From Slave House to White House

Today the White House, built by slaves, will be inhabited by a man of African descent and his wife, descendant of slaves: leaders of the free world. That journey, that struggle has spanned more than three centuries. It's included the deaths and back-breaking heartache and oppression of hundreds of thousands of people. The cycle of abuse (physical, verbal, emotional, economic, sexual) was played out in our country with institutional justification and legal support!

To achieve that oppression, the slaves had to give up their language, their diet, their very names. Remember "Roots" when Kunta Kinte is beaten until he yields to his master's name for him, replacing his African heritage? Slaves were systematically stripped of the cultural touchstones and personal identities that had they been retained, would have made it nearly impossible to keep that population enslaved for so long. Once Lincoln's Union won the Civil War (a war that shredded the relational fibers of the nation), the former slaves became the second-class citizens, attempting to map out a new existence, finding new names, all within the confines of institutional and relational racism that would go on in Jim Crow, in segregation, in second-class status.

To overcome that tragic history, someone had to say: enough! And that someone had to grab the hand of another fellow-sufferer and say, "Follow me to freedom" or "Come with me to a march" or "Don't sit at the back of the bus" or "Yes I can get an education and I'm supposed to be in this classroom." The risks and costs were deemed worth it because the struggle to be free, to be autonomous, to know that you could choose for yourself how your life would be, became the heart cry of every oppressed person, eventually.

How that word reverberated at the Democratic National Convention this summer: Enough! A rallying cry we won't forget.

The whole world admires the results/fruit of that struggle for equality and freedom. We've immortalized the fallen heroes. We are the generation that gets to see King's dream fulfilled. What a privilege. Our part so small - electing a man to office, voting, making a few phone calls, overcoming our own prejudices to do it.

But here we are.

And as my pastor shared in November, is it is a part of the divine comedy that 390 years later (since that first slave ship crossed the Atlantic), 40 years after MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, that the first African-American president is NOT a descendant of slaves, but is a natural born African and American who has his own African name!

Barack Hussein Obama... Full circle. For African Americans, he symbolizes a reclaiming of much more than dignity in America. Obama also brings that African connection into an international focus and restores that identity to all who have lost theirs.

It's a moment and yes, it's historic. We don't get to live in those very often. Clearly, we're lucky. And blessed. Have a glorious day.

President 44

Check this out. Beautiful!

By illustrator Patrick Moberg.

Precinct #44

Meet my canvassing partners: Jayla, Jada, Jaesa and Kayla.

I arrived yesterday at precinct #44 with a list of more than 70 doors to knock. In Butler county, it's a critical precinct: section 8 housing with many Democrats who often don't vote to the rate that they could. It has always gone red. Senator Kerry lost Ohio by 7 votes per precinct. My one goal for this election: win seven votes. Steal them from the GOP. We knew we needed #44 this time if we were going to do our part for this election, to cut into the Butler County GOP votes.

As a result, we sent a canvasser first thing in the morning and then I went back to all the same doors three hours later, to follow up and make sure they all voted. I arrived in the bright sunshine, parked my car and was immediately surrounded by curious children. I let them in on my goal for the day and the next thing you know, I was led by the hand door-by-door.

Jaesa grabbed the clipboard and Jada helped me find the door numbers.

"Stay on the stoop. This house? They got a big dog and he bites."

"Is my momma on yo' list?"

I'd look (uh-oh, no!) and say, "Yes! Let's go see your momma." And we'd go.

One little boy saw my white button and asked to swap me for a blue one. I gladly did. Then I gave the blue one away to a grandmother who had never had the chance to get to an HQ to obtain one for herself. Her comment, "I just want a piece of history for myself." Well of course she does! We all do.

I was introduced to everyone, spoke to many more families than my list indicated. One woman had been told that she couldn't vote because she was no longer living in her precinct. Not true! I called our field organizer and got campaign lawyers to tell us how to help her vote. Provisional ballot. Found three more in this neighborhood who had been also discouraged from voting for the same reason.

People stopped me to find out the polling location, when the polls closed, wondering how to actually vote! One woman told me that the polling place was on a street where they began construction on election day right in the front making parking nearly impossible. So I reminded every voter: be patient. Park, vote. (What kind of bone-headed city worker set up road work on election day?!)

I met so many wonderful people, had a gang of about six kids trailing me by the time I was done (including two boys on bikes). It took me nearly four hours to meet everyone and help them get out to vote. I saw many who had voted between the first and second canvass.

