Race and Politics

As many of you may know, there has been a storm brewing ever since Obama entered the race for the White House.  Inevetably, race and politics would be brought up.  While constructive criticism about the current state of affairs in regards to racism is always healthy, recently, discussions have become negative and unnecessary.

It is unnecessary simply because in the state that our country is in right now, there is no place for racism.  We are in 2 wars, our country’s economy is in a sour state, the housing market is (or has) crashed, jobs are vaporizing at an ungodly rate, and crime is up.  Our country doesn’t have the time, the luxury, of dwelling in a debate centered around race.  And nor should it ever.

When it comes to electing a President of a great nation, the cards he or she brings to the table should be the only issue that matters.  The constitution says that “all men are created equal.”  As such, race should never be a consideration.  To bring up the issue of race in and of itself is racism.  Here’s why:

By bringing undue attention to Mr. Obama’s race, the media is directing fire at the very fact that he is black.  As beings with intelligence, we can see for ourselves that, yes, Obama is black.  No one needs the media to tell him that.  Racism can be loosely defined as harboring prejudice against another race.  To be honest, everyone exhibits some form of racism.  Even the most un-racist person in the world has racist tendencies.  It is our psychological nature to be prejudiced, maybe not at a race, but at something.  The media has chosen to make race an issue.  In almost every instance where a candidate for office has to defend his or her self, it is the media that first brings allegations to light.  But why?

The media thrives on negativity.  Happy news is not news.  Death, beatings, a bad economy, the war: these are what the media is built to present.  People like Glenn Beck chew out others on national tv daily, mostly on negative issues.  By choosing to start reporting on the fact that Obama is black and whether or not that has anything to do with his electability draws fire to the issue and creates a circularity:  the media first brings up the issue, it simmers, attacks are made, and then the media turns around and asks the public if race is really an issue.  YOU BROUGHT IT UP IN THE FIRST PLACE.

To the media:  be nice and focus on the issues.  We have just 7 more months until a new president is elected.  Drop the race issue and tell us why we should vote for one candidate over the other based solely on their merits.

-this is a response to CNN’s iReport question of the day: Does race matter in politics?

Obama, McCain sweep Potomac primaries

While Sen. John McCain was inching toward the Republican presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama staked a claim as the Democratic front-runner.

Obama’s wins in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia primaries propelled him past Sen. Hillary Clinton in the race for delegates.

According to CNN calculations, Obama has 1,215 delegates to Clinton’s 1,190.

To clinch the Democratic nomination, a candidate must get 2,025 delegates.

Obama had led in pledged delegates, but Clinton had held the lead when superdelegates were factored in.

Superdelegates, a group of almost 800 Democratic Party officials and leaders, are not required to make their votes public and are free to change their minds.

The Illinois senator has now won eight consecutive contests.

McCain, the presumptive nominee for the Republican party, has 812 delegates to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s 217, according to CNN estimates.

GOP candidate needs 1,191 delegates to secure the nomination.

“The change we seek swept through Chesapeake and over the Potomac,” Obama told supporters Tuesday night.

“We won the state of Maryland. We won the commonwealth of Virginia. And though we won in Washington, D.C., this movement won’t stop until there is change in Washington, D.C., and tonight we’re on our way.”

Obama did well with Democrats across race and gender lines Tuesday night, and seems to be eating away at Clinton’s backbone of support: women.

According to exit polls out of Virginia and Maryland, Obama won roughly 60 percent of the female vote — a demographic that has carried Clinton to success in past primaries. Clinton fared worse among men — more than two-thirds in both states chose Obama.

Meanwhile, Obama scored his highest percentage of African-American support to date, winning close to 90 percent of that voting bloc in each state.

The two evenly split the white vote in Virginia, while Clinton slightly beat Obama among whites in Maryland.

In most past primaries, Clinton has held an edge among white voters. Tuesday, Obama even beat Clinton among Latino voters, a group that has heavily favored Clinton in most past primaries.

In Virginia and Maryland, Latinos went for Obama over Clinton by 6 points, though their support was not decisive in either contest — only 5 percent of Democratic primary voters in Virginia and 4 percent in Maryland were Latino.

The only demographic Clinton won was white women, who broke for her over Obama by 10 points in Virginia and 13 points in Maryland.

Clinton turned her attention to Texas, which holds its primary on March 4.

-from CNN.com

Obama wins Maine caucuses

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama will win Sunday’s Democratic caucuses in Maine, sweeping the weekend’s presidential contests.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Obama was leading Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York 59 percent to 40 percent. At stake are 24 delegates to August’s Democratic national convention in Denver.

