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.

Last night the Senate passed the Bailout bill 74-25.  Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Joe Biden voted for the bailout rescue plan.  In total, 39 democrats, 34 Republicans, and 1 independent (Lieberman) voted in support of the Bill.  There will be a Main Street benefit by way of the defrosting of credit.  The Bill allegedly will significantly increase the availability of credit and prevent a deep recession.  In the last few weeks, consumers have noticed that it is more difficult to get credit for home loans, car loans, and other types of consumer and small business loans because banks are not lending.  Until banks are able recapitalize, the industry is holding on tight to the credit strings.  The hope is that the Bill will provide much needed stability to the financial markets.  When businesses cannot get loans to make payroll, employees lose their jobs or don’t get paid.  Consumers then stop spending money and consumer buying slows down resulting in states bringing in lower tax revenues.  The broader economy is then impacted.  It’s all interconnected.  One good thing and per Sen. Obama’s suggestion, the bill will raise the FDIC insured amount from $100,000 to $250,000.  If there was more time perhaps a better bill could be crafted but given the alleged urgency of the situation it is the best available remedy of the moment.  Today Congress will be whipping votes and there should be a second vote in the House of Representatives on Friday.

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.

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.

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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It is former Senator and McCain economic advisor Phil Gramm who is primarily responsible for the law that caused this economic meltdown.  Chair of the Senate Banking Committee at the time and acting under cover of darkness, then Sen. Phil Gramm pushed through a bill titled the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA).  Gramm did so right after the Bush v. Gore decision in 2000 when only financial industry lobbyists were paying attention in Washington.  Then Senator Gramm and the REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED CONGRESS secretly slid through the CFMA.  The bill deregulated swaps which is the primary reason for the biggest financial meltdown since the Depression.  Yes, it is the deregulated swaps and lack of oversight that are “at the heart of the subprime meltdown” according to Michael Greenberger, former director of the Commodities Futures Traders Commission division of trading and markets in the late 1990s.  Sen. McCain is a strong proponent of deregulation of the nation’s financial markets and it was that deregulation and “the smartest person [McCain] knows,” Phil Gramm, that is primarily responsible for this crisis.  Gramm, then Chairman of the Senate banking committee, routinely turned down SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt’s request for more funds to police the financial industry.  McCain now claims that he plans to clean up Wall Street but until yesterday the Arizona senator stood firmly behind the policies, (deregulation) that put Wall Street in its current state.  Gramm’s recklessness in the financial industry has not dulled his glow in McCain’s eyes.  Dubbed an “economic guru” by Sen. McCain, Gramm is still closely connected to the campaign. If McCain gets in the White House, you can bet that Phil Gramm policies will be the driving force in the financial industry.  The two senators have been close friends since they served together in the House in the 1980s.  McCain chaired Gramm’s failure of a presidential campaign and Gramm was McCain’s formal senior economic advisor until six weeks ago when he called America and its people “a nation of whiners.”  McCain’s entire presidential campaign staff is comprised of people like Gramm.  How can someone who admits to “not understand the economy” and surrounds himself with the very people who caused this problem in the first place possibly represent reform or bring reform for that matter?

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.

Republican, Ed Koch has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President today.  When asked why, Koch said  “[McCain’s] designation of Palin as vice president.”  Koch said that he was shocked at the report about Palin banning books at the local library.  Koch went further to say.

“Any time someone goes to the library and says, ‘I want to ban books,’ and the librarian says ‘no,’ and she threatens to fire them — that’s scary,” he said. 

In Koch’s endorsement of Sen. Obama he wrote “the issue for me is who will best protect and defend America”

I have concluded that the country is safer in the hands of Barack Obama, leader of the Democratic Party and protector of the philosophy of that party. Protecting and defending the U.S. means more than defending us from foreign attacks. It includes defending the public with respect to their civil rights, civil liberties and other needs, e.g., national health insurance, the right of abortion, the continuation of Social Security, gay rights, other rights of privacy, fair progressive taxation and a host of other needs and rights.

If the vice president were ever called on to lead the country, there is no question in my mind that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is a plucky, exciting candidate, but when her record is examined, she fails miserably with respect to her views on the domestic issues that are so important to the people of the U.S., and to me. Frankly, it would scare me if she were to succeed John McCain in the presidency.

This is just common sense.  Who cares if Palin is a woman, are we going to jeopardize the security of our country just to elect a female as president? 