By the time I left, I felt so wonderful that this group, these lower income families living in what we sometimes call "White Chester," were going to see an African American elected and their votes would help him get there.

Last night, our big Butler County volunteer team met at Champs to watch the results roll in. CNN projected for Ohio, and we cheered, wept openly, hugged each other, screamed till we were hoarse. We knew we had done it!

When CNN projected Obama President Elect, the house fell down. Noise, screams, phone calls, text messages, everyone hugging each other, even waiters rolled into our raucous party! I felt used up, totally exhausted, thoroughly happy... and then, Allan, our canvassing captain hurried to me to drag me over to one of our co-workers.

One of the poll workers from Precinct #44 had come to the party. Allan said, "Listen to her. You won't believe it."

"Julie, Precinct #44 went blue.... by 11 votes."

My jaw dropped. 11 votes.

She went on, "They streamed in all afternoon until about 5:00 p.m. I watched them and they came with their door hangers, looking up the polling place and showing up to vote. They were happy and proud."

That's when this election became utterly personal for me. All that work, the thousands of calls and door knocks, the hours, the passion, the writing... It all felt deeply worthwhile. I know my community in a way I never did before, I felt bonded to people I had not even known lived within miles of me, I felt united in spirit with the hopes of my neighbors.

11 votes. When I started back in February, I had hoped to get 7. We did it.

Eugene Robinson makes the most eloquent statement

about what this election means to the African American community, and by extension, then, what it means to and tells each of us about ourselves as Americans.

A New Kind of Pride

He writes:

Whoever wins this election, I understand what Barack Obama meant when he said his faith in the American people had been "vindicated" by his campaign's success. I understand what Michelle Obama meant, months ago, when she said she was "proud of my country" for the first time in her adult life. Why should they be immune to the astonishment and vertigo that so many other African Americans are experiencing? Why shouldn't they have to pinch themselves to make sure they aren't dreaming, the way that I do?

snip

For African Americans, at least those of us old enough to have lived through the civil rights movement, this is nothing short of mind-blowing. It's disorienting, and it makes me see this nation in a different light.

You see, I remember a time of separate and unequal schools, restrooms and water fountains -- a time when black people were officially second-class citizens. I remember moments when African Americans were hopeful and excited about the political process, and I remember other moments when most of us were depressed and disillusioned. But I can't think of a single moment, before this year, when I thought it was within the realm of remote possibility that a black man could be nominated for president by one of the major parties -- let alone that he would go into Election Day with a better-than-even chance of winning.

Let me clarify: It's not that I would have calculated the odds of an African American being elected president and concluded that this was unlikely; it's that I wouldn't even have thought about such a thing.

African Americans' love of country is deep, intense and abiding, but necessarily complicated. At the hour of its birth, the nation was already stained by the Original Sin of slavery. Only in the past several decades has legal racism been outlawed and casual racism been made unacceptable, at least in polite company. Millions of black Americans have managed to pull themselves up into mainstream, middle-class affluence, but millions of others remain mired in poverty and dysfunction.

Keep reading. So moving.

I wanted to add that this is the core of my admiration for Barack Obama - he represents a new era in our country's self-understanding. In nearly taking the highest office in the land (and may well do so), he has shattered the belief that race can never be transcended. More tomorrow. For today, GOTV!

Vote

What makes us all equal is the right to vote. Today's the day. Exercise your right, follow your conscience.

Thanks for all the wonderful conversations over this election season with me. Thanks for reading along when you disagreed, for engaging the ideas I offer, for considering the points I raise.

I love this country; I love its ability to reinvent itself. I'm moved this morning thinking that Obama has made it this far and could only achieve that dream in America. France wouldn't do it. We have shown a remarkable willingness to grow, transform, and reach out to the common good. To judge a person not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. That day, that dream is fulfilled.

Vote! It's your most basic right.

Obama's grandmother dies today... one day shy

I'm without words. Here's what Obama's sister wrote:

A statement from Obama and his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng:

It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer. She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances. She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure.

Our family wants to thank all of those who sent flowers, cards, well-wishes, and prayers during this difficult time. It brought our grandmother and us great comfort. Our grandmother was a private woman, and we will respect her wish for a small private ceremony to be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to any worthy organization in search of a cure for cancer.

Is that even fair? I can't imagine the conflicted emotions Barack must be feeling today with his general election tomorrow tied to his grief over losing his grandmother.

Also, another sad note: Obama Nev. director Terence Tolbert died today. Can you imagine working on this campaign for two years and dying the day before the election?

Church this morning.... the sense of history grows!

