PROGRESS

until the first polls open.  We get one chance, one opportunity, one moment, to make history by ensuring that Sen. Barack Obama is elected President of the United States of America.  We are prepared and have done all the ground work, now we have to deliver.  The Get Out The Vote element of this campaign is the most important.   Yesterday we had 13,000 people on the streets of Virginia.  They  knocked on 500,000 doors.  All the other battleground states need to step up to keep up.  Send me information on the ground game in your state. How can you help….what can you do…..phonebank?  Canvass for Obama in the battleground  state of Virginia and turn Virginia blue for the first time in 44 years!  Help at least five people  get to the polls on Election Day.  Lend your skills as an attorney to Obama’s voter protection program.  Donate to this built from the ground up campaign.  This is the last stretch, do not take anything for granted, ignore the polls, help get out the vote.  Volunteer at your local Campaign For Change  office and help to Get Out The Vote today and tomorrow.   This is our time, this is our moment,  DO YOUR PART to make this happen.  www.Barack.Obama.com

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
“One Week”
Closing Argument Speech
As Prepared for Delivery
Monday, October 27th, 2008
Canton, Ohio
 
 
One week.  
 
After decades of broken politics in Washington, eight years of failed policies from George Bush, and twenty-one months of a campaign that has taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are one week away from change in America.  
 
In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street.  
 
In one week, you can choose policies that invest in our middle-class, create new jobs, and grow this economy from the bottom-up so that everyone has a chance to succeed; from the CEO to the secretary and the janitor; from the factory owner to the men and women who work on its floor.
 
In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope.  
 
In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.
 
We began this journey in the depths of winter nearly two years ago, on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.  Back then, we didn’t have much money or many endorsements.  We weren’t given much of a chance by the polls or the pundits, and we knew how steep our climb would be.  
 
But I also knew this.  I knew that the size of our challenges had outgrown the smallness of our politics.  I believed that Democrats and Republicans and Americans of every political stripe were hungry for new ideas, new leadership, and a new kind of politics – one that favors common sense over ideology; one that focuses on those values and ideals we hold in common as Americans.  
 
Most of all, I believed in your ability to make change happen.  I knew that the American people were a decent, generous people who are willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations.  And I was convinced that when we come together, our voices are more powerful than the most entrenched lobbyists, or the most vicious political attacks, or the full force of a status quo in Washington that wants to keep things just the way they are.  
 
Twenty-one months later, my faith in the American people has been vindicated.  That’s how we’ve come so far and so close – because of you.  That’s how we’ll change this country – with your help.  And that’s why we can’t afford to slow down, sit back, or let up for one day, one minute, or one second in this last week.  Not now.  Not when so much is at stake.  
 
We are in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  760,000 workers have lost their jobs this year. Businesses and families can’t get credit.  Home values are falling. Pensions are disappearing.  Wages are lower than they’ve been in a decade, at a time when the cost of health care and college have never been higher.  It’s getting harder and harder to make the mortgage, or fill up your gas tank, or even keep the electricity on at the end of the month.  
 
At a moment like this, the last thing we can afford is four more years of the tired, old theory that says we should give more to billionaires and big corporations and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.  The last thing we can afford is four more years where no one in Washington is watching anyone on Wall Street because politicians and lobbyists killed common-sense regulations.  Those are the theories that got us into this mess.  They haven’t worked, and it’s time for change.  That’s why I’m running for President of the United States.
 
Now, Senator McCain has served this country honorably. And he can point to a few moments over the past eight years where he has broken from George Bush – on torture, for example.  He deserves credit for that.  But when it comes to the economy – when it comes to the central issue of this election – the plain truth is that John McCain has stood with this President every step of the way.  Voting for the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that he once opposed.  Voting for the Bush budgets that spent us into debt.  Calling for less regulation twenty-one times just this year.  Those are the facts.  
 
And now, after twenty-one months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he’d do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy. Senator McCain says that we can’t spend the next four years waiting for our luck to change, but you understand that the biggest gamble we can take is embracing the same old Bush-McCain policies that have failed us for the last eight years.
 
It’s not change when John McCain wants to give a $700,000 tax cut to the average Fortune 500 CEO.  It’s not change when he wants to give $200 billion to the biggest corporations or $4 billion to the oil companies or $300 billion to the same Wall Street banks that got us into this mess.  It’s not change when he comes up with a tax plan that doesn’t give a penny of relief to more than 100 million middle-class Americans.  That’s not change.  
 
Look – we’ve tried it John McCain’s way.  We’ve tried it George Bush’s way.  Deep down, Senator McCain knows that, which is why his campaign said that “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” That’s why he’s spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book.  Because that’s how you play the game in Washington. If you can’t beat your opponent’s ideas, you distort those ideas and maybe make some up.  If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run away from. You make a big election about small things.
 
Ohio, we are here to say “Not this time.  Not this year.  Not when so much is at stake.”  Senator McCain might be worried about losing an election, but I’m worried about Americans who are losing their homes, and their jobs, and their life savings.  I can take one more week of John McCain’s attacks, but this country can’t take four more years of the same old politics and the same failed policies.  It’s time for something new.  
 
The question in this election is not “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”  We know the answer to that.  The real question is, “Will this country be better off four years from now?”
 
I know these are difficult times for America.  But I also know that we have faced difficult times before.  The American story has never been about things coming easy – it’s been about rising to the moment when the moment was hard.  It’s about seeing the highest mountaintop from the deepest of valleys.  It’s about rejecting fear and division for unity of purpose.  That’s how we’ve overcome war and depression.  That’s how we’ve won great struggles for civil rights and women’s rights and worker’s rights.  And that’s how we’ll emerge from this crisis stronger and more prosperous than we were before – as one nation; as one people.  
 
