DISQUS

DISQUS Hello! Jack and Jill Politics is using DISQUS, a powerful comment system, to manage its comments. Learn more.

Community Page

Jack and Jill Politics

A black bourgeois perspective on U.S. politics
Jump to original thread »
Author

Obama Launches Vote For Change, A Massive 50-State Registration Drive

Started by baratunde aka jack turner · 1 year ago

Hey fam, sorry for such a late post. I’ve been traveling and am in San Fran for the weekend. If you want to meetup, I’m holding “office hours” Sunday afternoon in The Mission. Details here. Would be nice to put a face to some of your names.

Now, on to business.

I am relieved to begin the [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ ... Continue reading »

45 comments

  • heartsandflowers

    1 year ago

    I'll stop by to say hello Sunday, though you won't need to leave so early for your flight unless you prefer to. We need to get those serving and their families registered as I'm sure they'd like to come home or at least have a longer period of time between deployments.
    reply
  • texas girl in l.a.

    1 year ago

    Hi Jack!


    I'm in L.A. Wish I could stop by to meet you.



    I will be at the kick off tomorrow fired up and ready to go and register folks.



    Our guest speakers include:

    Kerry Washington

    Stephanie Miller

    Jasmine Guy

    Jurnee Smollett

    Tatyana Ali



    And some local elected officials.



    Will come back and right about the experience.....
    reply
  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    Jack,


    Thanks for writing this up. I appreciate it, and I do believe Obama is planning for the future. It's amazing. So many folks mocked his ' community organizer' background, yet that education has been invaluable to him during this campaign.
    reply
  • Ms.Martin

    1 year ago

    I just heard a report that a reporter asked Obama if he was going to help Clinton pay her campaign debt.


    He was joking right? Is this something that is usually done?
    reply
  • Intrepidblackman

    1 year ago

    Thanks for the info. I'm certainly going to spread the word about Vote For Change
    reply
  • Antenna-ness

    1 year ago

    I’m confused


    Can someone please explain why Obama would say he would consider paying off Billary’s campaign debts? I don’t care how deep in debt or denial Hillary is. I don’t want a single red cent of my donations to Barack Obama to go to Hillary to pay off her debts or buy her off. I didn’t donate anything to her because I don’t support her or her race baiting campaign.



    If I hear of Obama paying her debts, I’m going to consider asking him for my donations back. I will not support her bad behavior. He can be gracious to her without rewarding her monetarily. He doesn’t owe her anything. As a millionaire she made the conscious decision to loan her campaign ll.6 million (and possibly more by now). I don’t believe he should pay her for continuing to kick him in the teeth.
    reply
  • Intrepidblackman

    1 year ago

    I feel you on Barack paying off Billary, its not how I want to see my contributions used. Paying off a beaten rivals debts, however, is fairly standard political practice. McCain is helping to pay off Rudy's debt.


    I'd be cool with Barack helping to pay off the part of Billiary's debt that is not a function of her loaning her campaign her own money.
    reply
  • Antenna-ness

    1 year ago

    Thanks Intrepidblackman,


    I could be cool with that also. But I sure didn�t want to pay off her loan to herself off. (Rudy didn�t give McCain the headache that she is giving Obama.)
    reply
  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    RUles say that he can't use YOUR money given to him to pay off of her debts.


    He can, however, if he chooses, hold fundraisers for her.
    reply
  • isonprize

    1 year ago

    Is anybody, besides me, missing Ed Bradley on this whole scene.


    I would LOVE to know what he thought of this mess...
    reply
  • Antenna-ness

    1 year ago

    This article quotes Obama on his reason for willingness to possibly pay off Billary’s debts.


    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_2



    "Obama told reporters it was premature for him to talk with the Clinton camp about possibly helping her retire her multimillion-dollar campaign debt, much of it from Clinton's personal loans.

    Asked if he might consider such a move later, Obama said: "Historically, after a campaign is done and you want to unify the party, particularly when you've had a strong opponent, you want to make sure that you're putting that opponent in a strong position so that they can work to win an election in November. And so obviously I'd want to have a broad-ranging discussion with Senator Clinton about how I could make her feel good about the process and have her on the team moving forward."
    reply
  • Ms.Martin

    1 year ago

    I just can't see Hillary working to help Obama, especially when she will try to convince the superdelegtes right up to the convention that she's the better nominee.


    She is crazy and bitter and will not stop until the bitter end. It's not just her, her and Bill are partners in this thing.
    reply
  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    Ms. Martin,


    I do believe Camp Obama is under no illusions that Hillpatine is going to actually go 'all out' for him. The whole thing is her supporters. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: her supporters have no LOGICAL reason to hate on Obama. He's given them absolutely NO reason, other than his existence. He's hoping if he's seen a magnanamous towards her, maybe a few of her thinking supporters will stay with the party.