This morning at church, our pastor preached a sermon called "I am my brother's keeper." In it, he talked about five murders this weekend (one of a local African American pastor and four others of young blacks in Avondale). He is doing a series on how the church can make a difference to the neighborhoods of Cincinnati by knocking on every door for Jesus.

The sermon made an interesting contrast to the Youtbue he played at the start of the service. We watched a video montage of the history of the African American struggle for civil rights. It included pictures and drawings that traced the history through Jim Crow, Civil Rights, lynchings, MLK Jr., Katrina and more. By the end, when the "Change we need" signs flooded the screen, we were all in tears.

Church ended with everyone reminding each other to vote, offering rides to the precincts, finding out where to get buttons and more. The whole experience was so exhilarating. You could feel the palpable sense of anticipation over what promises to be a historic day... one RFK Jr. predicted on the campaign trail in 1968:

Things are moving so fast in race relations a Negro could be president in 40 years. There’s no question about it, in the next 40 years a Negro can achieve the same position that my brother has. Prejudice exists and probably will continue to, but we have tried to make progress and we are making progress. We are not going to accept the status quo.

40 years later, 2008... here we are, on the brink of that momentous occasion. Don't underestimate the value to our national pride, international identity and internal race relations the election of Obama represents. I'm in awe, to be quite blunt about it. Humbled to be a part of it.

Tonight, Obama speaks to 35,000 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. We're taking the kids. We want them to remember seeing the next president of the United States of America in their own city.

Make History!

If you're still undecided, here's what I encourage you to think about. In twenty, thirty, forty years - how would you like to look back on this election? Would you like to say that you voted for the first black president? Would you like to say you were a part of the ending of the Iraq war by your vote? Would you like to be able to say that you participated in the greatest presidential campaign effort in the history of America?

Barack Obama has given us a clear, well articulated plan of how he hopes to recover America's economic health, how he intends to protect our civil liberties, how he will bring a dignified close to the war in Iraq while also pursuing the terrorists where they live.

If you need that one nudge to decide between McCain and Obama, make history. Vote Obama.

Simple Economics Differences: Talking Turkey

Check out the Obama Tax Cut Calculator here.

The following post is one way to understand bottom up tax cuts. It's very important that the false notions of trickle down are discredited because even as I canvass I routinely run into people who make far less than the $250K line, yet feel that Obama is going to tax them "some day" when they finally earn a lot of money. They are actually voting to increase their taxes now on their smaller income with the hope that some day they will earn more money and will then have a lower tax burden. Clearly that idea makes no sense, yet that is how effective the "fear of taxation" rhetoric of the Republican party has been!

Enjoy this little piece. I thought it was great.

Forwarded from the Obama email list:

A simple way to explain the difference and the effect of Barack Obama's middle class tax cuts and John McCain's continuation of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy.

Under McCain 1 person gets a $10,000.00 tax cut

Under Obama for the same money - 10 people get $1,000 tax cuts

Net result under both plans the total tax cut = $10,000.00

Now McCain's 1 person and Obama's 10 people are thinking about buying a turkey.

McCain's 1 person because they can, would probably just go buy the turkey without giving it a second thought whether they got a tax cut or not - the result is the grocery store sells 1 turkey.

Obama's 10 people may consider buying a turkey a luxury but because of Obama's tax cut they decide it's a luxury they can afford and go buy a turkey - the result is the grocery store sells 10 turkeys.

Now lets look at the grocery store and the turkey. The store makes 1.25 on every turkey sold.

Under McCain the rich guy who got the $10,000.00 tax cut but who could afford to buy the turkey regardless, buys the turkey and the store makes $1.25

Under Obama the 10 people who got the $1,000.00 tax cut and who can now afford to buy their turkeys do so and the store makes $12.50

Because more people benefited from Obama's middle class tax cut the store was able to sell more turkeys and make more money. In addition since more people can now afford to buy turkeys - the store buys more turkeys from the turkey farmer who make more money. And since the demand for turkeys is up, the farmer can increase the number of turkeys he raises which means he'll buy more feed from the feed supplier who makes more money and on and on........

The net result is more of the middle class can afford to buy turkeys and more of the people who sell turkeys and feed make more money. Eventually enough people are making more money that tax revenues go up paying for the tax cuts and helping to reduce the federal deficit.

This is how the Obama plan grows the economy from the bottom up and pays for itself.