Remember, we still have the most talented, most productive workers of any country on Earth.  We’re still home to innovation and technology, colleges and universities that are the envy of the world. Some of the biggest ideas in history have come from our small businesses and our research facilities.  So there’s no reason we can’t make this century another American century.  We just need a new direction.  We need a new politics.    
 
Now, I don’t believe that government can or should try to solve all our problems.  I know you don’t either.  But I do believe that government should do that which we cannot do for ourselves – protect us from harm and provide a decent education for our children; invest in new roads and new science and technology.  It should reward drive and innovation and growth in the free market, but it should also make sure businesses live up to their responsibility to create American jobs, and look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.  It should ensure a shot at success not only for those with money and power and influence, but for every single American who’s willing to work.  That’s how we create not just more millionaires, but more middle-class families. That’s how we make sure businesses have customers that can afford their products and services.  That’s how we’ve always grown the American economy – from the bottom-up.  John McCain calls this socialism.  I call it opportunity, and there is nothing more American than that.  
 
Understand, if we want get through this crisis, we need to get beyond the old ideological debates and divides between left and right.  We don’t need bigger government or smaller government. We need a better government – a more competent government – a government that upholds the values we hold in common as Americans.
 
We don’t have to choose between allowing our financial system to collapse and spending billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out Wall Street banks.  As President, I will ensure that the financial rescue plan helps stop foreclosures and protects your money instead of enriching CEOs.  And I will put in place the common-sense regulations I’ve been calling for throughout this campaign so that Wall Street can never cause a crisis like this again.  That’s the change we need.
 
The choice in this election isn’t between tax cuts and no tax cuts.  It’s about whether you believe we should only reward wealth, or whether we should also reward the work and workers who create it.  I will give a tax break to 95% of Americans who work every day and get taxes taken out of their paychecks every week.  I’ll eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000 and give homeowners and working parents more of a break.  And I’ll help pay for this by asking the folks who are making more than $250,000 a year to go back to the tax rate they were paying in the 1990s.  No matter what Senator McCain may claim, here are the facts – if you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime – not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes.  Nothing.  Because the last thing we should do in this economy is raise taxes on the middle-class.    
 
When it comes to jobs, the choice in this election is not between putting up a wall around America or allowing every job to disappear overseas.  The truth is, we won’t be able to bring back every job that we’ve lost, but that doesn’t mean we should follow John McCain’s plan to keep giving tax breaks to corporations that send American jobs overseas.  I will end those breaks as President, and I will give American businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every job they create right here in the United States of America.  I’ll eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-up companies that are the engine of job creation in this country.  We’ll create two million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, and bridges, and schools, and by laying broadband lines to reach every corner of the country.  And I will invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create five million new energy jobs over the next decade – jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced; jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and a new electricity grid; jobs building the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow, not in Japan or South Korea but here in the United States of America; jobs that will help us eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in ten years and help save the planet in the bargain.  That’s how America can lead again.
 
When it comes to health care, we don’t have to choose between a government-run health care system and the unaffordable one we have now.  If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change under my plan is that we will lower premiums.  If you don’t have health insurance, you’ll be able to get the same kind of health insurance that Members of Congress get for themselves.  We’ll invest in preventative care and new technology to finally lower the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the entire economy.  And as someone who watched his own mother spend the final months of her life arguing with insurance companies because they claimed her cancer was a pre-existing condition and didn’t want to pay for treatment, I will stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care most.  
 
When it comes to giving every child a world-class education so they can compete in this global economy for the jobs of the 21st century, the choice is not between more money and more reform – because our schools need both.  As President, I will invest in early childhood education, recruit an army of new teachers, pay them more, and give them more support.  But I will also demand higher standards and more accountability from our teachers and our schools.  And I will make a deal with every American who has the drive and the will but not the money to go to college:  if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford your tuition.  You invest in America, America will invest in you, and together, we will move this country forward.
 
And when it comes to keeping this country safe, we don’t have to choose between retreating from the world and fighting a war without end in Iraq.  It’s time to stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqi government sits on a huge surplus.  As President, I will end this war by asking the Iraqi government to step up, and finally finish the fight against bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.  I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm’s way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.  I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century, and I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.
 
I won’t stand here and pretend that any of this will be easy – especially now.  The cost of this economic crisis, and the cost of the war in Iraq, means that Washington will have to tighten its belt and put off spending on things we can afford to do without.  On this, there is no other choice.  As President, I will go through the federal budget, line-by-line, ending programs that we don’t need and making the ones we do need work better and cost less.  
 
But as I’ve said from the day we began this journey all those months ago, the change we need isn’t just about new programs and policies.  It’s about a new politics – a politics that calls on our better angels instead of encouraging our worst instincts; one that reminds us of the obligations we have to ourselves and one another.  
 
Part of the reason this economic crisis occurred is because we have been living through an era of profound irresponsibility.  On Wall Street, easy money and an ethic of “what’s good for me is good enough” blinded greedy executives to the danger in the decisions they were making.  On Main Street, lenders tricked people into buying homes they couldn’t afford.  Some folks knew they couldn’t afford those houses and bought them anyway.  In Washington, politicians spent money they didn’t have and allowed lobbyists to set the agenda. They scored political points instead of solving our problems, and even after the greatest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, all we were asked to do by our President was to go out and shop.
 
That is why what we have lost in these last eight years cannot be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits alone.  What has also been lost is the idea that in this American story, each of us has a role to play.  Each of us has a responsibility to work hard and look after ourselves and our families, and each of us has a responsibility to our fellow citizens.  That’s what’s been lost these last eight years – our sense of common purpose; of higher purpose.  And that’s what we need to restore right now.  
 
Yes, government must lead the way on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and our businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair.  But all of us must do our part as parents to turn off the television and read to our children and take responsibility for providing the love and guidance they need.  Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately, but at this defining moment, all of us must summon the strength and grace to bridge our differences and unite in common effort – black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; Democrat and Republican, young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight, disabled or not.  
 
