gone) to campaign for Rep. Pete McCloskey, the California liberal Republican who mounted a doomed primary challenge to Richard M. Nixon.
Inside the gym the candidate himself looked awfully young, sounded awfully idealistic, appeared awfully scrawny, seemed an awfully familiar type to New Englanders who have been told for a generation and a half what the young, scrawny and idealistic Jack Kennedy looked like when he ventured north in 1960 to ask New Hampshire to help send him to the White House.
New Hampshire voters are famously realistic, self-consciously independent and sometimes legendarily and unremittingly mean. Part of the folklore of the place is the unrestrained joy these voters -- who chose Pat Robertson over Bob Dole in the 1996 Republican contest -- take in cutting big men down to size. But in stops here and at Dartmouth College, where thousands more crowded into the Rockefeller Center courtyard to hear him speak, Mr. Obama saw the sweet side of New Hampshire. Ordinarily the sweet side of New Hampshire, if visible at all, is about four inches wide (the side of the tree where the maple syrup is tapped).
Not this time. This was, to be sure, a Democratic crowd, so if Clifford the Big Red Dog had appeared and called for the end of the war in Iraq, universal health insurance and an end to American dependence on foreign oil, he would have been cheered, given a Milk Bone and sent on his way to a rally over in Littleton. But Mr. Obama, appearing in a theater-in-the-round format and turning like a revolving rooftop restaurant to address the crowd, also won warm applause for his reminiscences about running job-training programs for the unemployed in Chicago and for the lessons he drew from the civil-rights movement in the South.
There are obstacles galore to an Obama presidency. One of them is named Hillary Rodham Clinton. Another is named John Edwards, whose appeal as the liberal purist should not be underestimated in a contest that could be determined by liberal purists. A third is the tendency of white Americans to tell pollsters they'll vote for a black candidate like Tom Bradley, whom the polls indicated could win the California gubernatorial races of 1982 and 1986, only to vote for a white candidate in the privacy of the voting booth.
But this is the period when voters are looking to fall in love, or at least to indulge in a little infatuation. But once the campaign moves into its next phase, we are going to wonder what love has to do with it. The 2008 Democratic race has many themes, but the abiding theme is whether anybody can stop Sen. Clinton. Sen. Obama may feel the love right now, but before long the New Hampshire Primary and its early-state analogues around the country are going to look a lot less like lovefests and a lot more like prizefights.
But right now a lot of people are falling for Mr. Obama, one of the few candidates who knows how to pronounce the name of the northern New Hampshire town of Berlin (rhymes with swirlin') and smart enough to ask local crowds whether there are any good diners nearby (try the Miss Wakefield, 38 miles south down Route 16). At a time when people, Democrats especially, are angry at government, Mr. Obama and his stardust melody makes them feel good about themselves, and about the future. People like that.
"We're proud of our individuality and our self reliance," he said here in Conway, "but we also have to take pride in what we can do together." That's part of his stump speech, of course, but you can never go wrong talking about individuality and self-reliance in New Hampshire. And when Mr. Obama attacks the Bush administration and the Republicans for a philosophy of "can't do, won't do, won't even try," he is identifying himself with the can-do attitude that planted small settlements in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains here and, not incidentally, kept taxes low. Especially kept taxes low.
This may be an unusually early primary season, but it still is early in the primary season. Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama have about the same amount of money. Former Vice President Al Gore may yet join the campaign. The war in Iraq grinds on. No sane person makes a prediction in June before an election year. But there's still room for an observation: Mr. Obama may be new to this game, and new to New Hampshire, but he's sure enjoyed a strong introduction. The hills of this state are littered with candidates who didn't even achieve that.
In looking at many of the posts of the groups I am a member of, I often see expressions of concern regarding Obama's message getting out and it's being understood. As a educator, I am always in favor of researching ideas and/or subjects. So I came up with an idea.
Let's have volunteers take a subject or issue listed on the Obama website. If you haven't already, gain a thorough understanding of the topic. Then go to at least two other candidate websites and research THEIR stands on the issue. Post the comparisons either as a reply to this post, or as one of your own. This way we gain perspective on the other candidates, and arm ourselves with concrete knowledge with which to discuss with people why we should elect Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.
As a teacher, I would LOVE to take "Improving Our Schools", though anyone else who wants to take a crack at it is welcome to, as not everybody will pick the same two candidates or the same issue.
Greetings!
The following is a post I found and replied to on America4Obama. Perhaps we might be able to help this person out.
I see lots of articles describing Barack Obama listening to people's ideas. This is a great thing!
There are those who would simply call it a strategic move. Certainly it would serve as a reason (in their minds) for Mr. Obama to not have to commit to specific policy ideas that could then be dissected. This way, they say, he does not expose himself to the weakness of his ideas.
Personally, I think it is much more than that. Of course, it does have the effect described above that the Republicans (and certain Democrats) are taking issue with. But, from what I have read about the man (both his books), I think that this is just the way he works.
One of my undergraduate professors told us to always take care of the secretaries and the janitors in the schools we teach in. The reason why, he said, was because they knew how things worked, and helped keep them working. In their own way they are more important than the superintendent. Seems to me that Mr. Obama got similar advice from someone while growing up.
Good evening!
It seems a little strange to be writing down my thoughts like this. I haven't kept a diary since I was a child, and that's kind of what I equate this to. A diary, only it's viewable by the entire World Wide Web.
At any rate, just so's you know a little about me, I am a teacher and a graduate student in Music who last fall celebrated what I call my "Presidential Birthday". As in my 35th. No biggie, but not a spring chicken anymore either. You'll have this. I consider myself to be very open-minded (married a Republican, even!), and am proud of the fact that my students had no idea of who I was voting for in 2004 until AFTER the election, because I was able to point out facts about each candidate and not just the one I voted for (it was Kerry, because I, too, did not trust our reasons for going to war.)
Here in Western PA you can practically cut the cynicism towards the government with a knife. Even the dyed-in-the-wool Republicans are rather quiet these days. But other than in Pittsburgh where I see some events now being held, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of action otherwise out this way, either. I am hoping to be more active this summer. I'd do it now, but my school schedule is rather hectic. It would also be my first active moment in politics campaigning for a candidate. I have given speeches for causes before, but not been involved with a campaign......