Under McCain, the Bush tax cuts remain in place and things stay the same. Only those who can afford to buy turkeys - tax cuts or not - buy turkeys which means less turkeys are sold at the store, less turkeys are bought from the farmer and less turkey feed is sold by the feed supplier. Since no one's making any more money than they had, revenues remain flat at best and no new or additional taxes are collected.

This means the federal deficit continues to increase straining the economy even further which cause the store to close, the farmer to loose his farm and the feed supplier to go bankrupt. But the rich guy still gets his tax cut and the turkey!

Under the McCain plan the only turkey you get is "more of the same" failed Bush economics.

The Bell-Weather Cookie Poll: Obama over McCain

Obama Ahead in All-Important Cookie Poll
Ohio PR Stunt Has Predicted Winner Since Inception

By Jack Neff

Published: October 23, 2008

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Conventional polls this year are fraught with doubts -- from the "Bradley Effect" to the elusive cellphone-only households. But one poll based in the all-important swing state of Ohio has never failed since its inception in 1984, and it has Barack Obama with an almost insurmountable lead over John McCain.

The Busken Cookie Poll, in which the chain of Cincinnati-area retail bakeries sells cookies bearing cartoon images of each candidate, as of Thursday morning had Mr. Obama ahead 6,477 to 3,090 -- a 68% to 32% margin. Daily updates can be found at www.busken.com.

Unscientific? Perhaps. But Brian Busken, VP-marketing of the family business, said that since the poll's inception in 1984, it has accurately predicted the winner of the presidential election every four years and never been further than 4 percentage points from the final popular vote tally nationwide. (Note: While the website shows a smiling Obama cookie and a frowning McCain cookie, the cookies sold in stores have both smiling.)

"We've never seen a spread like this before in the numbers," Mr. Busken said. "I don't know if there's going to be a crumbslide or not. ... We may still predict the winner, but probably by way too many cookies."

Already there are allegations of irregularities. Commenters on a story at the website of the Cincinnati Business Courier allege some bookstores have Obama cookies up front, McCain cookies in the back, and that Remke stores in Northern Kentucky had run out of the McCain cookies.

Mr. Busken said wholesale sales such as those referenced in the comments don't count. Nor does a recent bulk purchase of 400 McCain cookies by Rob Portman, former Republican congressman and White House budget director. If Acorn buys cookies online for the Dallas Cowboys and their cheerleaders, those don't count either. Only cookies sold in the 11 Ohio stores tracked by the poll count.

Busken milks the poll, of course, for all the publicity it can get, and has incorporated it into outdoor ads from the Creative Department, Cincinnati. The chain will advertise cookie-poll results on the Norton Digital Network in the area during the four days leading up to the election.

Copyright © 1992-2008 Crain Communications

Oh that media, choosing the winner again

I got an email last night (they are coming in droves now) telling me what the media refuses to report about Barack Obama. It was such a relief to know that there are emailers out there doing the job the media refuses to do!

Why I remember when George W. Bush ran, he got no coverage. All that nefarious stuff that Al Gore did and said as a public servant was completely overlooked as they prized his every move. Meanwhile, Bush was overshadowed, ignored and made fun of for his DUI's and his alcoholic past. The press was unrelenting in expecting us to see what a dangerous executive he'd make. That's why Bush lost! The liberal media was against him, totally. I mean, Al Gore owned the media that year. They loved him! That's why he's been our president for eight years. Right?

Wait, what? Bush won? Twice?

That can't be right. How did a conservative squeak out a victory in the hostile media environment that shredded his character and never cut him a break while fawning over Al Gore and John Kerry?

Oh yeah. Maybe it really is voters who elect presidents and the media that reports on campaigns.

This whole line of reasoning (that the media is liberal and hostile to conservatives) is absurd, of course. The media follows the story. Oh sure, the various networks give it their spin. Fox News and MSNBC will treat the stories differently. Rush Limbaugh and NPR don't usually share the same interpretations of events. But the news media is all about news cycles and grabbing headlines. They are about advancing whatever will hold the viewers' attention. They want ratings!

The idea that somehow a Republican like McCain can't get a break in the news cycle and is being attacked while Obama gets a pass is utterly laughable! Let's review a bit shall we? Obama, during the primary season, was viciously attacked for things his pastor said in three sermons out of 20 years of preaching. Those clips and the media's incessant need to interpret for America what that might mean about Obama took well over a month!

Every possible tag that has been applied to Obama has been repeated without filter since he began his campaign. At one point, Fox News used the term "terrorist" together with Obama's name over 50% of the time. Even Obama's "fist bump" with Michelle after he won the nomination was referred to as a "terrorist fist jab."

That's how the media gives Obama a pass?