In this election, we cannot afford the same political games and tactics that are being used to pit us against one another and make us afraid of one another.  The stakes are too high to divide us by class and region and background; by who we are or what we believe.  
 
Because despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country.  There is no city or town that is more pro-America than anywhere else – we are one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots.  There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies.  The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag.  They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.
 
It won’t be easy, Ohio.  It won’t be quick.  But you and I know that it is time to come together and change this country.  Some of you may be cynical and fed up with politics.  A lot of you may be disappointed and even angry with your leaders.  You have every right to be.  But despite all of this, I ask of you what has been asked of Americans throughout our history.  
 
I ask you to believe – not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.
 
I know this change is possible.  Because I have seen it over the last twenty-one months.  Because in this campaign, I have had the privilege to witness what is best in America.  
 
I’ve seen it in lines of voters that stretched around schools and churches; in the young people who cast their ballot for the first time, and those not so young folks who got involved again after a very long time.  I’ve seen it in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see their friends lose their jobs; in the neighbors who take a stranger in when the floodwaters rise; in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb.  I’ve seen it in the faces of the men and women I’ve met at countless rallies and town halls across the country, men and women who speak of their struggles but also of their hopes and dreams.
 
I still remember the email that a woman named Robyn sent me after I met her in Ft. Lauderdale.  Sometime after our event, her son nearly went into cardiac arrest, and was diagnosed with a heart condition that could only be treated with a procedure that cost tens of thousands of dollars.  Her insurance company refused to pay, and their family just didn’t have that kind of money.  
 
In her email, Robyn wrote, “I ask only this of you – on the days where you feel so tired you can’t think of uttering another word to the people, think of us.  When those who oppose you have you down, reach deep and fight back harder.”
 
Ohio, that’s what hope is – that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting around the bend; that insists there are better days ahead.  If we’re willing to work for it.  If we’re willing to shed our fears and our doubts.  If we’re willing to reach deep down inside ourselves when we’re tired and come back fighting harder.
 
Hope!  That’s what kept some of our parents and grandparents going when times were tough.  What led them to say, “Maybe I can’t go to college, but if I save a little bit each week my child can; maybe I can’t have my own business but if I work really hard my child can open one of her own.”  It’s what led immigrants from distant lands to come to these shores against great odds and carve a new life for their families in America; what led those who couldn’t vote to march and organize and stand for freedom; that led them to cry out, “It may look dark tonight, but if I hold on to hope, tomorrow will be brighter.”  
 
That’s what this election is about.  That is the choice we face right now.
 
Don’t believe for a second this election is over.  Don’t think for a minute that power concedes.  We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does.     
 
In one week, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up.  
 
In one week, we can choose to invest in health care for our families, and education for our kids, and renewable energy for our future.  
 
In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo.  
 
In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history. 

That’s what’s at stake.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  And if in this last week, you will knock on some doors for me, and make some calls for me, and talk to your neighbors, and convince your friends; if you will stand with me, and fight with me, and give me your vote, then I promise you this – we will not just win Ohio, we will not just win this election, but together, we will change this country and we will change the world.  Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.

There are exactly 10 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes, to the minute before the first polls open on November 4th. My question to all of you is….what are you doing to make history?  What will you tell your grandchildren that you contributed to this historic event?  Will you tell them that you phonebanked for Obama through his revolutionary Internet phonebanking tool?  Will you tell them that you canvassed for Obama in the battleground  state of Virginia and turned Virginia blue for the first time in 44 years?! Will you say that you helped get at least five people to the polls on Election Day?  Will you say that during this historic election you lent your skills as an attorney to Obama’s voter protection program?  Will you say that you donated to Obama’s historic, built from the ground up, campaign?  What exactly will you say that you did to help create this historic movement for change?  This is the last stretch, do not take anything for granted, regardless of what the polls say, it is up the you to put Sen. Barack Obama over the finish line.  Volunteer at your local Campaign For Change  office and help to Get Out The Vote on November 4th.  100 billion more registered voters mean nothing if people do not come out, with their patience, and VOTE.  Volunteer to entertain people who are waiting in line to vote….bring water or snacks to folks who are waiting in line to vote.  This is our opportunity to experience what they experienced in the Sixties, our opportunity to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves, our opportunity to contribute to something so much more important than we ever thought it could be, our opportunity to return America to the shining beacon to the world that it once was.  This is our time, this is our moment,  DO YOUR PART to make this happen.  www.Barack.Obama.com

Expanded Access to Capital

Barack will unlock credit needed to keep small businesses growing by implementing a nationwide emergency lending facility for small businesses.

Provide Temporary Tax Relief

To stimulate investment and job growth and spark our long-term recovery, the Small Business Rescue Plan will provide temporary business tax incentives through 2009.

Eliminate Capital Gains Taxes

Barack’s plan will eliminate all capital gains taxes on investments made in small and start-up businesses, encouraging investment and innovation.

Cut or Freeze Taxes for 99% of Small Business Owners

To help individuals with small business income — including the country’s more than 20 million self-employed individuals — Barack will provide a $1,000 Making Work Pay tax credit to 95 percent of workers and their families, and freeze any tax increases for the remaining 4 percent.

Lower Health Care Costs and Ease the Health Care Burden

Barack will give small businesses new incentives, help cut costs, and improve efficiency for all firms to provide health care to their workers at an affordable rate.