Obama’s projected victory follows a sweep in Saturday’s Louisiana primary and Democratic caucuses in Nebraska, Washington and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Those contests gave him a lead over Clinton in pledged delegates to the convention, but Clinton still held a narrow edge over Obama when “superdelegates” — elected officials and party leaders — are included in the tally, according to CNN estimates.

After Saturday’s results and a split decision in last week’s Super Tuesday contests, Clinton shook up her campaign Sunday by replacing campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with longtime adviser Maggie Williams, her campaign announced Sunday.

-CNN.com

“Why I Vote” by Jake Laperruque

I have always viewed this election as incredibly important, not just because it is a presidential election, not just because it is an election during a war, recession, and crisis in healthcare. I view it as important because 2008 is a chance to realign the country, to end the politics and political traditions that have caused all the problems we have and disillusioned the populace to what government ought to do.

This election is about issues, policies, proposals ideas, but it is about much more. It is about reaching out to the people, and acting in their interest, instead of catering to lobbyists and playing the same political games that have been common in Washington for my entire lifetime. It’s about having the courage to stand for an unpopular idea. It’s about admitting when you’re wrong. It’s about telling people the truth, even when they might not like the answer. It’s about looking towards individuals, and rejecting special interests. It’s about putting public benefits before political bickering and personal ambitions. It’s about being idealistic, and finally, for once, having a leader who above all else wants to do what is truly right.

The Democratic nomination is down to two candidates, and the differences between them are clear and obvious for me. One stood against a war when I and the rest of the country called out for it, and the administration and media labeled those who opposed it as unpatriotic. The other not only authorized and approved of it, but to this day refuses to apologize and say that her decision was wrong. One calls for all troops to be out by 2009, the other opens the possibility of leaving troops for training missions, permanent bases, forces to protect bases, and on going combat missions. One went to Detroit to give a speech on helping the environment and rebuilding the American auto-industry. The other says that it is wrong to raise taxes on those who make over $100,000 a year to prevent social security from collapsing. One has not taking a single dollar from special interests during this election and has stated he will not allow any lobbyists in his White House. The other takes money from the insurance industries that turn away dying Americans to increase their profit margins, and says that corporations being able to manipulate our government is a good part of the political process. One wears his minority status with pride but never exploits it, never tells you to vote for him because of it, never tries to make the election about black and white, but rather about what is best. The other uses gender stereotypes whenever it can be done to her advantage, has campaign officials say that anyone who cares about women’s issues must vote for her and those who endorse her opponent have betrayed women, and is even willing to engage in racial politics if it might help her. For Barack Obama to respond to his win in South Carolina by saying “I did not travel around this state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina. I saw South Carolina” is noble. For Bill Clinton to respond to it by saying, “Well, Jessie Jackson won South Carolina” is disgusting.

I see one candidate who is ready to look to the people, all of them, regardless of age, race, gender, or political affiliation. I see another who is willing to do anything – whether it be to ban flag burning, vote for war with Iraq, war with Iran, compromise on environmental policies, sell out to special interests, or use any dirty political tactic – to advance and achieve personal ambitions. I see one candidate who is happy to accept our broken system, and another who wants to create a new one.

Barack Obama is not a perfect candidate. His healthcare policy is not the best I’ve ever seen. His environmental stance is not the best I’ve ever seen. But I’ve never seen a candidate with whom I agree completely, even the one I believed in so much that I was willing to devote months of my life to.

But what I do agree with about Barack Obama’s campaign is its most fundamental principle:

This election is about change. And change does not just mean a Democrat and not a Republican. It does not just mean new policies. It is about changing the nature of the political system, changing the priorities of our politicians, changing the influence that corporations and special interests have, changing the ruthlessness of “the game” that puts winning elections over helping people.

It is about rejecting the idea of simply turning a new page, and instead trying to write a new book.

For my entire life I’ve only seen presidents named Bush and Clinton. For my entire life I’ve lived under leaders who have lied to their people. For my entire life, I’ve had to accept the idea that the country is divided between red and blue, liberal and conservative. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of a government that is unprincipled, unwilling to take risks, and unable to listen to people over politicos and lobbyists advising them on how best to win the next election. And I’m sick of people saying that there is nothing wrong.

I want a New America. And Barack Obama is the only candidate who offers it.

Just One Other Thing I’d Like To Leave You With.

There Are Two Video Links Below, And I’d Ask You To Watch Both In Their Entirety.