Brilliant response by Sen. Obama to the GOP’s attempt to belittle his work as a community organizer.

The McCain campaign just released an ad comparing Sen. Barack Obama’s experience to Gov. Sarah Palin.  This is an irrelevant comparison. Palin is not at the top of the ticket, Sen. John McCain is.  It will not be Palin’s policies that will be implemented in a McCain administration, it will be John McCain’s policies.  And as we know, McCain has voted with Bush 90% of the time.  Sen. McCain’s economic policy is a carbon copy of the economic policy of George W. Bush.  The McCain campaign comparing their vice presidential candidate to the democratic presidential candidate is an attempt to lull Obama into engaging Palin when McCain is his opponent.  It is McCain that will shape the policies of a McCain administration.  My guess is that once Palin has out lived her usefulness, she will be sent to the corner and told to keep quiet.  McCain will insure that the Bush policies continue if this ticket is put in the White House.  With Palin’s extremist far right views, Gov. Palin is just a female version of Dick Cheney without the influence.  Therefore, the Obama campaign should not be suckered by the McCain campaign into comparing Sen. Obama’s accomplishments to Palin’s, Palin should only be compared to her counterpart Sen. Joe Biden.  This election is about competing visions for America and how each vision will be implemented by Obama or McCain.  Palin’s petty remarks should be sent directly to Biden, don’t stop, don’t pass go, don’t collect $100. 

The following statement was just released from the Obama Campaign in Response to Governor Palin’s Speech

“The speech that Governor Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush’s speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we’ve heard from George Bush for the last eight years.  If Governor Palin and John McCain want to define ‘change’ as voting with George Bush 90% of the time, that’s their choice, but we don’t think the American people are ready to take a 10% chance on change,” said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

Today is the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.  On this historic day Senator Barack Obama will officially accept the Democratic Party nomination to be the party representative in the general election to become the President of the United States.  And ProgressPolitics will be there.  This marks the first time that an African-American has ever achieved this high honor and this writer predicts that there will not be a dry eye in the house.  As an African-American that will be sitting in the audience during this once in a lifetime experience, it is impossible to explain the range of emotions that are going through me right now.  Pride, Excitement, Optimism, and Joy are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind.  There are many people who have worked tirelessly for Sen Barack Obama because of his vision, his character, and his plan to return America to its former greatness.  All we can say is that this is the first step for many of us.  For many African-Americans who have never seen a person that looked like us in such a position, I would say that the predominate emotion is pride.  Sen. Obama has reached this great milestone not by changing who he is but because of who he is.  As a African-American male raised by a single mother, this is an all to common way that many African-Americans start out.   Witnessing someone who came from such humble beginnings achieve this great thing sends a message to every African-American child that anything and everything is possible regardless of how you start out.  The pundits may decide to try and spin this, by pundits I mean the Right (Fox, Limbaugh, Hannity), because of the size of the stadium and the aestetics of the venue but the truth is that Sen. Barack Obama is a candidate of the people.  It is the blood, sweat, and tears of millions that will have put Sen. Obama on the Invesco Field stage tonight.  The idea that it is a mistake to allow them to partake in this historic occasion is absolutely ludicrous.  There are thousands upon thousands of people who want to witness this historic event and to limit it to only a few people would be an injustice to all the volunteers and voters who are responsible for Sen. Obama being there.  For the first time in history we have an African-American of a major party as an official contender for President of the United States.   We are in the beginnings of a “dream” realized.

Ladies and Gentleman we give you Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!        

Progress.

Yesterday was the 88th anniversary of women’s right to vote and the platform for the Democratic Party Convention was all about women. The day started out with a women’s caucus featuring Mame Reilly of Virginia moderating. The caucus focused on all the accomplishes in the United States since women received the right to vote. It also emphasized the stakes of this election. It was repeated that John McCain voted against women on the equal pay for equal work bill before the Senate. Also, the importance actress Fran Dresher emphasized how important it is for the government not to legislate women’s bodies by taking away the right to choose. Ms. Dresher told her personal story of how she hates that her right to choose was taken because of a radical histerectomy and how women in general will also hate if their right to choose is taken by electing McCain. Dresher said that women should not allow the goverment to take their right to choose by electing John McCain as president. Ann Richards daughter, Cecile Richards electrified the caucus when she spoke about her mother and the many reasons for choosing Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain. Richards also empasized the record of Sen. Barack Obama on women’s issues. Obama voted for birth control, comprehensive women’s health education, and a women’s right to chose. Richards told how Sen. McCain has voted against women’s healthcare 125 times. She also reiterated that McCain wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, the quote of the day from Richards was when she said “a woman voting for John McCain is like a chicken voting for Cornel Sanders.” Other speakers were United States Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. There was also a tribute to United States Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio.