Expand Opportunity for Small Businesses

Barack will put in place far-reaching reforms to expand the ability of women-, service-disabled veteran-, and minority-owned firms to compete in today’s marketplace

SEE FULL PLAN

Four-star General Colin Powell said that Sen. Barack Obama has the makings of becoming “an exceptional president” when he endorsed the Illinois senator on Sunday’s Meet the Press.  For those who are asking what this high profile foreign policy and military expert endorsement of Sen. Obama will do in terms of votes, Sen. Obama’s numbers increased today by two points in the Reuters/Cspan/Zogby daily tracking poll.  On Sunday before the endorsement the numbers were Obama 48 to McCain’s 45.  After Gen. Powell’s endorsement, Obama’s numbers bumped up 50 to McCain’s 44.  Sen. Obama also gained three points among Catholics (primarly white voters).  A shout out to Obama: Sen. Obama has built a very broad coalition of voters.  The Illinois senator enjoys 40% of the white vote (average for democratic candidates Clinton, Gore, Kerry), 95% of the black vote, and 70% of the latino vote.  His support in the asian community is also very significant.  He is a candidate that truly represents all Americans instead of a small part of it.  The Reuters?Cspan/Zogby poll is a three day tracking poll where the average of three days polling is given as the final result.  On Sunday alone, after the Powell endorsement, Sen. Obama’s tracking numbers jumped 10 points!  The numbers are in and the four-star General definitely made a difference.  General Powell has worked for Bush 41 and Bush 43 and is a very good friend of Sen. John McCain’s.  Therefore, for the General to come out and support Sen. Obama, his opposing party’s candidate, is a tremendous vote of confidence in Obama-Biden and more importantly a significant lack of confidence in a McCain-Palin administration.  General Powell said that Sen. McCain’s campaign is not good for the country or its reputation around the world.  The former Secretary of State went on to say that he is concerned about McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  The General believes that Palin is not qualified to be vice president.  Now I say to you, if Palin is not qualified to be vice president, she is certainly not qualified to be president should the recent concerns about McCain’s health be substantiated.  

One last thing.  General Powell made a really interesting point about allegations from the Right that Sen. Obama is proposing redistributing wealth through his tax policy.  To paraphrase, Powell said that all tax policy is about redistribution of wealth in some form because for the government to function it cost money.  Think about it this way, when the Republican party and its leaders Bush/McCain demand military actions in other regions of the world knowing that it will result in significant government expenditures and then demand deep tax cuts simultaneously for a small group of Americans in the highest tax bracket, this results in wealth redistribution from the middle class and the working poor to the rich.  So for republicans and McCain to call Sen. Obama tax policy wealth redistributing, they are for redistributing themselves but to a different socio-economic class…..the rich.

A record month of MONUMENTAL proportions!! The Obama campaign reported this morning that they raised more than $150 million in the month of September.  A total of 632,000 new donors, 3.1 million donors total.  The average donation for the month was $100.  The everage contribution for the entire campaign is $86. 

Barack Obama for President

Friday, October 17, 2008

THE NOMINATING process this year produced two unusually talented and qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.

Why Sen. Obama? 

Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good…..

……Mr. Obama’s temperament is unlike anything we’ve seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment.

Why not Sen. McCain? 

But the stress of a campaign can reveal some essential truths, and the picture of Mr. McCain that emerged this year is far from reassuring. To pass his party’s tax-cut litmus test, he jettisoned his commitment to balanced budgets. He hasn’t come up with a coherent agenda, and at times he has seemed rash and impulsive. And we find no way to square his professed passion for America’s national security with his choice of a running mate who, no matter what her other strengths, is not prepared to be commander in chief.

Obama Campaign’s Response to McCain’s ACORN LetterSeptember 23, 2008

Honorable John C. Danforth

Honorable Warren B. Rudman

McCain-Palin 2008

P.O. Box 16118

Arlington , VA 22215

Dear Senator Danforth and Senator Rudman:

           We have received your letter of September 15, 2008, informing us of the formation of what you call the “Honest and Open Election Committee” by the McCain-Palin Campaign.

            However attractively labeled, this seems a starkly political maneuver to deflect attention from the reality of the suppression strategies pursued by national,state and Republican party committees.  This has been the shameful history of the party from the Goldwater “Operation Eagle Eye” program to the present day—a history replete with instances of systematically planned and executed programs to block access to the vote for targeted communities of voters.

           In 2004, the Republican Party, on the eve of the general election, mounted challenges to tens of thousands of voters in Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin based on “caging lists,” that is, lists of returned mailers or based on similar information providing no legitimate grounds whatsoever for such challenges.  None of these challenges, to our knowledge, was upheld and accusations of voter fraud by national Republican Party leaders were proven utterly baseless.

           Now,in 2008, the Republican Party again appears determined to engage in tactics and strategies to deny the right to vote to qualified citizens:

·        In Michigan, the chairman of Macomb County Republican Party has threatened to use lists of persons whose homes have been foreclosed to challenge those persons at the polls.  Only after public exposure, did he deny that this was the plan for Macomb County, and this matter is now before the federal district court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

·        In Florida, the RNC has mailed non-forwardable letters to Democratic voters asking them to “confirm” their party affiliation as Republican—thereby raising doubts about their registration status and creating the basis for possible challenge lists.  Even top Republican election officials in Florida, including the Secretary of State,have publicly condemned this tactic.

·        In Wisconsin, the Republican Attorney General, who serves as co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in the state, has filed suit challenging the refusal of the state’s own election administration authorities to throw thousands of voters off the rolls based on dubious and impractical matches of identifying information.

·        In Ohio, Republicans are challenging the decision of the Secretary of State to allow first-time voters to obtain an absentee ballot at the time they register even though the law clearly affords this right.

Manifestly, the confusion,uncertainty, deprivations of rights and interference with efficient election administration created by these tactics, and similar ones that the Republican Party has used in recent election cycles, cannot be effectively addressed by the creation late in the day of “committees” with gloriously self-serving names. Rather, the best way to address them is for responsible Republican leaders like both of you to speak out, loudly and forcefully, to condemn these tactics, to insist that they be shut down once and for all and then to make sure that they are.

   This is what we would hope that you could accomplish.  If your concern truly lies with ‘Honest and Open Elections”, then your work is properly and effectively begins at home–with the Republican operatives who are planning and running these suppressive programs and who are being directed in these activities by the same national McCain and party leadership that recruited you to this “Committee”.

