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African-American
Village Daily News
Obama breaks down historic racial barrier
By STEVEN R. HURST
DENVER (AP) - Barack Obama claims his historic nomination Thursday as
the first black candidate at the top of a major U.S. political party's
presidential ticket, exhorting the nation to change exactly 45 years
after civil rights leader Martin Luther King challenged Americans to
embrace his "dream'' of equality.
The first-term Illinois senator, who has made little of his race in a
so-far bruising run for the White House, was sure to include his
personal story in his acceptance address on the closing night of the
Democratic National convention - a speech before 75,000 fellow party
members at a Denver stadium, and millions more watching on television.
Aides said his address accepting the Democratic presidential nomination
would be a "direct conversation'' with Americans on what's at stake and
the risks of putting another Republican in the White House.
In an audacious move, Republican John McCain worked to steal at least a
portion of the political spotlight by stoking speculation that his
selection of a vice presidential running mate was imminent. An aide said
McCain had made his decision, and one man on the short list, Gov. Tim
Pawlenty of Minnesota, canceled all public appearances, raising
attention even higher.
McCain is expected to announce his pick soon and appear with the person
at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, three days before the Republican
convention opens in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Obama's acceptance of the Democratic nomination comes on the 45th
anniversary of the King's Aug. 28, 1963, "I Have a Dream'' speech, a
beloved moment in the American civil rights struggle at a time when
African Americans in many southern states were denied their voting
rights more than 90 years after the federal government guaranteed them
that right.
Given America's tortured racial history - Obama was just 2 when King
delivered his speech - the candidate's nomination is a gamble for the
Democrats in the Nov. 4 election as they work to wrest the White House
from the Republicans and their candidate McCain, a veteran Arizona
senator and Vietnam war hero who turns 72 on Friday.
"This is a monumental moment in our nation's history,'' Martin Luther
King III, King's oldest son, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
"And it becomes obviously an even greater moment in November if he's
elected.''
The stakes were high for Obama, a relative newcomer to the national
stage who rose to prominence after delivering the keynote address at the
Democratic convention in 2004 and who is still in his first term in the
Senate.
Obama put finishing touches on his speech Thursday morning. As time for
the address drew near, thousands of people were moving through an
entrance to the sports stadium where the final day of the convention was
taking place.
While Obama's speech four years ago was widely praised as inspirational,
Thursday's address was expected to convey a simpler message about what
he would do for the country as president.
"Senator Obama's speech tonight will be as he himself has characterized
it, more workmanlike, a very direct conversation with the American
people about the choice we face in this election. About the risk of
staying on the same path we're on, the risk of just more of the same
versus the change we need,'' Obama spokeswoman Anita Dunn said in a
conference call with reporters.
In a brief break from a fierce advertising war, McCain will air a
one-evening-only ad with a simple message for Barack Obama: "Job well
done.''
The ad will air before, during and after Obama's acceptance speech on
national cable television.
In the ad, McCain addresses Obama directly, congratulating him for
becoming the Democratic Party's nominee. McCain also recognizes the
symbolism of a black man accepting the nomination on the King speech
anniversary.
McCain says: "Senator Obama, this is truly a good day for America. Too
often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to
stop and say, congratulations. How perfect that your nomination would
come on this historic day. Tomorrow, we'll be back at it. But tonight
Senator, job well done.''
As McCain concedes, this will not last.
Both candidates have been running a series of ads criticizing each
other, vastly outnumbering any positive ads about themselves. But this
is the first positive ad of the election by one candidate about the
other.
Former Vice President Al Gore also will speak at the Democratic
convention Thursday. Adding a touch of celebrity to the convention's
final night, singers Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder and will.i.am were
scheduled to perform, with Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson singing
the national anthem.
Obama had been campaigning in battleground states during the week before
turning up on the Denver convention stage unannounced Wednesday night
after running mate Joe Biden's acceptance speech. Biden used his speech
to laud Obama and to tear into McCain, even as he called the latter a
"friend'' whose "personal courage and heroism ... still amaze me.''
Delighting the crowd with his appearance, Obama praised the one-time
front-runner for the Democratic nomination Hillary Rodham Clinton, and
her husband former President Bill Clinton, as well as his wife for their
prime time speeches in support of him this week.