The First Is The Moment I Realized I Would Never Be Satisfied To Vote For Hillary Clinton.

The Second Is When I Decided I Would Be Proud To Vote For Barack Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isi6c2s353c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iVAPH_EcmQ

-a note by my friend Jake Laperruque, who spent months working for the Edwards campaign and now devotes his time to supporting Obama here at Washington University in St. Louis and the surrounding areas.

Edwards’ voters up for grabs

Former Sen. John Edwards dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday, leaving his voters up for grabs.

The race for the Democratic nomination is now down to Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

“I think both candidates will benefit in the short term, but long-term, the candidate who talks about the plight of the poor, that champions the middle class, that talks about trade and health care … will benefit from the support of John Edwards and, of course, the people who back him,” CNN political analyst Donna Brazile said.

Senior Edwards aides said Edwards called Clinton and Obama to tell them he was considering dropping out of the race and asked them to make poverty a central issue of the general election and a future Democratic administration, something both agreed to do.

Edwards, who had collected 26 delegates, did not plan to endorse Clinton or Obama yet, but he may do so in the future, an aide said.

-cnn.com

Giuliani endorses McCain

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani ended his GOP presidential race and endorsed rival Sen. John McCain of Arizona on Wednesday.

And sources say California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might endorse McCain on Thursday.

“This is a man who is prepared to be president,” Giuliani said of his “old friend.”

Giuliani said McCain gives the Republican Party the best chance to hold onto the presidency.

“I am very proud to endorse my friend and fellow Republican — a hero — John McCain,” Giuliani said at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley California, two hours before the Republican presidential candidates were to face each other in their final debate before the Super Tuesday contests next week.

Meanwhile, two Republican sources told CNN that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in discussions about endorsing McCain.

One of the sources said, “you can safely describe the conversations as progressing and productive.” The second source described the endorsement as “more than expected” and said the conversations were aimed at arranging a Thursday announcement.

Giuliani described McCain as “the other best candidate.”

“I made it clear before I had to make this decision [to drop out] that had I not run, I’d be supporting John McCain,” Giuliani told reporters on a flight to Burbank, California, for the debate.

-cnn.com

McCain wins Florida, Giuliani expected to drop out

Sen. John McCain claimed victory in Florida’s Republican primary, and Sen. Hillary Clinton took the state’s Democratic contest Tuesday night.

The results in the Republican race might have delivered a fatal blow to the campaign of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was a distant third as results came in Tuesday night.

Two GOP sources with direct knowledge of Giuliani’s plans said he will drop out of the race and endorse McCain at an event in California on Wednesday.

While Giuliani didn’t say he was withdrawing from the race, he did speak of his campaign in the past tense at one point.

“I’m proud I ran a positive campaign,” he told supporters. “I ran a campaign that was uplifting.”

With 81 percent of Republican precincts reporting, McCain held a 36-31 percent lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Giuliani had 15 percent of the vote, followed closely by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee who held 14 percent.

A top campaign official from McCain’s camp has been in “ongoing discussions” with Giuliani’s campaign about endorsing McCain’s candidacy, a GOP official familiar with talks told CNN Tuesday.

A source close to Giuliani confirmed that discussions were taking place and said there is talk among the staff that an endorsement could come Wednesday in California. The source said McCain and Giuliani need to talk, but “we are working to make it happen.”

“Tonight, my friends, we celebrate. Tomorrow, it’s back to work,” McCain said as he claimed victory. “We have a ways to go, but we’re getting close, and for that, you all have my profound thanks.”

-from CNN.com

Former Indonesian President Suharto dies at 86

Former Indonesian dictator Haji Muhammad Suharto — the “smiling general” who ruled his country with an iron fist for three decades — died Sunday at a hospital in Jakarta, said his doctor. He was 86.

He was rushed to Pertamina Hospital on January 4 for treatment of a failing liver, heart and lungs, his doctors said.

He had been suffering at home for five days.

His death comes just a day after his doctors said he appeared to be making a remarkable recovery.

Suharto, who, like other Indonesians, only has one name, was president of Indonesia from 1967 until he was forced to resign — under immense political pressure — in 1998.

He is credited with shaping modern Indonesia by boosting the economy and making the sprawling archipelago a regional power.

However, he also reigned as the nation was beset by internal corruption and, at the end of his rule, economic decline.

“He was known as the smiling general. He could be very charming, but behind that smile was this streak of steel,” said Richard Woolcott, Australia’s former ambassador to Indonesia.