Sincerely yours,

David Plouffe,

Campaign Manager, Obama for America

• Job Creation: A New American Jobs Tax Credit. Obama is calling for a temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years.
• Relief to Families: Penalty-Free Withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s in 2008 and 2009. Obama is calling for new legislation to allow families to withdraw 15% of their retirement savings – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without facing a tax-penalty this year (including retroactively) and next year
• Relief to Homeowners: 90 day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners that are acting in good faith. Financial institutions that participate in the Treasury’s financial rescue plan should be required to adhere to a homeowners code of conduct, including a 90-day foreclosure moratorium for any homeowners living in their homes that are making good faith efforts pay their mortgages.
• Responding to the Financial Crisis: A Lending Facility to Address the Credit Crisis for States and Localities. Obama is calling on the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to work to establish a facility to lend to state and municipal governments, similar to the steps the Fed recently took to provide liquidity to the commercial paper market.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
“A Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class”
As Prepared for Delivery
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Toledo, Ohio

EXCERPT 

We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now – who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills.  We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class and we need to do it now.  Today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners.  It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S. 

We’ve already lost three-quarters of a million jobs this year, and some experts say that unemployment may rise to 8% by the end of next year.  We can’t wait until then to start creating new jobs.  That’s why I’m proposing to give our businesses a new American jobs tax credit for each new employee they hire here in the United States over the next two years. 

We will also save one million jobs by creating a Jobs and Growth Fund that will provide money to states and local communities so that they can move forward with projects to rebuild and repair our roads, our bridges, and our schools.  A lot of these projects and these jobs are at risk right now because of budget shortfalls, but this fund will make sure they continue. 

…At a time when the ups and downs of the stock market have rarely been so unpredictable and dramatic, we also need to give families and retirees more flexibility and security when it comes to their retirement savings.  …Since so many Americans will be struggling to pay the bills over the next year, I propose that we allow every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009.  This will help families get through this crisis without being forced to make painful choices like selling their homes or not sending their kids to college.

…For those Americans in danger of losing their homes, today I’m also proposing a three-month moratorium on foreclosures.  If you are a bank or lender that is getting money from the rescue plan that passed Congress, and your customers are making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments and re-negotiate their mortgages, you will not be able to foreclose on their home for three months.  We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet. 

…It also means promoting a new ethic of responsibility.  Part of the reason this crisis occurred is that everyone was living beyond their means – from Wall Street to Washington to even some on Main Street.  CEOs got greedy. Politicians spent money they didn’t have.  Lenders tricked people into buying home they couldn’t afford and some folks knew they couldn’t afford them and bought them anyway. 

We’ve lived through an era of easy money, in which we were allowed and even encouraged to spend without limits; to borrow instead of save.

Now, I know that in an age of declining wages and skyrocketing costs, for many folks this was not a choice but a necessity.  People have been forced to turn to credit cards and home equity loans to keep up, just like our government has borrowed from China and other creditors to help pay its bills.

But we now know how dangerous that can be.  Once we get past the present emergency, which requires immediate new investments, we have to break that cycle of debt. Our long-term future requires that we do what’s necessary to scale down our deficits, grow wages and encourage personal savings again.

It’s a serious challenge.  But we can do it if we act now, and if we act as one nation.  We can bring a new era of responsibility and accountability to Wall Street and to Washington.  We can put in place common-sense regulations to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.  We can make investments in the technology and innovation that will restore prosperity and lead to new jobs and a new economy for the 21st century.  We can restore a sense of fairness and balance that will give ever American a fair shot at the American dream.  And above all, we can restore confidence – confidence in America, confidence in our economy, and confidence in ourselves.

Sen. John McCain has been goading Sen. Barack Obama for months to have a townhall meeting perceiving himself as some kind of master of this style of debate.  Well, last night McCain got his shot and guess what?  Obama took the school and the town in which it’s located.  CNN conducted a poll of independent  voters watching the debate and Obama won the debate 54% to 30%.  Fox News (yes that’s right), CNN, and CBS, independent viewer polls show that Obama won the debate. By the way Sen. McCain, yes the majority of voters have heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Voters in this election are a pretty smart group.  They are newly engaged, and to your detriment, they are paying attention to this presidential race.  So you saying that the average voter probably don’t know what is Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, is condescending and insulting to the average American’s intelligence.

As for McCain’s claim that he wants to buy up home mortgages and renegotiate those mortgages at the ”face” value of those homes….really?  Is that why McCain’s own party tried to prevent and intimidate the citizens of Michigan affected by foreclosures from voting?   Yea…somehow it is doubtful that McCain or his party has the interest of  citizens caught up in the subprime debacle at the top of their priority list.  And by the way…this is a proposal that has already been passed by Congress and is existing law.  And guess what, Sen. Obama endorsed a similar, better idea two weeks ago and the proposal is included in the $700 billion dollar bailout package.  So McCain’s claim that it is his idea is completely false.  The a better proposal and law is already on the books and had McCain did a search on “the Google” he could have found out that information before claiming the bad idea as his own.   McCain has been in Washington for 26 years, where was all the concern or effort to help “put Americans back to work” during his 26 year tenure?  All of a sudden, now that he is running for President, McCain is a friend of the working class.  Sen. McCain is again trying to mislead the American people.  We do not trust you to do what you claim because of the history of you and your campaign misleading the public.  

As for McCain’s claim that we are sending $700 billion dollars a year to countries that do not like us very much…he repeats this false claim in most of his speeches regarding energy independence.  Factcheck.org had this to say:

“We’ve got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t want us very – like us very much” ([McCain] actually used the figure three times in the debate.) He’s talking about what we spend importing oil, and he’s said the same thing at the last debate and numerous other times. At current oil prices, the correct figure is about $493 billion. About a third of that goes to Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which were still on the friendly side of the ledger last time we looked.