If anyone watched the two candidates, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, on Saturday with Pastor Rick Warren the average listener came away with some definite impressions.  Just as bit of background on Pastor Warren and his audience.  Pastor Warren is a conservative, pro-life, republican.  Thus, the questions were framed with a conservative bent. The audience consisted of all evangelicals and tailor made for McCain or any GOP candidate for that matter.  Also, 75% of of his audience voted for Pres. Bush in 2004.  It was actually a brave move for Sen. Obama to participate.  One other quick point:  Only McCain, a man worth $125 million would define rich as someone making $5 million a year.  It’s all relatively elitist I guess.  There are many folks out there who are making $500,000 a year who consider themselves rich.  Okay back to the point of this post.  Having viewed the interviews on CSPAN and listened to the reaction from listeners before I heard any pundit analysis.  My overall impression differs significantly from that of the pundit class.  Many of the listeners who called in said that Sen. McCain’s answers seemed rehearsed and canned and Sen. Obama was more engaged in a thoughtful conversation.   I also noticed several times that Sen. McCain seemed to answer the questions before Pastor Warren could actually get out the question.  This indicates to me that McCain heard the questions beforehand and was not in a “cone of silence.” Come to find out that Sen. McCain was not in the building when Pastor Warren said that he was in the “cone of silence” but had just left his hotel at the time that the statement was made.  Pastor Warren did say that he gave each of the candidates, one question, that is one question, not two questions (as reported by National Review Online)but one question beforehand.  Warren also said that he did give Sen. Obama a second question that he did not get to Sen. McCain, because McCain showed up late, regarding giving the pastor a commitment to an “emergency plan for orphans” similar to the one that Bush initiated for AIDS.  Giving Sen. Obama a single extra question is a different story then receiving a complete preview of the questions and the opposing candidates answers beforehand.  Does anyone believe, with the stakes at risk in this campaign, that the McCain campaign did not at least listen to CSPAN radio on the way to the event and therefore had a heads up with respect to the questions and Obama’s answers before he arrived.  Yea…I didn’t think so.  McCain’s interview also now makes much more sense. The Arizona senator had a ready anecdote for almost every single answer.  I might also mention that those anecdotes are ones that even for the average person who have been only slightly paying attention to this race thus far have heard at least twice.  As someone who has paid a great deal of attention to this race, I have heard each of his stories and McCainisms ad nauseum, including the “cross in the sand” story.  What I have not heard is a real explanation about his moral failing. McCain skipped over this question by saying that his “failure of [his] first marriage” was his greatest moral failure and quickly moved on without giving an explanation as to why.  Sen. Obama answered the question thoughtfully and provided detail.  McCain did however manage to insert “Americans failed to serve a purpose greater than there own self interest” and ”following Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell” when needed.  We have heard McCain say these and other McCainisms sprinkled throughout his interview at town hall meetings, in speeches, in interviews, etc……the exact same phrases.  While I agree with the sentiment, he needs some new material.  We need a president who has the ability to think through the difficult problems and grasp the intricacies of what the repercussions of a bad decision will mean, not someone who constantly repeats the talking points that he has been using since 2000 and has a well documented volatile and hair-trigger history of speaking without thought.  We have had eight years of cowboy diplomacy.

Here’s is a camparison of answers given by Obama and McCain respectively that proves my point that McCain had a heads-up.

Warren and Obama:

Q. OKAY LET’S GO TO EDUCATION. AMERICA RIGHT NOW 23 RANKS 19TH IN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. WE’RE FIRST IN INCARCERATIONS.