The long Democratic drama neared an end - and the Obama campaign no
doubt heaved a sigh of relief - after rousing speeches on Obama's behalf
by the Clintons - Hillary on Tuesday and Bill on Wednesday. They offered
unabashed praise for Hillary Clinton's one-time opponent, whom they had
sharply criticized during the primary contest.
Obama: From Unknown to Nominee, A Meteoric Rise Box-Obama
By SHARON COHEN
CHICAGO (AP) - When Barack Obama arrived at the Democratic National
Convention eight years ago, he was a politician in need of clout.
He had just been trounced in his bid for Congress. His credit card was
rejected at the car rental counter. He couldn't snare a floor pass, so
he ended up watching most of the speeches on TV monitors in the arena.
And he went home early.
His political future was uncertain.
Four years later, Obama attended the 2004 Democratic convention. This
time, though, there was a sea change: He had been tapped to be the
keynote speaker, a coveted spot for up-and-comers - and as a U.S. Senate
nominee generating political buzz, he fit the bill.
Obama still was a lowly state lawmaker, a virtual unknown to the
cheering delegates gathered in the Boston convention hall that July
night. But his words lit up the crowd.
Now jump forward to the 2008 Democratic convention.
On Aug. 28, Barack Obama will step on the stage at the 50-yard line at
the Denver Broncos football stadium before a crowd of 75,000 to accept
the Democratic nomination for president. He will be at the apex of
American politics - a phenomenon who smashed every fundraising record,
drew astounding crowds, and made history.
How did this man go so far so fast?
He's a natural, obviously - a candidate with political savvy and
electrifying oratory, enormous confidence and calm, fierce ambition and
a keen sense of timing, and an uncanny knack of making friends and
forging connections in all the right places.
"He's just a complete political talent,'' says Abner Mikva, a former
Illinois congressman and federal judge who is an Obama mentor. "He likes
to get along with people. He likes to listen to them.''
Obama has something else going for him, too - good fortune.
"He is a lucky politician,'' Mikva notes. "A lucky politician is one who
knows how to take advantage of a break when he gets it.''
But Barack Obama also has a life story unlike that of any man ever
nominated for the nation's highest office. And while his unconventional
experiences have made him an unconventional candidate, they also have
helped fuel his extraordinary rise.
"It is one of the most unlikely political biographies,'' says Sen. Dick
Durbin, a fellow Illinois Democrat and Obama friend. "Look at his life
and there are half a dozen times when he could have failed ... being
abandoned by his father, his (troubled) adolescent years. ... But he
seems to weather adversity better than most.''
---
"It's a leap electing a 46-year-old Black guy named Barack Obama,'' the
Illinois senator told a crowd in July at a Missouri fundraiser.
It's not just his biracial roots and foreign-sounding name that set him
apart.
It's his youth spent wrestling with questions about his racial identity
and an African father he barely knew. It's his admission that he dabbled
in drugs as a teen, the kind of revelation, made in his memoir, rarely
divulged by politicians.
It's his odyssey from low-prestige community organizer in the
poverty-ravaged corners of Chicago to the high-powered corridors of
Harvard Law School.
And it's his rapid climb up the political ladder, starting in a sleepy
prairie state capital where no one has made it to the White House since
Abraham Lincoln.
"He has this unusual combination of life experiences that don't fit in
any stereotype,'' says Valerie Jarrett, his close friend and adviser.
The first chapters of Barack Obama's life story are familiar by now.
The Kansas-born mother, Stanley (her father wanted a boy) Ann Dunham.
The Kenyan-born father, Barack Obama Sr. Their meeting at the University
of Hawaii, their marriage, the birth of Barack - "blessed'' in Arabic -
on Aug. 4, 1961. The father's departure two years later to study at
Harvard, his return just once when his son was 10.
The exotic childhood in Indonesia, homeland of his stepfather, Lolo
Soetero; the exposure to poverty and beggars, crocodiles and roasted
grasshopper.
And then, after his mother's second marriage broke up, the return to
Hawaii, where the young Obama - then known as Barry - enrolled in the
prestigious Punahou School, a private academy in Honolulu.