John McCain’s new strategy….attack Sen. Barack Obama’s character with mud whether it is true or not.  The new strategy is, according to the McCain campaign,…the continued the politics of personal destruction.  I guess Sen. McCain forgot that his campaign has been doing that for the last two months.  The McCain campaign will continue to try and distract voters from the issues, in this instance, the economy.  So instead of coming up with plausible solutions to this economic crisis, the McCain campaign strategy is to distract, distract, distract, away from the real concerns of the American people.  Voters are dealing with the realities of the present.  You know, the subprime meltdown, gas prices, education.  But the McCain campaign wants to distract away from such things and instead smear Obama with lies that were debunked during the primary.  I must say, on Sunday, the McCain surrogates did not disappoint.  From Sarah Palin at a campaign rally in California, to Nancy Pfotenhauer on CNN’s Late Edition, all attempting to slander Obama based on detestible acts engaged in by some guy almost 40 years ago.  At which time, I might add, Obama was eight years old and playing in a sand box. 

One other tactic that members of the the McCain campaign and its surrogates utilize is to overtalk their opponent in a way that prevents the opponent from exposing the fatal flaws in the majority of their claims, arguments, and positions.  All of the McCain surrogates do it.  They talk and talk trying to run out the clock on the segment in a blatant attempt to prevent the opponent from getting a word in edgewise.  Nancy Pfotenhauer does this ALOT.  Carly Fiorina also used to do it ALOT until she was silenced for saying that McCain is not qualified to run a company. 

The McCain campaign has also decided to issue attack ads against the Illinois senator.  Whether such ads are false or misleading does not matter to McCain.  As long as they attack and mislead the public about Obama’s character.  For example, the McCain campaign has an ad out that claims that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times.  This is completely untrue and misleading to the American people.  McCain and his campaign know that these are budget resolutions or amendments that in and of themsleves could not result in higher taxes.  In fact, if we use the exact same methodology used by the McCain campaign to come up with this claim, McCain has voted to raise taxes 400 times.  They fail to mention this little tidbit in their ad.

The question being asked by a few bloggers is whether Tom Brokaw of Meet the Press will be objective when it comes to his moderating duties in the second presidential debate on October 7th.   The second debate will be a townhall meeting format but apparently the moderator will have some power to determine the direction of the meeting.  Many are suggesting that Mr. Brokaw may attempt to sabotage Sen. Obama after viewing Meet the Press last Sunday.  I guess the townhall meeeting could be stacked with McCain supporters.  Further, Media Matters points out Brokaw’s blatant bias for Sen. McCain.   The New York Times says that Brokaw is some sort of special “liason” for the McCain campaign. You be the judge.  The following was sent out by MoveOn.org:

Sunday on Meet The Press, Tom Brokaw moderated a debate between McCain strategist Steve Schmidt and Obama strategist David Axelrod on topics ranging from Iraq to the Wall Street bailout. At the end, Tom Brokaw did something strange. He opted to give himself the last word and told the audience:

In fairness to everybody here, I’m just going to end on one note. And that is that we continue to poll on who’s best equipped to be Commander in Chief, and John McCain continues to lead in that category despite the criticism from Barack Obama by a factor of 53 to 42 percent in our latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Gentlemen, thank you very much.

1.We checked, and the latest NBC poll actually has no question about Commander in Chief.2 We contacted NBC about this, and it turns out Brokaw was referring to a poll taken weeks ago–right after the Republican convention and well before Friday’s big national security debate.3 And in each of NBC’s last two polls, Americans chose Obama over McCain.

Can you email Tom Brokaw today? Let him know that this election is very close, and we need journalists to be responsible. Giving himself the last word in the debate, and citing an outdated poll number as if it was current, was a mistake. As a responsible journalist, he should apologize for both.

Here’s where to contact him:
Tom Brokaw, Meet The Press feedback form: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/…

Then, help us track our progress by reporting your comment here:
http://pol.moveon.org/…

Barack Obama was widely praised after Friday’s presidential debate for his knowledge of foreign affairs and national security. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos summed up the consensus this way: “Overall, bottom line, the winner is Barack Obama…his number one goal was to show that he belonged on that stage…he could hold his own on national security, he did that tonight, he gets the win.”

Every major poll after that debate showed Americans thought Obama won–and a CNN poll said voters trusted Obama over McCain to handle Iraq.  Plus, three major polls released on Sunday showed Americans choosing Obama over McCain.

So Brokaw’s insertion at the end of the debate wasn’t just random–it painted an inaccurate picture of the race for voters. Can you contact Brokaw today?

Thanks for all you do.

The following is a story from an Ohio resident who convinced a racist to vote for Sen. Barack Obama for president.  An African-American woman wearing an Obama t-shirt was approached by a Caucasian elderly woman while sitting on a bench in a state park in Ohio.  The woman then asked the African-American woman if she was voting for Obama and the AA woman answered in the affirmative.  The conversation then went as follows:

(caucasian woman): “It’s nothing against you,” she said, “but I think we’re not ready for a black President.”

(AA woman): I kept it light. “I’m ready!” I joked.  Then I said, “Barack Obama is so much more than ‘just our first black President.’” Then I went on to talk to her about Obama’s policies in general terms and to generally try to get her to think of him as something other than “a black president.”

She kind of hemmed and hawed. Finally I said, “If you were to suddenly fall into this lake (the running/walking trail is around a lake) and need mouth-to-mouth, and there was me, who knows CPR, and a white person who didn’t, would you rather me not give you mouth-to-mouth because I am black?”  

She thought about it for a really long minute! Yes, folks, she thought about it! Let me pause to say this woman must be REALLY racist if she could tell me, an African American Obama supporter, she wasn’t comfortable with a black man being President.

Finally she said, “I’d want you to save me. No doubt about it.”  