A. NOT GOOD.

Q. NOT GOOD. 80 PERCENT OF AMERICANS RECENT POLE SAID THEY BELIEVE IN MERIT PAY FOR TEACHERS.

1. I’M NOT ASKING DO YOU THINK ALL TEACHERS SHOULD GET A RAISE.

2. DO YOU THINK BETTER TEACHERS SHOULD BE PAID BETTER?

3. THEY SHOULD BE MAKING MORE THAN POOR TEACHERS?

Now Warren and McCain:

Q ALL RIGHT. LET’S TALK ABOUT EDUCATION. AMERICA 18 RANKS 19TH IN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATIONS, BUT WE’RE FIRST IN 19 INCARCERATION. EVERYBODY SAYS THEY WANT MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IN SCHOOLS?

A  UH-HUH.

Q  ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF AMERICA SAYS THEY SUPPORT MERIT PAY FOR THE BEST TEACHERS. NOW, I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOUR STUMP SPEECH ON EDUCATION?

A  YES. YES. AND FIND BAD TEACHERS ANOTHER LINE OF WORK.

Q  YOU KNOW –

A  CAN I –

Q  YOU ARE ANSWERING SO QUICKLY.

A  CAN I –

Q YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME OF POKER?

As for the pundits, so I hear the listeners reactions on CSPAN and I have the same reaction as the CSPAN listeners, but I then turn to MSNBC to hear the pundit analysis thinking that they would be echoing what seemed to be obvious with respect to the rehearsed or canned nature of McCain’s answers…and what do I hear?  The pundit class going on and on about how great McCain was tonight.  How McCain was at the top of his game and gave great, quick, and decisive answers (that happens when you know the questions in advance and have answered such questions the same exact way in various other forums).   The same thing was being said on CNN.  Give me a break.  McCain was not being interviewed, he was acting out a play where he received the the script and rehearsal time prior to the performance.  The listeners of CSPAN saw and heard it……why would the pundit class miss such an obvious fake out.  Why…to create more of a horse race people.  Trust your own instincts.

Gen. Wesley Clark is the name being chatted about by a few members of the chattering class as Obama’s veep choice.  Apparently, the theme for Wednesday, Aug. 27, the night the vice presidential choice will speak, is being promoted as “Securing America’s Future.”  The coincidence is that it also happens to be the name of Gen. Wesley Clark’s political action committee.  Though the website for Clark’s PAC is www.securingamerica.com, the FEC filing list the the full name which just happens to be the exact same name as Wednesday night’s theme.  Hmmm…curiouser and curiouser

When asked about the coinkydink, a Clark campaign official started laughing hysterically saying that “it’s just because his PAC was named so well!”  Hmmm….a bit of an overreaction considering. Perhaps politicians should leave all the over acting to the waiters and waitresses in Hollywood.

FYI:  The theme for Thursday night, Aug. 28th, and the night that Sen. Obama is speaking is “Change You Can Believe In.”  Hmmm

UPDATE:  Looks like Gen. Clark has decided to raise his media profile a bit more all of a sudden.  See this letter posted today on his SecureAmerica website.

Not Going Away 

A little over a month ago, following my appearance on Face the Nation, the right wing freak machine took me out of context, attacked me, and just wanted me to “hit the road.”

Well, I’m here to tell you: I’m not going away.

We simply have too much to do in these final three months. We have to elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States. And we have to give him a working majority in Congress. So let’s give the right wing what they asked for. I’m ready to “hit the road” and help Democrats across the country!

Contribute to WesPAC’s “Hit The Road Fund!” Help us raise $25,000 by this Friday.

http://securingamerica.com/HitTheRoad

I’m committed to doing everything I can to help Democrats win this November. I’ve opened up my schedule and am ready to hit the campaign trail across the country. That’s why I’m traveling across the country over the coming weeks.

I can only do this if WesPAC has the financial resources to keep me on the road these final three months. That’s why we started the “Hit The Road Fund.” I need your help to make sure I can stay on the campaign trail to help folks like Charlie Brown (CA-4), Eric Massa (NY-29), and Bob Tuke (TN-Sen).

I’ve set a goal of raising $25,000 by this Friday. Make a contribution to our “Hit The Road Fund” today!

http://securingamerica.com/HitTheRoad

When people hit you, you have to hit back. I won’t back away from a fight, and over the years we’ve gotten to know each other, I know you won’t either. Please contribute to our “Hit The Road Fund” today!

http://securingamerica.com/HitTheRoad

Electing the right people this November will be critical to securing America’s future. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Wes Clark

Observation:  The perfect person to call McCain on his “I know how to win wars” bull crap, and who has the military gravitas and background to pull it off.  Not to mention that he was an avid Clinton supporter and Pres. Clinton just happens to be speaking on the same night as the vice presidential candidate (perhaps introducing Gen. Clark). Further, why would you have a veteran theme on the vice president’s night, if the veep choice is not a veteran? If he isn’t a veteran, wouldn’t he/she lack credibility?  Because John Kerry and Republican Chuck Hagel are the only other veterans in contention and they are both out of the question (for obvious reasons), the only realistic and obvious choice would be Clark.