Back then, there were no obvious signs (unless you count a grade school
essay) that pointed to politics as his destiny.
As a teen, Obama was smart and liked to read but "he wasn't particularly
driven or ambitious,'' says his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. "He wasn't
part of student government. He wasn't in any AP (advanced placement)
classes. He was a young man concerned with ... hanging out with his
buddies, playing basketball, body surfing and eating in excess.''
When his mother's work as an anthropologist took her back to Indonesia,
Obama stayed behind for high school, living with his maternal
grandparents, Madelyn, known as Tutu or Toot (Hawaiian for grandparent),
and Stanley, or Gramps.
He played golf and poker, he perfected his left-handed pump shot on a
playground into the night (he had a minor role on his school's
championship basketball team), he sang in the choir, he listened to the
music of Earth Wind & Fire.
In some ways, he was a typical teen. In other ways, he was anything but:
His mother was far away, his father was gone forever, he had already
lived in a Third World nation and was growing up in the melting pot of
Hawaii - all of which shaped him into someone who could easily adapt to
change.
"My mother was pretty instrumental in helping Barack cultivate this
internal flexibility,'' Maya says. "After the childhood we had,
different could never be jarring or dislocating.''
Those early years, though, were difficult for Obama.
"I spent much of my childhood adrift,'' he said in a recent speech.
"Growing up I wasn't always sure who I was or what I was doing.''
He struggled with questions about his race and identity, and in his
memoir, "Dreams from My Father,'' he described how he turned to drugs -
including marijuana and cocaine - to "push questions of who I was out of
my mind.''
But he concealed that turmoil.
"He always has been a lone traveler,'' his half-sister says. "He's a
gregarious guy and he loves people, but he also loves his own company.
He doesn't expect those closest to him to be all things to him.''
His personality, she adds, doesn't fit into one neat category.
"He is equal portions laid-back and deeply focused,'' Maya says. "It's
not all fire inside of him. There are wide cool pools of water as
well.''
At Occidental College in Los Angeles, Obama - who started using his
given name, Barack - took his first plunge into politics, speaking at an
anti-apartheid rally.
Obama was confident and casual on campus - he favored flip-flops, shorts
and a trim Afro - and not one to dominate dorm discussions about
political issues, such as the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan.
"He didn't get in people's faces,'' says Ken Sulzer, who lived in the
same dorm and is now a California lawyer. "He wasn't trying to get
people's goats or get a rise out of them.''
Sulzer also remembers one particular Obama talent. While Sulzer took
pages of notes during a class on political thought, Obama, he says,
"would have two very pithy paragraphs and it would all be in there. ...
He was a very good writer. He was succinct.''
But Occidental was a small liberal arts college and Obama wanted to
expand his horizons, so he transferred across the country to Columbia
University in New York.
"I didn't socialize that much. I was like a monk,'' he said in a 2005
Columbia alumni magazine interview.
Obama graduated with a political science degree and held a few jobs in
New York. It was there he received a call from an aunt in Nairobi
notifying him his father had been killed in an auto accident. The news
eventually led Obama on a journey to Kenya and a tearful visit to his
father's grave.
After New York, Obama headed to a city where he knew no one, taking a
low-paying job, facing a formidable challenge - motivating poor people
to participate in a political system that had traditionally shut them
out.
Going to Chicago proved to be a much smarter move than it looked at
first.
---
Starting out as a $12,000-a-year community organizer, Obama walked the
run-down streets of the South Side that had been decimated by the loss
of steel mills and factory jobs.
Working for the Developing Communities Project, Obama met with Black
pastors and tried to mobilize people to speak up for themselves -
whether it was lobbying for a job training center or cleaning up public
housing.
He established an easy rapport with people in the community, many of
whom treated him like a son (they teasingly called him "baby face.'')
"He would tell us you've got to do things right, you've got to take the
high road,'' says Loretta Augustine-Herron, one of the project founders.
"He would talk about no permanent friends, no permanent enemies. He
would say, 'Don't get personalities involved.'''
Obama - who calls his organizing work "the best education I ever had'' -
became a skilled conciliator, says Gerald Kellman, the man who hired
him.