Now they want to label him a Communist or a Socialist. Yeah, there goes that media again. Applying terms of endearment to their favorite candidate: socialist Obama.

Meanwhile, let's look at McCain. After Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech at the DNC, less than 24 hours later, McCain stole the news cycle with his mavericky selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. She made him the most interesting candidate for over a month. The press accommodated the McCain campaign's outrageous need to protect Palin from interviews, press conferences and ordinary, routine interaction with the media, not even challenging that strange behavior, but giving them the benefit of the doubt for weeks.

McCain's heroism has been celebrated any time he is mentioned. A deep reverence for his service to our country has made some on the left think the media refuses to criticize McCain. McCain was expected to be a gentleman in his campaign, and long after he gave up "sticking to the issues" and instead went for character attacks, most of his coverage still treated him as a fully respectable candidate.

For nearly 20 years now, rightwing talk radio and Fox News have given a voice to the once silent conservative platform. Those powerful media tools have been critical in dispensing the talking points of the right, of balancing what was likely a left-leaning media prior. George Bush would not have won two terms if the media were exclusively liberal and hostile to all things conservative.

So it's pointless to throw up an 11th hour critique of the media as the last ditch effort to derail Obama's likely win next week. Obama is ahead for several reasons, not the least of which is that Bush has been an unmitigated disaster in the White House.

The ideal conservative candidate, the born again Christian, the man sent by God to lead our nation in the wake of the sinful and liberal Bill Clinton, the one who understood true conservatism and could both energize the stagnating economy and protect us from our enemies... this man who WON TWICE and represented the ideals of Republicans (even in spite of their constant complaints that the media is hostile and liberal) has proven to be the worst president in history.

Hmmm. That might be why Obama looks like a real change... an opportunity to do something - anything - else and see how that works out.

Obama is not the media's darling any more than Bush was. He is America's choice because right now, who he is, what he says, and how he presents his ideas is winning the news cycles.

President Elect Obama - you might want to practice saying it. It's looking pretty good for him right now. (And if you are voting for him, go do it today! Get that vote banked in Ohio.)

Andrew Sullivan's Top Ten Reasons Conservatives should vote Obama

You have to read these if you are on the fence and a Republican or Independent:

Sullivan's Top Ten.

Here's a taste:

9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice.

8. A return to realism and prudence in foreign policy. Obama has consistently cited the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush as his inspiration. McCain's knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinksmanship over Iran's nuclear ambitions make him a far riskier choice for conservatives. The choice between Obama and McCain is like the choice between George H.W. Bush's first term and George W.'s.

And here's Obama's "closing argument" for he campaign. It's awesome. Listen all the way through. Man, we are lucky to have this guy.

How pro-life voters like me justify an Obama vote

Newsweek did the heavy-lifting on this one. This article, The Catholic Case for Obama, articulates why pro-lifers are moving toward Obama and away from the GOP which has traditionally "owned" the pro-life vote. George Weigel wrote an essay last week that suggested a vote for Obama would contradict a pro-life viewpoint. This week's article is the rebuttal. Here are a few snippets that stand out to me:

In the closing weeks of this election, abortion is among the crucial issues for Catholic voters, but promoting a culture of life is necessarily interconnected with a family wage, universal health care and, yes, better parenting and education of our youth. This greater appreciation for the totality of Catholic teaching is at the very heart of the Obama campaign; it is scarcely a McCain footnote.

In a perfect world, the pro-life argumentation of George Weigel is unassailable. He counsels having constitutional law align absolutely with the defense of innocent human life; to which we say, "Amen." The problem for Weigel is that even our collective "Amen" will not make it so. In the meantime, millions of children are being aborted.

Mr. Weigel is an intellectual and for him it's a simple matter of accessing the objective truth of the human person as explicated in Catholic natural law and saying, "Follow me." For 35 years, however, pro-lifers have followed that intellectual siren call, asking the Supreme Court on multiple occasions to reverse Roe v. Wade. We have no objection to pursuing this legal avenue, which does not depend on who occupies the White House—though we have no illusions about it, either. The legal path has not worked to date, and it may never work.

The church asks its faithful to find meaningful—not hypothetical—ways to promote human life. While getting the law and philosophy right might eventually do that, it does bring up the question: What are you doing for the cause of life now? The McCain answer: not much.