Again……hmmm…and…hmmm

Last week, we reported that CBS distorted Sen. McCain’s answer in an interview that aired a couple of weeks ago.  Well, it appears that the third place network is still at it.   Many of the news outlets have been reporting on former President Bill Clinton’s lukewarm response to a reporter’s question about whether Sen. Obama “is ready to be president.”  It has been discovered by Media Matters that CBS edited out a significant portion of Clinton’s answer so that it gave a different impression than that of the unedited tape.  This is the entire exchange unedited:

SNOW: Is he ready to be president?

CLINTON: Well, in the — you could argue that no one is ever ready to be president.  I mean, I certainly learned a lot about the job in my first year. He’s shown a keen strategic sense and his ability to run an effective campaign. He clearly can inspire people and motivate people and energize them, which is a very important part of being president, and he’s smart as a whip so there’s nothing he can’t learn.

This is what ABC reported:

begin video clip]

SNOW: Is he ready to be president?

BILL CLINTON: Well, in the — you could argue that no one’s ever ready to be president.

[end video clip]

One wonders what else was left out of that interview?

The campaigns released the presidential and vice presidential debates schedule today and guess which network was noticeably absent….sucks for you ABC.  PBS will host the vice presidential and a single presidential debate.  NBC and CBS will moderate the last two presidential debates.

ABC’s absence may be a result of its democratic primary debate hosting gig that many perceived as a “gotcha” style debate  sans substantive issues.  That ABC primary debate was hosted by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos.

Schedule:

Presidential Debates

Jim Lehrer, Sept. 26, at the University of Mississippi @9pm EST  (foreign policy debate)
Tom Brokaw, Oct. 7, in Nashville at Belmont University @9pm EST   (townhall meeting, questions from the audience)
Bob Schieffer, Oct. 15, at Hofstra University @9pm EST  (domestic policy debate)

Vice Presidential Debate
Gwen Ifill, Oct. 2, at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri @9pm  (domestic and foreign policy)

Don’t ask us how we know but ProgressPolitics has a strong suspicion that Sen. Obama will be announcing his Veep selection on Wednesday.  There are quite a few coinkydinks occuring that gives this site pause.   Now lets get to the who, drumroll please………..and the winner of the Veepstakes is……………..Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana.  There are too many coincidences with respect to this particular senator which we will not go into now.  But he is a great choice given his status as a non Washington insider and his close association with the now dismantled Clinton campaign.  This is merely a suspicion, but it’s based on facts that will be revealed if the announcement takes place tomorrow.  We could be completely off track but we may not be. If we are right….nice choice.

Update:  We may have been incorrect about the announcement date but stand by the veep choice.  Looks like the decison will not be announced until after Sen: Obama returns from vacation.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama

(as prepared for delivery)

New Energy for America

Michigan State University

Monday, August 4th, 2008

Lansing, Michigan

We meet at a moment when this country is facing a set of challenges greater than any we’ve seen in generations.  Right now, our brave men and women in uniform are fighting two different wars while terrorists plot their next attack.  Our changing climate is placing our planet in peril.  Our economy is in turmoil and our families are struggling with rising costs and falling incomes; with lost jobs and lost homes and lost faith in the American Dream.  And for too long, our leaders in Washington have been unwilling or unable to do anything about it.

That is why this election could be the most important of our lifetime.  When it comes to our economy, our security, and the very future of our planet, the choices we make in November and over the next few years will shape the next decade, if not the century.  And central to all of these major challenges is the question of what we will do about our addiction to foreign oil.  

Without a doubt, this addiction is one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced - from the gas prices that are wiping out your paychecks and straining businesses to the jobs that are disappearing from this state; from the instability and terror bred in the Middle East to the rising oceans and record drought and spreading famine that could engulf our planet.