"He became very effective at getting people who did initially did not
get along ... to work together and build alliances,'' Kellman says. "He
found a way to be tough and challenging when he didn't like something.
At the same time, he was not one to burn his bridges with people.''
Chicago was the city where Obama put down roots. He joined the Trinity
United Church of Christ and became friends with its pastor, the Rev.
Jeremiah Wright, whose incendiary comments about race and America would
later raise questions about Obama's judgment and threaten to derail his
presidential campaign. (Obama denounced the remarks after they created a
national uproar; he no longer attends the church.)
Chicago also was Obama's political boot camp, where he learned how to
win over skeptics who wondered why that tall, skinny guy was at their
door when Harold Washington, the first Black mayor, was in City Hall.
"Black people would say, 'Harold will take care of the problem. Why do
we need a community organizer?''' recalls Mike Kruglik, a fellow
organizer. "He'd say, 'We have to build the power ... we can't trust any
individual politician.'''
Obama was not all work. He attended Chicago Bulls games and wrote short
fictional stories that evocatively captured the feel of the streets. (He
later wrote two best-selling books, one of them a memoir.)
Obama also remained close to his family. After her father died, Maya,
who is nine years younger, says Obama "really took on the role of a
father,'' taking her on college tours, introducing her to jazz, blues
and classical music - and, much later, consoling her when their mother
died of ovarian cancer at age 53.
After three years, Obama had become increasingly pragmatic about what he
could accomplish as an organizer. "The victories were small, they
changed peoples' lives, but they didn't change American society and he
wanted to do that,'' Kellman says.
Obama made a giant leap from the gritty South Side to the heady
atmosphere of Harvard Law School, the training ground for America's
elite. He made history there, as the first Black president of the
Harvard Law Review, perhaps the most prestigious law journal in the
nation.
The distinction brought a wave of publicity. In an interview with the
Los Angeles Times, Obama said a Harvard education "means you can take
risks. You can try to do things to improve society and still land on
your feet.''
After his first year, Obama was a summer associate at a corporate law
firm in Chicago where his adviser was Michelle Robinson, another Harvard
law graduate and a product of a working-class family. They later
married, and had two daughters, Malia, now 10, and Sasha, 7.
As Obama prepared to leave Harvard, job offers poured in.
But he already had a plan. He would return to Chicago for a political
career.
---
At first, he chose a behind-the-scenes job.
Obama ran a voter registration drive that added tens of thousands to the
rolls. "He was very straightforward and had a no-nonsense,
all-the-cards-on-the-table approach,'' recalls Sandy Newman, founder of
the national group, Project Vote!
Obama also began carefully mapping out a path that positioned him for
public office.
He joined a small, politically connected boutique law firm that did
civil rights litigation. He and his wife, Michelle, lived in Hyde Park,
the racially mixed neighborhood around the University of Chicago that is
home to progressive politics, intellectuals and a sprinkling of Nobel
Prize winners.
"By choosing to move to Hyde Park, he moved in an area where an
independent can come out of nowhere to win,'' says Don Rose, a veteran
political strategist. "By choosing to work at (that law firm), he was
making a political statement to where he stood.''
Many people were interested in Obama's ascent in politics, including
real estate developer Antoin "Tony'' Rezko, whose friendship and
financial help would later provide ammunition to the senator's critics
and opponents.
Rezko raised funds for many Illinois politicians, including Obama. He
was recently convicted of using his influence with the administration of
Gov. Rod Blagojevich to launch a $7 million fraud and extortion scheme.
Obama was accused of no wrongdoing and barely mentioned in the trial,
but his association with Rezko proved an embarrassment - it was
mentioned during the debates - in the primary season. Obama gave
$250,000 from Rezko-related contributions to charity.
Obama also broadened his circle of acquaintances, impressing influential
Democrats and party donors who proved invaluable in his campaigns.
Obama was "a great networker,'' Rose says. "He worked all the right
circles. If you don't like the guy, he's a calculating politician. If
you do, he's a smart, methodical worker. He does nothing that's
different from most politicians, even the reform politicians. The
difference is he's extraordinarily gifted. ... His greatest capability
is he never makes the same mistake twice.''