    I agree with you about them being crazy and bitter, but Obama has to give the appearance of being generous, for the party's sake.
    reply
  • Sempringham

    1 year ago

    An excellent description of Obama's organizing plan is available at http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5637. McCain will use mostly Rev. Wright videos.
    reply
  • Dazzler

    1 year ago

    Somewhat OT but this one just cracked me up: http://youtube.com/watch?v=B6Lstkiexhc

    ...     downfall"



    Normally this kind of satire is so-so at best but I couldn't help uncontrollably LOL'ing through the whole thing. Enough hilariously outrageous quotes in there to fill a whole afternoon.



    BTW to anyone who hasn't yet-- please call/write any of your representatives who's a fence-sitting superdelegate, or one still backing Hillary, and urge them in the strongest terms to finally back our nominee Obama. This isn't like Huckabee running a positive-toned campaign here, this is Hillary pulling out all her gutter stops, and doing irreparable damage to the Democratic Party at all levels with her repulsive campaigning.



    For the sake of the party's viability, we need to finish things up and back our nominee, and start the real fight against the GOP. Please contact your representative and the DNC, politely but firmly, and let them know it's time to end this charade, and commence the fight with Obama as our general!
    reply
  • Dazzler

    1 year ago

    I understand Obama's considerations in paying off Hillary's debts (and I think there's a compromise solution on it), but IMHO it sets up a terrible precedent and it encourages moral hazard, i.e. similar hateful politicians as Hillary spending themselves millions of dollars into debt and attacking their opponents, since they figure they could get paid off later on.


    Another problem I have-- Obama is an unprecedented candidate in the extent to which his campaign is funded by small donors. Almost every small donor I've spoken to would be furious at Obama for paying off Hillary like this, especially since so much of the money would be going to pay off Mark Penn.



    Furthermore, it wouldn't at all appease Hillary, not by any stretch-- she'd just pretend to mend fences, then just take the money Obama provided to her and use it to attack him further. It's thoroughly naive to trust Hillary.



    A better idea, would be for Obama to sponsor some fundraisers to help pay off at least a portion of Hillary's debt-- with clear knowledge among donors that this is the purpose in mind. That way, donors know what their money is being used for, and Hillary gets some financial help.



    But Hillary and Bill are worth more than $100,000,000, so I'm not crying them a river. Just start up some basic fundraisers for Hillary and be done with it from there, but Obama should not use one cent from his coffers to pay off Hillary's debts. He needs to use his war chest in the competition against McCain, and helping Democrats downticket in Congressional and state competitions.
    reply
  • Antenna-ness

    1 year ago

    I agree Dazzler.


    Obama should layout what he expects Billary and her campaign to do before he agrees to pay any of her debts. Then payment should be contingent on her delivering the goods. Nothing should be paid until after the elections in November. You are right she is not to be trusted.
    reply
  • leneypoo

    1 year ago

    I think it's illegal for Obama to use donations to him to pay off Hillary's debt. But he's open to help her fundraise, or send out an e-mail asking donors to give to her.


    Which I guess would be okay because I have the choice to not give Senator Clinton one cent.
    reply
  • AAVoiceofReason

    1 year ago

    As a resolute African-American supporter of Hillary Clinton, I am still 100% committed to her candidacy, and indeed would vote for McCain if she were not the nominee because McCain has done a far better job of being post-partisan than Obama, and is also a leader.
    reply
  • Antenna-ness

    1 year ago

    aavoiceofreason,


    Hillary says she is still in the race and fighting. So accordingly she is not post-partisan yet. Anyone voting for McCain is voting for Bush's third term. But, vote your civic and economic interest, I am.



    Difference between Bush and McCain



    http://Bush-McCainChallenge.com/?rc=challenge-friends&r;_id=12561-9068505-dNfUJO
    reply
  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    Thanks for posting the link to Vote from Abroad. I am an expat living in Zurich who was put on to this blog through a Huff Post link. I have been volunteering with Democrats Abroad here in Zurich and it is great to see that. Keep up the stimulating commentary!


    I am an Obama supporter but was on the Hillary website just to see what her supporters think. I like to hear both sides of the story. Unless there is a miracle, it seems that it will be really hard to get them to come aboard for the general. Will be interesting.....



    Any thoughts on how this can be accomplished?
    reply
  • leneypoo

    1 year ago

    Anon. that's why this primary needs to end June 3rd, or whenever the last primary is supposed to happen. We can't have Senator Clinton fighting this out in August.