(snip)

By contrast, Obama does make provision for universal health care and recognizes abortion for what it is: a tragic moral choice often confronted by a woman in adverse economic and social circumstances (without spouse, without steady income, without employment prospects, and a particularly stigmatic and cumbersome adoption procedure). Obama proposes to reduce the incidence of abortion by helping pregnant women overcome the ill effects of poverty that block a choice of life. A range of new studies–using U.S. rather than Swedish data–affirm this approach.

To me this is the crux of why I can no longer support a slogan of pro-life versus the real meaning of those words. I am pro-life - pro babies being born, pro-children getting educations (educations of parody, not rich suburban educations versus impoverished war zones disguised as schools for the inner city poor), pro-women getting the information and resources they need to govern their sexual lives, pro-families having the resources to provide medical care to their children, and so on.

The Republican party has acted as though "believing in a plank" called pro-life is the same as actually fostering a culture of life, as being those who see others as valuable. It intrigues me a lot that when I canvass I hear Republicans say they can't vote for Obama because of abortion (they care about protecting the unborn!), but then they turn around and say that they don't want the democratic platform because it would "force them to care" about the underprivileged (whom they see as dead weight on our economy). So apparently, for some of them, human beings are precious in the womb, but once they've emerged, they're on their own.

Many of us are saying, "Not this time."

It boils down to one thing: Obama has a message

In February, an email pinged my in-box. If you want to volunteer for the Obama campaign, come to the meeting tomorrow night at _______ church downtown. With less than 24 hours notice, thousands of residents (black, white, old, young, Democrat, Republican, Independent, rich, middle class, poor, educated, un-educated) crammed themselves into the old church against the snowy, icy backdrop outdoors. The energy in that room buzzed, chants broke out spontaneously, friendships were instantly formed.

Nine months later, I've tallied it up. I've made thousands of phone calls for Senator Obama. I've walked dozens of miles and have knocked on hundreds of doors. I've had countless conversations with undecided voters here in Ohio, in the southwest of Ohio, specifically. I have a good understanding of why people love Obama, why they find him inspiring, an answer to their needs as Americans, why they feel that their hope in his leadership is justified.

Obama drew people like me because he represents something new on the political stage. He does for progressive politics what Reagan did for the conservative agenda. Instead of the progressive agenda being some scary version of leftwing radical morals and high taxes, Obama helped people like me see that compassionate care (shared responsibility) for our communities combined with protecting individual freedoms is the best way to govern.

We do that by prioritizing the needs of the middle class because it is the middle class that keeps our economy healthy and strong. The middle class also operates from a core of values that creates the energy to preserve and strengthen our institutions (like our schools, churches, local government and social services, including fire fighters, police, medical care and so on).

The notion that we can rely on big corporate executives to take the initiative to ensure that their incredible wealth would "trickle down" to the workers has been proven patently false (note the economic fiasco of the last month coupled with the fastest growing gap between top end incomes of executives and wage workers in their own companies). The issue isn't whether or not to tax the wealthy at a higher rate than the poor.

The issue is whether we can afford to make the middle class bear an increasingly large responsibility for the services they require when their incomes and opportunities are not growing at a rate comparable to their needs or the costs of these goods.

It's not okay to allow the market to determine everything. It can't govern our morality. It won't! As one of my professors used to say, "Businesses do what businesses do. They are about making money, not about being a philanthropy, or being interested in clean water or air. That's not what they do."

It is absurd to assume that a business that is making money is the most likely to create jobs in America. As we are seeing, many of those "jobs" are disappearing overseas for the sake of the business's health, not for the sake of the health of America's middle class.

Government, when done right, is supposed to foster opportunity to create wealth while providing services that take into account the real needs of its citizens. We've spent too long on the side of the pendulum where the creation of wealth (particularly for the few) has meant the neglect of our other moral obligation: the care of the citizens who have helped to generate that wealth.

If you live in a city where lay-offs of plant closures have occurred, you know what I'm talking about! You can't watch 2,000 people lose their jobs and expect the grocery stores, home mortgage lenders and gas stations to survive. You can't expect those schools to retain their funding.

We live in an interconnected way that is so fragile, any one change can throw a community into a dangerous spiral. On the other hand, our interconnectedness is an opportunity for inspiring partnership to create new ways of stabilizing and protecting our communities if we could see beyond our own private dreams.

Senator Obama represents that kind of thinking for people like me. And naturally, he says it better than I can:

The audacity of hope.

That was the best of the American spirit, I thought—having the audacity to believe despite all the evidence to the contrary that we could restore a sense of community to a nation torn by conflict; the gall to believe that despite personal setbacks, the loss of a job or an illness in the family or a childhood mired in poverty, we had some control—and therefore responsibility—over our own fate.