But that skill was nothing without a political opportunity. While
waiting for one, Obama became a lecturer at the University of Chicago
Law School. He taught constitutional law. He was popular with students
and faculty, though some found him a bit remote.
"He's a great conversationalist and a good listener,'' says Richard
Epstein, a law school professor who was not a close friend. "But he
never tips his hand to what he thinks. You feel you're on stage and have
to perform. ... At the end of the day, you don't know whether you've
changed his mind or not.''
In 1996, Obama was elected to the state Senate, but as a member of the
Democratic minority, his legislative proposals were consistently
thwarted by Republicans. Some dismissed him as an ivory tower liberal.
"Law professors, especially those from a place like the University of
Chicago, are viewed with a jaundiced eye'' in the Illinois legislature,
says state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Republican and Obama friend. "Some
members of both parties thought that Barack was longwinded and a tad
aloof and arrogant. Not me.''
It didn't help that one issue he tackled was ethics reform.
Dillard recalls one prominent Democrat saying to Obama: "'How much money
do you have in your campaign fund? You don't have two nickels to rub
together.'''
"It's a little ironic today,'' Dillard adds, referring to Obama's
stunning success of raising an unprecedented $390 million during his
presidential run.
Obama won over many lawmakers in nearly eight years in Springfield. He
played in weekly poker games, befriending suburban and white rural
legislators. He also had an important ally in an old-school Chicago
Democrat who became Senate president when the party took control of the
chamber, a change that increased Obama's influence.
Obama had several legislative successes. He passed measures that limited
lobbyists' gifts to politicians, helped expand health care to poor
children and changed laws governing racial profiling, the death penalty
and the interrogation of murder suspects.
He generally was a liberal, but he reached across party lines to work
with Republicans.
"Barack can compromise without giving up his principles,'' says Dillard,
who appeared in an early Obama campaign commercial and is a John McCain
convention delegate. "He's a realist and he knows when to fold his
cards.''
Obama stumbled badly, though, in 2000 when he challenged Rep. Bobby
Rush, a former Black Panther member with deep roots in the community.
During that contest, Obama was dogged by the question raised by some
pundits and Black politicians - whether he was "Black enough'' for the
district.
Obama says there never has been any question about his being Black. In
his book, "The Audacity of Hope,'' he wrote about how race has shaped
his own life, facing indignities such as security guards trailing him in
stores or people mistaking him for a parking valet.
"I know what it's like to have people tell me I can't do something
because of my color, and I know the bitter swill of swallowed-back
anger,'' he wrote.
But in that congressional campaign, Obama was seen as the outsider.
Rush, the insider, crushed him by 31 percentage points in the primary.
Two years later, Obama set his sights on another office: U.S. Senate.
His friend, Valerie Jarrett, was skeptical. "'My gosh, you can't lose
two races in a row. You'll be done in politics,''' she recalls telling
him. "He said, 'If it's OK with me, it should be OK with you. I'm not
afraid of losing.'''
A series of breaks helped propel Obama to a landslide win.
Months later, Obama impressed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry
during a joint campaign appearance in Chicago, leading to his stirring
keynote speech.
In 17 minutes, Obama went from an obscure state lawmaker to a force in
national politics.
"It didn't surprise me at all,'' Kerry says. "If you have the ability to
communicate ... and the timing is right, the moment is right, things
come together. All those ingredients were there for Barack.''
"I may have opened the door,'' Kerry adds. "He's the one who walked
through it and did the heavy lifting.''
---
When Barack Obama announced his presidential candidacy 18 months ago at
the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., he was still unknown to most
Americans.
A freshman senator, Obama had been in Washington just two years - not
long enough to leave much of a footprint. But even before he took
office, some political phrasemakers started calling him a "rock star.''
He appeared on numerous magazine covers, won two Grammys for recording
his best-selling books, made TV appearances, received hundreds of
invitations a week and traveled the country in 2006, stumping for
Democratic candidates - building up chits along the way.
The spotlight only grew during the primary season, prompting a mocking
TV ad this summer from John McCain, the GOP candidate, trying to portray
Obama as a celebrity without the gravitas to be president.