So then I said, “Well, our country is just like you would be if you’d fallen into the lake. It is in dire straights. And the only person who can save it, happens to be the black guy.  Do we really want to watch our entire future be jeopardized because of something like this?”

“I never thought about it like that,” she said.  ”That puts a new spin on it.”

Then she said, “But my friends will all think I have gone nuts if I tell them I will vote for Obama.”

I told her, “You don’t have to tell them who you are voting for. It’s like when you pray for people (I got the feeling she was also religious) you don’t have to tell people what prayer you’ve said on their behalf–but they will still get all the benefit.  If Obama wins,” I told her, “you will have made their lives better, whether they realize it or not.”

“You’re telling me to lie?” she said jokingly.

“Yep,” I said. “If that’s what is going to get you to vote for Obama!”

“You’re smart,” she said. “I think you just converted me.”

“I’m not as smart as Obama!” I told her.

For all the phonebankers and canvassers who have experienced this situation more than once.

Sen Barack Obama is leading Sen. John McCain 49-47 in North Carolina according to latest Rasmussen polls.  Why is this significant?  Well Rasmussen is owned by Republican pollster Scott Rasmussen.  Notice how they always conduct their polls in cahoots with Fox News.  That’s why.  Not really legitimate in terms of pollsters.  So the fact that they have Sen. Obama ahead by 2 points in the traditionally red state of North Carolina is very significant.  Last week McCain was ahead by 3 points according to Rasmussen.  Rasmussen is the last of the McCain arsenal, if they can’t even distort there surveys so McCain comes out on top, it is a scary situation for Sen. McCain.   This is the first time in eight Rasmussen polls that Obama has ever had the edge over McCain in North Carolina.  Link

McCain, the voters are paying attention.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina on Sunday, Sen Obama gave his requirements for any bailout for the financial industry.  Bush appointed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson seems to want Congress to sign a blank check for 700 billion dollars giving him full discretion to spend it anyway he chooses.  When asked on Meet the Press on Sunday as to whether he would curtail excessive CEO compensation, Paulson opined such a requirement may discourage companies from participating in the program.  Not so much.  Meanwhile he is asking for 5% of the gross national product to spend as he pleases.  Hasn’t he been at the helm this entire time and could have raised the alarm about the potential of this happening years ago…..now he wants the Americans to just trust that he will prudently spend 700 billion in the best interest of the the majority.  I think not.  So, Mr Paulson, you and the other republicans keep saying how this needs to be a “clean bill.”  Well, if by “clean bill” you mean no oversight and no safeguards and assistance for the American taxpayers/main street………you’re on something.  As for Mr. Paulson’s objectivity, one reader summed it up perfectly:

Reuters reports today that “The incoming Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for half a year of work as the chief executive of the Goldman Sachs Group.” The massive bonus was, not surprisingly, approved by Goldman Sachs at the very same time Paulson was both CEO and Treasury Secretary designate. This raises a very simple question: What is Goldman Sachs buying with this brazen payoff to someone they knew was headed to one of the most powerful government posts in America?
 

Sen. Obama insists that the following conditions must be included in any financial industry bailout.

Excerpt from Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in North Carolina on Sunday Sept 21, 2008 

The era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has led us to a perilous moment. They said they wanted to let the market run free but instead they let it run wild. And now we are facing a financial crisis as profound as any we have faced since the Great Depression
 
But here’s the truth:
 
Regardless of how we got here, we’re here today.  And the circumstances we face require decisive action because your jobs, your savings, and your economic security are now at risk.
 
We must work quickly in a bipartisan fashion to resolve this crisis to avert an even broader economic catastrophe. But Washington also has to recognize that economic recovery requires that we act, not just to address the crisis on Wall Street, but also the crisis on Main Street and around kitchen tables across America.
 
As of now, the Bush Administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan. Even if the U.S. Treasury recovers some or most of its investment over time, this initial outlay of up to $700 billion is sobering.  And in return for their support, the American people must be assured that the deal reflects the basic principles of transparency, fairness, and reform.

First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money.

Second, taxpayers shouldn’t be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street.

Third, taxpayers should be protected and should be able to recoup this investment.

Fourth, this plan has to help homeowners stay in their homes.

Fifth, this is a global crisis, and the United States must insist that other nations join us in helping secure the financial markets.

Sixth, we need to start putting in place the rules of the road I’ve been calling for for years to prevent this from ever happening again.

And finally, this plan can’t just be a plan for Wall Street, it has to be a plan for Main Street.  We have to come together, as Democrats and Republicans, to pass a stimulus plan that will put money in the pockets of working families, save jobs, and prevent painful budget cuts and tax hikes in our states.

What the nations leading women are saying about Sen. Barack Obama and why they support him.

“Change has never been easy, it’s always been hard-fought with bumps and bruises along the way, but these women leaders have had the tenacity to charge on. I am honored to have the support of such remarkable women who have broken down barriers and paved the way for change for my daughters and generations of women. In accepting their support I also accept the great responsibility to carry the torch by advancing women’s rights and bringing the change women need,” said Senator Barack Obama. “For every Sally Ride, Tory Burch, or Billie Jean King, there are hundreds of young women out there whose dreams seem a little more possible. As president, I will work to safeguard and support those dreams for my daughters and future generations of Americans through policies that further opportunity for all.”

“As the son of a single mother, Senator Obama embodies the American dream and is on the side of working women. For generations, women have fought to advance their rights and achieve equality,” said Stacey Snider, Chairman of DreamWorks who was named as one of Fortune’s 50 most powerful women in business.  “We are indebted to them for opening doors that were previously locked shut. But there is still work to be done. Women still just make 77 cents for every dollar men make for the same work. Senator Obama is the presidential candidate with a record for standing up for women; and he will advance our rights by enacting laws that close the income gap. In this defining moment in our history, women must exercise our vote and elect Barack Obama president in November.”