It’s also a threat that goes to the very heart of who we are as a nation, and who we will be.  Will we be the generation that leaves our children a planet in decline, or a world that is clean, and safe, and thriving?  Will we allow ourselves to be held hostage to the whims of tyrants and dictators who control the world’s oil wells?  Or will we control our own energy and our own destiny?  Will America watch as the clean energy jobs and industries of the future flourish in countries like Spain, Japan, or Germany?  Or will we create them here, in the greatest country on Earth, with the most talented, productive workers in the world?

As Americans, we know the answers to these questions.  We know that we cannot sustain a future powered by a fuel that is rapidly disappearing.  Not when we purchase $700 million worth of oil every single day from some the world’s most unstable and hostile nations - Middle Eastern regimes that will control nearly all of the world’s oil by 2030.  Not when the rapid growth of countries like China and India mean that we’re consuming more of this dwindling resource faster than we ever imagined.  We know that we can’t sustain this kind of future.

But we also know that we’ve been talking about this issue for decades.  We’ve heard promises about energy independence from every single President since Richard Nixon.  We’ve heard talk about curbing the use of fossil fuels in State of the Union addresses since the oil embargo of 1973.

Back then, we imported about a third of our oil.  Now, we import more than half.  Back then, global warming was the theory of a few scientists.  Now, it is a fact that is melting our glaciers and setting off dangerous weather patterns as we speak.  Then, the technology and innovation to create new sources of clean, affordable, renewable energy was a generation away.  Today, you can find it in the research labs of this university and in the design centers of this state’s legendary auto industry.  It’s in the chemistry labs that are laying the building blocks for cheaper, more efficient solar panels, and it’s in the re-born factories that are churning out more wind turbines every day all across this country.  

Despite all this, here we are, in another election, still talking about our oil addiction; still more dependent than ever.  Why?

You won’t hear me say this too often, but I couldn’t agree more with the explanation that Senator McCain offered a few weeks ago.  He said, “Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been thirty years in the making, and was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long-term about the future of the country.”

What Senator McCain neglected to mention was that during those thirty years, he was in Washington for twenty-six of them.  And in all that time, he did little to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  He voted against increased fuel efficiency standards and opposed legislation that included tax credits for more efficient cars.  He voted against renewable sources of energy.  Against clean biofuels.  Against solar power.  Against wind power.  Against an energy bill that - while far from perfect - represented the largest investment in renewable sources of energy in the history of this country.  So when Senator McCain talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, it’s important to remember that he’s been a part of that failure.  Now, after years of inaction, and in the face of public frustration over rising gas prices, the only energy proposal he’s really promoting is more offshore drilling - a position he recently adopted that has become the centerpiece of his plan, and one that will not make a real dent in current gas prices or meet the long-term challenge of energy independence. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, Sen. Barack Obama offered a real life solution to Americans in response to the sky-rocketing gas prices.  Yesterday, Exxon Mobil posted record profits.  The oil company actually made history when it reported the highest profits earned by a corporation……EVER!!!!   $12 BILLION to be exact!!!  That is obscene considering the state of our economy and the prices consumers are paying at the pump.  Therefore, instead of waiting twenty years to receive a benefit  from off-shore drilling which Obama now supports in a limited way, Sen. Obama also proposes giving the American people a $1,000 emergency energy rebate check, and we pay for it………..with a windfall profit tax to be applied to the oil companies.  Impressive.  The fact that he has a real people solution, and a way to pay for it will go a long way towards putting gas money back in the pockets of consumers.  To be clear, it is in the spirit of compromise that Obama supports a limited amount of off-shore drilling. if the republicans will also comprimise and approve his oil company windfall profit tax proposal that will give Americans real, immediate, relief.   No gimmick, but a practical, plausible, immediate solution that offers real-time relief from the high price of gas and has the added benefit of being fiscally responsible.  Judgment and Leadership.  