But Obama proved to be an enormous draw on the campaign trail, packing
arenas with overflow crowds as he promised an end to the Iraq war, a new
era of bipartisanship in Washington and "change we can believe in.''
Though he did not focus on race, it inevitably became part of the
campaign as he racked up huge support among Black voters.
His newcomer's status and compelling biography have helped and hurt him
on his way to the nomination.
On the downside, he has been forced to spend much time debunking bogus
rumors - spread on the Internet - that he is a Muslim, won't recite the
Pledge of Allegiance and didn't use a Bible when he was sworn into the
Senate.
But his youth and lack of seniority - Republicans call it inexperience -
have been an asset, too, especially among young voters. They've been a
key bloc of supporters and see Obama as a fresh face who can jolt
Washington out of its well-worn groove.
As part of the Facebook generation, these younger voters have been among
the more than 2 million people who've poured donations - many of them
contributing small amounts - into a campaign that has become a financial
juggernaut.
"He tapped into the new technology better than any candidate ever has,
he knew what to do with the Internet and e-mail in a way no candidate
has,'' says Durbin, his fellow Illinois Democrat. "He has turned it into
an art form.''
In Denver, though, Obama will turn to the old-fashioned powers of
speechmaking when he steps on stage to address the crowd.
And this time, the tens of thousands of people will know exactly who he
is.
Biden Seen as Shoring up Some Weaknesses for Obama
WASHINGTON (AP) - Call it the Biden Buzz. Part of the noise comes
from the reporters swarming around Sen. Joe Biden. Yet all the
speculation about the Delaware lawmaker as a leading candidate for
vice-presidential running mate may be saying a lot about what Barack
Obama's campaign lacks.
Biden is staying uncharacteristically quiet in the face of growing
attention as Obama nears a decision on his running mate. Dressed in a
suit and sunglasses, Biden left his home by car Thursday morning in
Wilmington, Del., with only a casual wave to the news media. He returned
later to his home, where he was spending the afternoon with his wife,
Jill; his son, Beau Biden, who is Delaware's attorney general; and his
niece, Missy Owens.
Obama is keeping quiet, too, but his staff in Chicago and party
activists see Biden as addressing two of Obama's biggest weaknesses -
his lack of experience, especially on world affairs, and his reluctance
to attack his opponent.
Obama plans to appear with his newly selected running mate Saturday,
with the pick announced via text message to supporters. Obama also is
believed to be considering Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Tim
Kaine of Virginia, and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana.
But Biden is at the center of much speculation now. Biden, 65, first was
elected to represent Delaware in 1972. Obama was 11 at the time; half
the people living in the U.S. were not born when Biden arrived on
Capitol Hill. He is a curious front-runner to join a ticket headed by
Obama, who prevailed during the primaries by making the case that he is
an outsider who can bring change to Washington.
Biden has a compelling personal story: His wife and daughter were killed
in a car accident a few weeks after he was first elected, but two sons
survived serious injuries in the crash. Biden commuted home to
Wilmington daily to care for them, a practice he continues to this day.
The oldest son, Beau, is now Delaware's attorney general and a National
Guard member whose unit is being deployed to Iraq in October.
Biden got another scare 10 years ago, when two brain aneurysms kept him
out of the Senate for several months.
This week Biden returned from a trip to the former Soviet state of
Georgia that he made at the invitation of the embattled country's
president, a well-timed reminder of the value he could bring to Obama's
ticket.
Fighting between Georgia and Russia has only increased the sense that
Americans will turn to the candidate they believe will be a strong
international leader.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, brings a military
background and a leading role on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Obama only has served three years in Washington, but Biden is chairman
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Polls suggest the race between Obama and McCain is tightening, and Obama
is responding by stepping up his attacks in speeches and commercials
targeted to key states. Obama has never been entirely comfortable going
negative, but Biden is always ready for a fight.
Obama could have been describing Biden when he said in a speech Tuesday
that he wants his running mate to be "somebody who is mad right now''
about the state of the economy, an independent spirit who will speak out
when Obama's wrong and help him through major issues.