It was that audacity, I thought, that joined us as one people. It was that pervasive spirit of hope that tied my own family's story to the larger American story, and my own story to those of the voters I sought to represent.

Barack Obama has spent the last twenty months proving that he is so committed to that philosophy, nothing that has been thrown at him has derailed his primary message. He's fleshed it out in position papers, speeches, townhalls and debates. He's written books. He's been interviewed on every major network and 60 minutes. He's done hundreds of press interviews.

Obama has stayed steady and calm, has stuck to the issues, has continued to talk about uniting us rather than dividing us.

I'm sick of the spurious attacks, the smears and suspicions that are hurled by those who won't vote for Obama. I can't help but think that the ones who are afraid of him are merely unconsciously (or in some cases consciously) afraid of a black man in office. But for my money, this is the man who's passed the test of leadership. After 8 miserable years under GW Bush, it's time to give Barack Obama's vision a shot.

It's time to flip the script. The Republicans have had their chance... and have blown it. It's time for change.

November 4 can't come fast enough!

Your chance at history

Yesterday a member of the Cincinnati Obama list sent out the following story after a trip to the Board of Elections to early vote.

"Upon arriving at the Hamilton County Board of Elections in Cincinnati to vote early today I happened upon some friends of my mother's -- three small, elderly Jewish women. They were quite upset as they were being refused admitance to the polling location due to their Obama T-Shirts, hats and buttons. Apparently you cannot wear Obama/McCain gear into polling locations here in Ohio.... They were practically on the verge of tears.

After a minute or two of this a huge man (6'5", 300 lbs easy) wearing a Dale Earnhardt jacket and Bengal's baseball cap left the voting line, came up to us and introduced himself as Mike. He told us he had overheard our conversation and asked if the ladies would like to borrow his jacket to put over their t-shirts so they could go in and vote. The ladies quickly agreed. As long as I live I will never forget the image of these 80-plus-year-old Jewish ladies walking into the polling location wearing a huge Dale Earnhardt racing jacket that came over their hands and down to their knees!

Mike patiently waited for each woman to cast their vote, accepted their many thanks and then got back in line (I saved him a place while he was helping out the ladies). When Mike got back in line I asked him if he was an Obama supporter. He said that he was not, but that he couldn't stand to see those ladies so upset. I thanked him for being a gentleman in a time of bitter partisanship and wished him well.

After I voted I walked out to the street to find my mother's friends surrouding our new friend Mike -- they were laughing and having a great time. I joined them and soon learned that Mike had changed his mind in the polling booth and ended up voting for Obama. When I asked him why he changed his mind at the last minute, he explained that while he was waiting for his jacket he got into a conversation with one of the ladies who had explained how the Jewish community, and she, had worked side by side with the black community during the civil rights movements of the '60s, and that this vote was the culmination of those personal and community efforts so many years ago. That this election for her was more than just a vote ... but a chance at history.

Mike looked at me and said, "Obama's going to win, and I didn't want to tell my grandchildren some day that I had an opportunity to vote for the first black president, but I missed my chance at history and voted for the other guy."

13 days left after this long slog to the White House

Here's a photo that I think deserves to be seen (Obama resoled these once on the campaign trail already and was due for another resoling.... interesting contrast to Sarah Palin's $150K wardrobe in the news today.)

HuffPo writes:

Indeed, the story (Palin's wardrobe expenditures) could not come at a more inopportune time for the McCain campaign. During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class -- and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber -- it was revealed that Palin's fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.

(about $2000 per day of her campaign since the announcement on August 29)

I found this set of photos through Daily Kos. Callie (photographer) traces Obama's journey from before he announced his candidacy to the DNC. The photos are gorgeous and the moments she captured, indicative of the man I have come to admire.

Sometimes pictures do speak more loudly than any words can.

Fairfield Ohio: Effigy of Obama hung... People I'm scared!

I have not wanted to believe that racism was this deep or that close to the surface in our own neighborhoods! For those of you out of state, Fairfield is the town over from ours. It's where my son goes for math tutoring, it's where our favorite big supermarket, Jungle Jim's, is located, it's where a large number of our friends live. This is an ordinary middle-class suburb outside of Cincinnati, not Appalachia.


I'm horrified by both yard displays (it is despicable to depict John McCain as a member of the KKK). The other display (and subject of this local news report) that features Obama swinging from a tree, however, really frightens me. The Jewish star on his head, the name upside down, the middle name across the ghostly body, all hanging from a tree... these images really scare me. To think that the owner of the home was reported to have said that this is a "white Christian nation" and he doesn't want a black man running it... What does that really mean? How far will these kinds of people go to be sure that doesn't happen?