    The best way to bring everyone together is to give people time. Right now everyone is extremely invested and tensions are at their highest. The more time people get used to Obama and the more time people realize that McCain is not a viable alternative, the better.
    reply
  • The Christian Progressive Libe

    1 year ago

    You're on my stomping grounds, now, Jack.


    If you like Mexican food, go get your grub on at Pancho Villa's. Best burritos and nachos in Northern Cal.
    reply
  • The Christian Progressive Libe

    1 year ago

    Obama should layout what he expects Billary and her campaign to do before he agrees to pay any of her debts. Then payment should be contingent on her delivering the goods. Nothing should be paid until after the elections in November. You are right she is not to be trusted.


    If he's even thinking about doing this, he'd better make her honor her side of any agreement before he honors his.



    We've seen this before; they promise; we comply; they betray us and tell us "wait 'til next time."



    No more of that shyt. How many times to we have to be Charlie Brown and hope Lucy will hold the football in place for placekicking?



    If I were Obama, I'd adopt the Colin Powell "Pottery Barn" rule:



    HILLARY BROKE IT; HILLARY PAYS FOR IT. 'NUFF SAID.
    reply
  • Val

    1 year ago

    Obama is not allowed to use funds donated to his campaign to pay off Hillary's debt. He can however ask for democrats to send her some donations.


    Personally I think what is $25M to someone that has $109M? Two more speeches from Bill and her debt is paid off.
    reply
  • Nquest

    1 year ago

    "...Obama has to give the appearance of being generous, for the party's sake."


    Something he finds all too hard to do when it comes to Black people, Rev. Wright in particular.



    Amazing!







    Yes! I went there...
    reply
  • TruthSeeker

    1 year ago

    reply
  • TruthSeeker

    1 year ago

    reply
  • Angela

    1 year ago

    Happy Mother's Day!


    Send this on...it is a story of a wonderful woman.



    "FYI, I really enjoyed this article re Obama’s mother. I think Goodman makes an excellent point. Obama has a unique story to tell about his mother. I think it could be done poignantly.







    Ellen Goodman





    Sharing dreams from his mother



    Lolo Soetoro and Ann Dunham pose with daughter Maya Soetoro and son Barack Obama in an undated photo. (Family photo via Bloomberg News)



    Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Ellen Goodman



    May 9, 2008



    FROM time to time during this primary, I've wondered about Obama's mama. In a race that was so much about biography, about beliefs rooted in her son's "DNA," she's made only cameo appearances.



    more stories like this



    ·



    She was the "mother from Kansas" balanced alliteratively with the "father from Kenya." Or she was the white parent whose genes combined with the black parent. Or she was the woman dying of cancer "more worried about paying her medical bills than getting well." And on Tuesday night when her son all but sewed up the nomination, she appeared again as the "single parent who had to go on food stamps at one point."



    I have been thinking of her not just because it's nearly Mother's Day but because Obama will soon have to reach out to Hillary Clinton's supporters, especially to women of a certain age who attached their hopes to having a woman in the White House. Obama has not yet had a "gender conversation" with those women.



    What better link does he have than his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, the girl whose own father expected and wanted a boy child? Ann Dunham, a nonconformist, a woman of the world who traveled a trajectory of change so associated with Hillary's generation?



    Last week, my eye lit on an odd correction in The New York Times. It read: "The assertion that Mr. Obama had 'never known' his Kenyan father should have been that he had 'barely known' him." Surely it was a distinction without a difference.



    It's no surprise that Obama wrote an entire memoir dedicated to his "barely known" parent: "Dreams from My Father." It was only after his mother's death that he wrote in a new preface, "I think sometimes that had I known she would not survive her illness, I might have written a different book - less a meditation on the absent parent, more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in my life." He added that "she was the kindest, most generous spirit I have ever known, and that what is best in me I owe to her."



    From all accounts, this daughter of a family that kept traveling west in restless pursuit of the American dream took no part in Eisenhower-era conformity. She was a teenager in Hawaii when she fell for the charismatic Kenyan in her Russian class and married him six months before her son was born. This was a time when interracial marriage was still illegal in parts of the country.



    The rest of the story is known: a divorce, a marriage to an Indonesian, a second divorce. She was a mother who kept her children focused as well as fed. But what's less known is the woman in her own right, the one who became an anthropologist, the woman who spent years as the respected head of research for Women's World Banking, bringing micro-financing to poor people in Indonesia.



    Nancy Barry, who was the head of Women's World Banking and knew Ann well, has been bewildered by the way she's been reduced to a stick figure. "She was stubborn, hard core, decisive, convincing, deep-thinking, rigorous in her analysis," says Barry. "When I hear Barack talking about how we are not red states, blue states, but the United States, I think he gets that from his mother. The other core capability he gets from her is the desire for healing."