During the Democratic primary, when he also sought the presidential
nomination, Biden often made the most memorable impression in debates
even though he was barely registering in the polls. He got big laughs
for accusing Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani of mentioning three
things in every sentence - "a noun, a verb and 9/11'' - and also leveled
barbs at Obama, questioning his experience.
He said he didn't think Obama was ready to be president yet, saying it's
"not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.'' He offended
some Blacks when on the first day as an official presidential candidate
he tried to compliment Obama as "the first mainstream African-American
who is articulate and bright and clean.''
Biden dropped out of the race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.
---
On the Net:
Obama: http://www.barackobama.com
Obama Inspires Black Republicans to Switch Parties
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama isn't just inspiring Black
voters to register in large numbers as he gets closer to being the
Democratic presidential nominee. Evidence indicates that he's motivating
some Black Republicans to switch parties.
The only three states that track voting registration by party and race
show Black Republican registration dropping slightly since the beginning
of the year.
Florida has 81,512 more Black Democrats compared to a loss of 784 Black
Republicans; Louisiana has 34,325 more Black Democrats, while the number
of Black Republicans dropped by 907; North Carolina has 92,356 more
Black Democrats and 2,850 fewer Black Republicans.
However, overall the number of Black Republicans is generally very small
compared to the number who tend to vote Democrat. Florida has nearly 1.1
million Black Democrats, compared to just under 64,000 Black
Republicans. Louisiana has about 704,000 Black Democrats and 26,000
Black Republicans, and North Carolina has more than 1 million Black
Democrats and just under 44,000 Black Republicans.
While the number of Blacks who have left the Republican Party for the
Democratic Party can't be pinpointed, it's not hard to find voters who
have made the switch.
Whitfield Jenkins of Ocala became a Republican nearly four decades ago,
abandoning the Democrats out of anger when Black voters helped elect a
state lawmaker who later opposed a state holiday for Martin Luther King
Jr. In 2006, Jenkins helped Republican Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign,
but this year he switched back to the Democratic Party for one reason:
Obama.
"Really early in his presidential campaign, when I got the opportunity
to listen intently to his ideas and his platforms, I immediately said,
'This is beyond belief,''' Jenkins said.
The biggest impact could be in Florida, where polls show a tight race
between Obama and Republican John McCain. President George W. Bush
carried the state by only 537 votes in the disputed election of 2000.
Democrats believe the result would have been different if not, in part,
for problems in largely Black precincts.
"If it's going to be a close election, it could be a huge factor,'' said
Kevin Hill, a Florida International University political science
professor. "Eighty-two thousand - that's a lot of voters.''
And while Bush won by a more comfortable 381,000 votes in 2004, the
Obama campaign notes that 600,000 Black voters stayed home. The campaign
is also targeting nearly 600,000 Black Floridians who aren't registered
to vote.
"You're going to see some turnout like you've never seen before in the
state of Florida,'' said Tony Hill, a Black state senator from
Jacksonville who is helping the Obama campaign.
Overall, Florida has about 4.4 million Democrats, 3.9 million
Republicans and 2.3 million voters who aren't registered with either
party.
Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer acknowledges that attracting
more Black Republicans has been difficult because of Obama's candidacy
and says he doesn't expect a significant change in registration numbers
this year despite party efforts to reach out to Black voters.
"My goal here is that African-Americans who have voted Democratic their
entire lives will begin to at least consider a Republican candidate,''
Greer said. "And then I'll move to the second goal of registration. But
it is a slow process.''
Some Black Republicans say they're supporting Obama but not switching
parties. They include former Florida Black Republican Council President
Dorsey Miller, who helped former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush's campaigns
and supports Crist.
Miller, though, said his support of Obama has nothing to do with race,
but rather his dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and his
concerns that McCain will continue President Bush's policies.
"It's a funny thing about Obama, but when I see him speak and see him on
the stage, I don't see him as a Black man, I just see a man. He
symbolizes hope and we surely need hope,'' Miller said.
But he was quick to add that he could support another Republican for
president.
"If he (Obama) stays eight years and then Jeb Bush says, 'I'm running,'
I'm with Jeb.''