DISTRACTION ALERT:  The McCain campaign is up in arms about a comment made by Sen. Barack Obama yesterday regarding the “scare” campaign tactics of the other side. The exact quote from Sen. Obama: 

Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama said. “You know, ‘he’s not patriotic enough, he’s got a funny name,’ you know, ‘he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” 

This is completely ridiculous! Obama was preempting what is to come. Something McCain is very aware of since he has done the same thing many times over with respect to his age.  How many times have John McCain referred to the fact that he is “old” in an attempt to take it off the table.  The gander certainly cannot accuse the goose for something that it has been doing in the hen house for months prior.  How many times has John McCain alluded to Obama’s alleged “inexperience” or “arrogance” for doing things that he himself has done except that Obama is perceived as having done them better.  The trip to the Middle East for example.  McCain made the exact same trip but perceived not to have been as successful.  What Obama completed brilliantly yesterday was a preemptive strike against the “race card.”  No one can deny, not even the main stream pundits, that there has been several right-wing pundits, whisper campaigns, talk radio shock jocks, right-wing bloggers,  527 groups etc., who have used race left, right, sideways, and center in ”their” attempt to punt the Illinois senator.  So with this knowledge, why is the McCain campaign so up in arms about Obama comment?  With all the right-wing lunatic fringe groups focusing at every opportunity on the fact that Obama is different because he is black, how else do you combat such distracting noise but mention the fact that you have been very upfront about the fact that Obama is different because he is black. So it’s dumbfounding how the campaign can conclude that Obama is playing the race card.  It seems that the double standard in the McCain campaign is in full force. This is a stretch beyond elasticity and the main stream media is jumping all over it.  Remember folks, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, all have a very big horse in this race….RATINGS.  The greater the perception of a horse race, the more advertising dollars.  And by the way, Obama has made the same comment many times prior to yesterday. This is an extreme and disproportionate reaction from the McCain campaign.  It’s called the politics of destraction and deflection….deflect from the positive press from Obama’s overseas trip and distract from the weaknesses of McCain, economy, gas prices, EXXON Mobil record profits (11.68 billion), mortgage crisis, etc.  Karl Rove tactics on full blast. 

Sen. Barack Obama was accused by a couple of reporters writing for the Washington Post of over-confidence/arrogance/hubris/presumptuous, all of which have been interpreted by many folks in the African-American community as being accused of “acting too uppity.” One accusation was waged by Dana Milbank when Obama began preparing his team for a possible White House transition, something that both Bush and Gore did in the summer of 2000, but because Obama followed this tradition, he is for some reason presumptuous.  The second accusation was lodged by Washington Post reporter Jonathan Weisman, referencing a speech Obama gave yesterday before House democrats.  Turns out that the quote was taken and reported completely out of context.  This is the story as reported by Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post:

Obama’s Symbolic Importance

By Jonathan Weisman

Perhaps he’s beginning to believe the hype.

In his closed door meeting with House Democrats this evening, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama delivered a real zinger. According to a witness, he was waxing lyrical about last week’s trip to Europe, when he concluded, “this is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for.”

The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives.

“I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions,” he said.

This is what Sen. Obama actually said per Mark Halperin of The Page:

But, a Democrat who was in the room tells The Page: “His entire point of that riff was that the campaign IS NOT about him. The Post left out the important first half of the sentence, which was something along the lines of: ‘It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It’s about America. I have just become a symbol..’“

Always question the source.  This particular writer, Jonathan Weisman,  has a long history of misquoting and writing with a right-wing slant.  He has also been repeatedly called out for his blatant bias for presidential contender John McCain.  Though traditional media may appear to be reporting objective, unbias, news, reporters to have their own agenda.

Soon after Sen. Brack Obama’s sit-down with Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press last Sunday, speculation about potential veep’s has been running rampant throughout the punditry class.  Sen. Obama said that the characteristics that he is looking for in a vice president is someone who will work hard and will be a change agent ready to shake-up Washington.  The senator went on to say, “I’m going to want somebody with independence — who’s willing to tell me where he thinks, or she thinks, I’m wrong,” he said. “And I’m going to want somebody who shares a vision of the country: where we need to go — that we’ve got to fundamentally change not only our policies, but how politics work, how business is done in Washington.”

Tim Kaine seems to fit the bill.  Politico reports:

As Senator Barack Obama turns to the choice of his running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has emerged as one of the campaign’s potential finalists, sources familiar with conversations in Richmond and in Chicago said.

Kaine, an early Obama supporter whose biography nicely dovetails with the Illinois senator’s, “ranks very, very high on the short list,” said a source who has spoken recently to senior Obama aides about Kaine.

Kaine “is getting a critical examination,” the source said.

The 50-year-old Virginia governor is among a handful of logical, and much-discussed, choices to join Obama on the campaign trail. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn and Delaware Senator Joe Biden are among others frequently mentioned.

This writer thinks that Kaine would be a great pick!