And just when I was feeling heartened by the enthusiasm for Obama in my own neighborhood (out of 75 doors knocked on Sat., I made 32 contacts and 25 were for Obama!). Unheard of in GOP land...

If you pray, pray for Obama's safety. My God. What is wrong with us?

Lakota West Band is expected to play at Palin event

We are registering complaints at the Board of Elections and The Lakota School District as well as Lakota West High School.

Publicly funded schools should not take kids out of classes to perform at a campaign rally for a particular candidate since we do not promote one candidate or party over another in school itself.

Phone numbers to call:

Lakota West High School: (513) 874-5699

Lakota School District Board of Education: (513) 874-5505

Board of Elections Hamilton County: (513) 887-3700

I met Sarah Palin!

In my dreams last night. She was, actually, really nice. Last night I saw her on television with Down's Syndrome children at her rallies and felt warm toward her for possibly the first time. I can't deny that giving visibility to special needs children is a much welcomed aspect of her remarkable run (a run for v.p. that continues to mystify me on the level of real public policy, but that apparently is connecting at the heart level with a huge number of moms everywhere).

Here's the funny thing: I just got a call (robocall) from John Boehner (our local congressman) inviting me to a free Sarah Palin rally on Friday here in West Chester! Good grief. So now the question is, Do I bother to go? Perhaps she really is wanting to meet me! What do the interpreters of dreamz think? Say?

Still seems nightmarish to contemplate her running the country. But I'm fascinated by her fan-base and her ability to create in the eyes of her fans, a real zeal and faith in her despite any concrete evidence that she is competent to lead our nation!

This has been a surreal election season. Were they ever this interesting when we were kids?

McCain and Palin incite the scary people

Are you following the news? Are you a bit freaked out at the cries of "Kill him" and "He's a terrorist" directed at Barack Obama, coming from the folks who attend McCain/Palin rallies? How does Sarah ("she's a mom!") Palin justify inciting that level of dangerous hatred against a candidate for president of the United States? She asks, "How well do we know Barack Obama?" (the man who has been on the nightly news for 2 solid years and has done more press conferences, debates, interviews, rallies than all the candidates) when she has done three media interviews, NO press conferences and most Americans had never heard her name until 6 weeks ago!? Where does she get off creating a dangerous linking between Obama and Ayers (as terrorist, as dangerous, as Marxist) when Ayers works as a professor at the University of Chicago and the two of them were on a board together related to education (a board populated by Republicans as a matter of fact), while her own husband was a member of the Alaskan secessionist group in the 1990's?

What galls me the most are the racial undertones of all these charges - the idea that Obama is somehow scary, risky, dangerous and foreign. If McCain is that ideal "bi-partisan" American senator and war hero, wouldn't he be the first to shush this wild descent into the politics of hate? Wouldn't he at least want to start by saying, "Look, Obama is no terrorist" (what an insane accusation!!) and "Please calm down. We're here to debate issues."

In my dreams, he'd say it even more forcefully: "The politics of hate have no place in my campaign or the Republican party. We will NEVER condone or support the cries of assassination in one of my rallies. We do not want the votes of people who believe Obama is a terrorist or who wish him dead!" My God! Is anyone awake? This stuff is serious! We've had presidents shot before. Even Reagan was shot for God's sake!

McCain's willingness to send Sarah Palin into the fray as the attack pitbull in lipstick and beehive hairdo shows that he is more about winning than Country First. It is disgusting that he can't make the attacks himself, if he believes in them. He thrusts the newcomer in to do his dirty work. That Palin feels comfortable going after an honorable man she's maybe met once shows such an appalling lack of class and critical thinking (and worse, a complete misreading of history... blacks have been shot and lynched in this country due to bigotry and fear!) that I find it impossible to take her seriously (except that she must be now that she's catalyzing a level of hate I've not seen in the last 30 years of politics).

But Obama, being the cool as a cucumber candidate through all the muck flung in his direction, had this to say in July (the man saw it coming, what can I say?):



I'm appalled and embarrassed by the Republican party. I'm ashamed of them. I'm ashamed to have ever been affiliated with them. They deserve to be sent packing this fall. Republicans, reassess what it means to be a party for the people (not just the xenophobic whites). If you are not one of those who would call Obama a terrorist, who would call for his "murder," why would you vote McCain after this despicable demonstration of dangerous fear-mongering?