Obama kicks off fall campaign with stadium show
By DAVID ESPO and ROBERT FURLOW
DENVER (AP) - Barack Obama launched his historic fall campaign for the
White House on Thursday with an outdoor Democratic National Convention
extravaganza that blended old-fashioned speechmaking, Hollywood-quality
stagecraft and innovative, Internet age politics.
One day after becoming the first black man to win a major party
presidential nomination, Obama readied the most important speech of his
improbable candidacy, a prime-time address to an estimated 75,000 inside
Denver's NFL stadium and uncounted millions watching at home on
television.
Aides pledged a direct conversation with voters about the choice between
Obama, a 47-year-old Illinois senator, and his Republican rival, Sen.
John McCain of Arizona.
In an audacious move, McCain worked to steal at least a portion of the
political spotlight by stoking speculation that his selection of a vice
presidential running mate was imminent. An aide said McCain had made his
decision, and one man on the short list, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota,
canceled all public appearances, raising attention even higher.
McCain is expected to announce his pick soon and appear with the person
at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday.
The Republican convention opens Monday in St. Paul, Minn.
To the west, in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, thousands waited in
bright sunshine to gain admission to Invesco Field at Mile High, the
stadium that had been turned into Obama's soundstage for the night at an
estimated cost of $5 million.
By happenstance, the evening coincided with the 45th anniversary of
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a Dream Speech'' on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
Obama's aides were interested in a different historical parallel - Obama
was the first to deliver an outdoor convention acceptance speech since
John F. Kennedy did so at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960.
The list of entertainers ran to Jennifer Hudson, the Academy Award
winning performer singing the national anthem, and will.i.am, whose Web
video built around Obama's "Yes, we can'' rallying cry quickly went
viral during last winter's primaries.
In a novel bid to extend the convention's reach, Obama's campaign
decided to turn tens of thousands of partisans in the stands into
instant political organizers. The plan called for them to use their cell
phones to send text messages to friends as well as call thousands of
unregistered voters from lists developed by the campaign.
Three hours before the day's program began, as many as 1,000 people were
lined up at a pedestrian entrance to the stadium on a hot sunny day.
Nearby street parking was going for as much as $80 a space.
In all, Obama's high command said it had identified 55 million
unregistered voters across the country, about 8.1 million of them black,
about 8 million Hispanic and 7.5 million between the ages of 18 and 24.
All are key target groups for Obama as he bids to break into the
all-white line of U.S. presidents and at the same time restore Democrats
to the White House for the first time in eight years.
The Democratic man of the hour paid a brief visit to members of his
home-state Illinois delegation before the curtain went up on his show.
"I came by (because) I had this speech tonight. I wanted to practice it
out on you guys. See if it worked on a friendly audience,'' he joked.
There was no joking about the stakes in the speech, a once-in-a-campaign
opportunity to speak to millions of voters who have yet to make up their
minds between McCain and him. The polls show a close race nationally,
with more than enough key battleground states tight enough to tip the
election either way.
Obama's hopes of victory rely on holding onto the large Democratic base
states such as California, New York, Michigan and his own Illinois,
while eating into territory that voted for George W. Bush. Ohio tops
that list, and Democrats have also targeted Montana, North Dakota,
Virginia and New Mexico, among others, as they try to expand their
Electoral College map.
His new running mate, Sen., Joseph Biden of Delaware, was brutally frank
about the Democrats' chances in an appearance before one state's
delegation. "This is not hyperbole: We cannot win without
Pennsylvania,'' he said.
Polling shows the race for that state's 21 electoral votes close. Both
the two previous Democratic candidates, Al Gore and John Kerry carried
Pennsylvania over Bush.
Biden, who was born in Scranton, Pa., and represents a state that shares
a border with Pennsylvania, is expected to spend large amounts of time
campaigning in the state over the next several weeks.
McCain was in Ohio as Obama spoke, and after a series of sharply
negative convention week television commercials, his campaign aired a
one-night advertisement that complimented Obama and noted the speech
occurred on the anniversary of King's famous address.
"Senator Obama, this is truly a good day for America. Too often the
achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to stop and say,
'Congratulations,''' McCain says in the ad.
"How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day.
Tomorrow, we'll be back at it. But tonight Senator, job well done.''
'
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