“In the short term, he’ll probably be judged fairly harshly by Australian critics and others in the West, but in the longer term, I suspect historians will see his contributions to Indonesia in a very positive light,” Woolcott told CNN.

-CNN.com

Obama routs Clinton in South Carolina

Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the racially charged South Carolina primary Saturday night, regaining campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates.

“The choice in this election is not about regions or religions or genders,” Obama said at a boisterous victory rally. “It’s not about rich versus poor, young versus old and it’s not about black versus white. It’s about the past versus the future.”

The audience chanted “Race doesn’t matter” as it awaited Obama to make his appearance after rolling up 55 percent of the vote in a three-way race.

But it did, in a primary that shattered turnout records.

About half the voters were black, according to polling place interviews, and four out of five of them supported Obama. Black women turned out in particularly large numbers. Obama, the first-term Illinois senator, got about a quarter of the white vote while Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina split the rest.

Clinton flew to Nashville as the polls closed, and looked ahead. “Now the eyes of the country turn to Tennessee and the other states voting on Feb. 5,” she said, adding “millions and millions of Americans are going to have their voices heard.”

Edwards finished a distant third, a sharp setback in the state where he was born and scored a primary victory in his first presidential campaign four years ago. Even so, he vowed to remain in the race, his goal, he said, to “give voice to all those whose voices aren’t being heard.”

The victory was Obama’s first since he won the kickoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, scored an upset in the New Hampshire primary a few days later. They split the Nevada caucuses, she winning the turnout race, he gaining a one-delegate margin. In an historic race, she hopes to become the first woman to occupy the White House, and Obama is the strongest black contender in history.

The South Carolina primary marked the end of the first phase of the campaign for the Democratic nomination, a series of single-state contests that winnowed the field, conferred co-front-runner status on Clinton and Obama but had relatively few delegates at stake.

That all changes in 10 days’ time, when New York, Illinois and California are among the 15 states holding primaries in a virtual nationwide primary. Another seven states and American Samoa will hold Democratic caucuses on the same day.

Obama took a thinly veiled swipe at Clinton in his remarks.

“We are up against conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as president comes from longevity in Washington or proximity to the White House. But we know that real leadership is about candor, and judgment, and the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life around a common purpose — a higher purpose,” Obama said.

Looking ahead to Feb. 5, he added that “nearly half the nation will have the chance to join us in saying that we are tired of business-as-usual in Washington, we are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again.”

Nearly complete returns showed Obama winning 55 percent of the vote, Clinton gaining 27 percent. Edwards had 18 percent and won only his home county of Oconee.

Obama also gained 25 convention delegates, Clinton won 12 and Edwards eight.

Overall, Clinton has 249 delegates, followed by Obama with 167 and Edwards with 58.

-from yahoo.com

Taxpayers would get checks under economic stimulus plan

U.S. taxpayers would get checks of several hundred dollars from the federal government under a plan to stimulate the economy, congressional and Bush administration officials said Thursday.

“Tens of millions Americans will have a check in the mail,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said at a Capitol Hill news conference. “It is there to strengthen the middle class, to create jobs and to turn this economy around.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, “I’m looking for quick action in the House. I hope that the Senate will follow quickly so that we can put this money in the hands of middle-income Americans as soon as possible.”

Speaking a few minutes later at the White House, President Bush said the package will “boost our economy and encourage job creation.”

Department said the plan would send checks of $600 to individuals and $1,200 to couples who paid income tax and who filed jointly.

People who did not pay federal income taxes but who had earned income of more than $3,000 would get checks of $300 per individual or $600 per couple.

A Democratic aide and Republican aide said there will be an additional amount per child, which could be in the neighborhood of $300.

Those who earn up to $75,000 individually or up to $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the payments, said Republican and Democratic sources familiar with the tentative deal.

Pelosi said as many as 116 million American families will get a rebate check.

Checks could be in taxpayer mailboxes by June, according to an Associated Press report.

The agreement includes a robust package of business incentives and help for homeowners facing possible mortgage foreclosures.

The Treasury Department still must analyze the numbers to determine the price tag of the stimulus package, sources said.

To get to the agreement, Democrats dropped calls for increases in food stamps and an extension of unemployment compensation. Republicans agreed to allow people who pay Social Security taxes but not income taxes to get the checks, sources said.

“This package has the right set of policies and is the right size,” Bush said Thursday. “The incentives in this package will lead to higher consumer spending and increased business investment this year.”

He added, “This package recognizes that lowering taxes is a powerful and efficient way to help consumers and businesses.”

-CNN.com