    Indeed, the Obama we see may be the offspring of "Dreams from My Mother."



    If Ann were alive today she would be the age of Hillary Clinton's most devoted demographic. She would be among those women who have gone through enormous transitions, making and remaking the female script. Dreaming big.



    I am not suggesting Obama drag out his mama as a prop. But he's staked his case for the presidency on his ability to bridge racial, cultural, party divides, to lead a post-partisan America. Now he's faced with another divide: women who identified their success with Hillary's and who are unsure they will vote for him.



    What better way to begin reaching out, holding the 'gender conversation,' showing women he "gets it" than by sharing the dreams he inherited and the dreams he understands. The dreams from his mother. A girl named Stanley.



    Ellen Goodman's e-mail address is ellengoodman@globe.com."
    reply
  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    He has to do this because there is no way BO can win with only the support of Black voters and liberal, rich, white intellectuals. Hopefully it works, but it will be a long shot in November. Lying about what he knew about Rev Wright's opinions has killed him - whether you want to admit it or not folks.
    reply
  • babyming

    1 year ago

    It's fine with me if Obama helps to pay down the debts of the Clinton campaign. I don't know anyone in politics, but I assume it's pretty "normal" for one Democrat to help out another Democrat in this way.


    And as other commenters here have pointed out, if Obama did this, it would help him with some Clinton supporters.



    Giving Hillary the vice presidential spot on the ticket is a different matter entirely. I definitely would vote for McCain.



    I'll be very happy to vote for Obama, assuming his running mate isn't Hillary Clinton.
    reply
  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    angela,


    thank you for that story about Barack's mother. People have commented that he doesn't talk about her very much. I think because it's just so personal for him. Others have said that he's the first ' feminist' President, because he was raised by a fierce feminist. He obviously has no problem with smart, independent women. His grandmother, mother, sister and wife are all strong, independent, capable, smart women.



    I believe his mother is his guardian angel looking out for him.
    reply
  • TruthSeeker

    1 year ago

    reply
  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    truthseeker,


    if she told me water was wet, I'd have to verify it first.
    reply
  • Kenya W

    1 year ago

    Angela, as Rikyrah, thanked you for the input on SBO mother, I thank you too. But, truthfully, I don’t know anything about Barbara Bush, Mother Clinton, The other mother Bush or any other presidents mother. Why do some people feel that SBO has to give a dissertation on his mother, to make THEM more comfortable? He has written two books and has a grammy award winning cd. Why we need to know more about his personal life than any other nominee in history is not really a mystery, but is distressing to me. His job is to tell us what his ideas and plans for this nation. I don't believe that SBO or Senator McCain have to give a novel on their family history.
    Lastly, SBO has a wonderful woman who stands beside him as a testament to his appreciation for the intelligence, brilliance and the importance of women.

    Michelle Obama has been given a critical role in this campaign. As evidence of how truly progressive SBO is when it comes to women’s significance in life. If the Hillary Clinton supporters do accept an outstanding wife, mother and accomplished professional women like Michelle Obama then to hell with them. I will make it my life’s mission to register enough voters to make up the difference…at least here in Georgia.

    God bless and goodnight.
    reply
  • Teacher

    1 year ago

    Here are some amusing videos:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFZL33nPoEU



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Lstkiexhc



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exsmFDYyK4U



    The URL listed below has a good story about how politicians/super delegates fall so far.



    http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/5/10/13921/7570
    reply
  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    Frank Rich's Column is good today:


    Party Like It’s 2008







    And, from Open Left



    Wow, We Nominated the Black Guy
    reply
  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    From the WaPo:


    Mr. Cool's Intensity
    reply
  • Ms.Martin

    1 year ago

    JJP


    Would you guys please consider posting an open thread for the weekend?



    Thanks for the consideration.
    reply
  • Ms.Martin

    1 year ago

    Joe Klein has a good piece in the Time about Obama and the Media.
    reply
  • acanthus

    1 year ago

    This is a bit OT, but what happened to SNL? Last time I looked, they pretty openly supported Clinton.


    http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=250052
    reply
  • Angela

    1 year ago

    I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:


    "Feminists for Peace and Barack Obama!"

    http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NYfeministsforpeace?e



    I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time.



    Thanks! and let others know if you think they would be interested.
    reply
  • texas girl in l.a.

    1 year ago

    I know, acanthus.


    I saw that video. I couldn't believe. Not sure what to think.
    reply
  • Craig Hickman

    1 year ago

    What happend with SNL?


    The writers decided to denounce and reject racism.
    reply
  • Ms.Martin

    1 year ago

    Craig Hickman


    It was so true, it wasn't funny.
    reply
Please login to comment.
Returning? Login