“Barack Obama understands the struggles that middle class Americans are facing every day,” said Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President Emerita, AFL-CIO.  “John McCain has voted with President Bush 90% of the time and will continue the failed policies of that administration.  In contrast, Barack Obama will open the doors of opportunity for the middle class by reducing their taxes, protecting their jobs, making college affordable, and ensuring that every American has access to quality, affordable health care.  He will strengthen families by making equal pay for equal work a reality, expanding family leave, and securing our seniors’ retirement security.  I am proud to support Barack Obama.”

“There is no doubt that Barack Obama has awakened a new generation of political involvement in America,” said motivational speaker and Olympic gold-medalist and the first African-American to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics Dominique Dawes.  “He speaks to the hope and personal responsibility that inspires my generation.  I am proud to endorse Barack Obama because I know he will work to ensure that the American dream is within reach for every child across the country.”

This list consists of the hundreds of women who support Sen. Barack Obama because of his vision and unwavering commitment to the strengthening and equality of women.

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Remarks of Senator Barack ObamaConfronting an Economic Crisis As Prepared For Delivery

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

Golden, Colorado

Over the last few days, we have seen clearly what’s at stake in this election. The news from Wall Street has shaken the American people’s faith in our economy. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that have generated tremendous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.

Since this turmoil began over a year ago, the housing market has collapsed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be effectively taken over by the government. Three of America’s five largest investment banks failed or have been sold off in distress. Yesterday, Wall Street suffered its worst losses since just after 9/11. We are in the most serious financial crisis in generations. Yet Senator McCain stood up yesterday and said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong

A few hours later, his campaign sent him back out to clean up his remarks, and he tried to explain himself again this morning by saying that what he meant was that American workers are strong. But we know that Senator McCain meant what he said the first time, because he has said it over and over again throughout this campaign – no fewer than 16 times, according to one independent count. 

Now I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for all of the problems we’re facing, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. Because the truth is, what Senator McCain said yesterday fits with the same economic philosophy that he’s had for 26 years. It’s the philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down. It’s the philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise. It’s a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people.

We’ve had this philosophy for eight years. We know the results. You feel it in your own lives. Jobs have disappeared, and peoples’ life savings have been put at risk. Millions of families face foreclosure, and millions more have seen their home values plummet. The cost of everything from gas to groceries to health care has gone up, while the dream of a college education for our kids and a secure and dignified retirement for our seniors is slipping away. These are the struggles that Americans are facing. This is the pain that has now trickled up.

So let’s be clear: what we’ve seen the last few days is nothing less than the final verdict on an economic philosophy that has completely failed. And I am running for President of the United States because the dreams of the American people must not be endangered any more. It’s time to put an end to a broken system in Washington that is breaking the American economy. It’s time for change that makes a real difference in your lives.

If you want to understand the difference between how Senator McCain and I would govern as President, you can start by taking a look at how we’ve responded to this crisis. Because Senator McCain’s approach was the same as the Bush Administration’s: support ideological policies that made the crisis more likely; do nothing as the crisis hits; and then scramble as the whole thing collapses. My approach has been to try to prevent this turmoil.   

In February of 2006, I introduced legislation to stop mortgage transactions that promoted fraud, risk or abuse. A year later, before the crisis hit, I warned Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke about the risks of mounting foreclosures and urged them to bring together all the stakeholders to find solutions to the subprime mortgage meltdown. Senator McCain did nothing.

Last September, I stood up at NASDAQ and said it’s time to realize that we are in this together – that there is no dividing line between Wall Street and Main Street – and warned of a growing loss of trust in our capital markets. Months later, Senator McCain told a newspaper that he’d love to give them a solution to the mortgage crisis, “but” – he said – “I don’t know one.”

In January, I outlined a plan to help revive our faltering economy, which formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress. Senator McCain used the crisis as an excuse to push a so-called stimulus plan that offered another huge and permanent corporate tax cut, including $4 billion for the big oil companies, but no immediate help for workers.

This March, in the wake of the Bear Stearns bailout, I called for a new, 21st century regulatory framework to restore accountability, transparency, and trust in our financial markets. Just a few weeks earlier, Senator McCain made it clear where he stands: “I’m always for less regulation,” he said, and referred to himself as “fundamentally a deregulator.”
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Survey USA just released its poll results for Virginia today and though McCain had a post-convention Palin bounce, the Commonwealth is again moving towards Sen. Barack Obama for President.  In the state of Virginia Sen. Obama leads Sen. McCain 50% to 46%.  Keep up the GREAT work Virginia!! 

Virginia Men, Voters Age 50+, Independents, Take Another Look At Obama: In an election for President of the United States in Virginia today, 09/15/08, 7 weeks till votes are counted, Democrat Barack Obama defeats Republican John McCain 50% to 46%, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, WJLA-TV in Washington DC, WTVR-TV in Richmond, and WJHL-TV in the Tri-Cities. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released one week ago, immediately following the Republican National Convention, Obama is up 3 points; McCain is down 3. The movement solidifies Virginia place as America’s 2008 battleground. 

One week ago, McCain led among men by 11 points. Today, McCain and Obama tie. One week ago, McCain led among voters age 50+ by 14 points. Today, McCain leads by 1. One week ago, Obama led among lower income voters by 6 points. Today, Obama leads by 20. One week ago, McCain led among Independents by 21 points. Today, McCain leads by 4. 17% of Republicans today crossover to vote Democrat, up from 11% last week and 7% last month. 12% of Democrats cross over to vote Republican, compared with 10% in the two previous polls. Strikingly: week-on-week movement in the DC suburbs was to McCain; movement in the Shenandoah and Central VA was to Obama.

In Virginia, there is still no evidence that Sarah Palin is attracting women to the GOP ticket. McCain polled at 44% before he picked Palin, and at 43% in each of the two polls conducted after Palin was announced.