Barack Obama
2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry recently endorsed Barack Obama. He was at the University of Washington at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, February 1st, 2008 with Mayor Greg Nickels and Representative Adam Smith talking about Obama. KUOW's Ross Reynolds talked with him on the phone for a few minutes before his speech.
Barack Obama
Obama for America Presents
a Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Sen. John Kerry
Friday, February 1, 2008 at 9am
University of Washington Husky Union Building (HUB) Auditorium
With special guests Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and U.S. Rep. Adam Smith
Please RSVP online at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vrg8
or please call 206-529-3859 or email Washington@barackobama.com
Come learn more about Barack Obama from Obama supporter and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Sen. Kerry recently endorsed Barack Obama, citing his judgment, character, and unique ability to bring about transformational change in our country.
John Kerry spoke out against the "swiftboating" of Barack Obama on Tuesday, urging people to confront "disgusting lies" that continue to percolate about the Illinois Senator."As someone who cares about winning this election and changing the country I love, I know it's not enough to complain about a past we can't change when our challenge is to win the future," said Kerry, in a strongly worded email to three million supporters of his 2004 presidential campaign. "We must stop the Swiftboating, stop the push-polling, stop the front groups, and stop the email chain smears," he continued, alluding to a false and bigoted email that continues to circulate about Obama, as The Nation's Chris Hayes first detailed in October. (The Clinton Campaign removed volunteers who were caught forwarding the email, and Clinton surrogate Bob Kerrey recently apologized to Obama after repeatedly making related remarks that gave the smears more airtime.) Kerry directed his supporters to "stand up for a new kind of politics" by visiting a new feature on Obama's website that enables people to beat back the smears. The request could also help the Obama Campaign harvest tens of thousands of valuable emails from activists and donors involved in the last general election.
The unusual plea comes amidst a series of dirty attacks against Obama. This week in South Carolina, CNN reported that misleading "push polls" were bashing Obama and promoting Hillary Clinton. Last week, a call was recorded in Nevada that stressed Obama's middle name, Hussein, a tactic that some operatives have used to appeal to bigoted sentiment and falsely suggest that Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a Christian, as his campaign is reminding voters in a YouTube video released on Tuesday.
While the email does not mention any other candidates, it coincides with Obama's new strategy of directly confronting "distortions" by both Clintons. A growing number of Democrats have been speaking out against Bill Clinton's recent remarks, which Obama supporter Sen. Dick Durbin likened to swiftboating, while more reporters are scrutinizing the former President's claims. On Tuesday, ABC News' Jake Tapper reported that Bill Clinton has been "spreading demonstrably false information," while Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn provided a rare conclusion for the political press: "Bill and Hillary Clinton have lied brazenly about Obama's recent statement about Ronald Reagan."
The swiftboating shows no signs of abating, but Obama is betting that many of John Kerry's supporters learned from the mistakes of 2004.
Barack Obama
AP:CHARLESTON, S.C. — Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the White House Thursday in a timely slap at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as his own vice presidential running mate.Quoting a black American hero in endorsing the man who hopes to be the first black president, Kerry told a cheering crowd, "Martin Luther King said the time is always right to do what is right." Now is the time, Kerry said, to declare "that Barack Obama can be, will be and should be the next president of the United States."
Kerry delivered his endorsement in South Carolina at a time, two weeks before that state's primary, when Clinton is riding a wave of enthusiasm following her victory over Obama in the New Hampshire primary.
Kerry said there were other candidates in the race whom he also had worked with and respected.
"But I believe more than anyone else, Barack Obama can help our country turn the page and get America moving by uniting and ending the division we have faced," Kerry said.
Kerry dismissed Obama critics who say the Illinois senator lacks the experience to be president. And he took a swipe at Clinton, saying, "Some have suggested in this campaign that Barack is guilty of raising 'false hopes.' ... My friends, the only charge that rings false is the one that tells you not to hope for a better tomorrow."
In last Saturday's debate in New Hampshire, Clinton said in comparing her ability and Obama's to fulfill pledges to bring about change: "I think it is clear that what we need is somebody who can deliver change. And we don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered. The best way to know what change I will produce is to look at the changes that I've already made."
Returning to the subject, Obama said when he took the microphone from Kerry: "In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."
Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the third contender in the Democratic presidential race, was Kerry's vice presidential running mate in 2004. Despite their political alliance, the two men were not close personally and differed behind the scenes on campaign strategy in a race that President Bush won.
Edwards responded to word of the endorsement with a diplomatic statement: "Our country and our party are stronger because of John's service, and I respect his decision. When we were running against each other and on the same ticket, John and I agreed on many issues."
Kerry was Obama's political benefactor once before, selecting the relatively unknown Illinois senatorial candidate to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. It was Obama's first turn in the national spotlight and helped launch him on a remarkable ascent that has made him one of two leading contenders for the party's presidential nomination only four years later.
The Massachusetts senator lost the South Carolina Democratic primary in 2004 to Edwards.
Kerry and Edwards had their differences during the 2004 campaign over strategy and spending, and Edwards has said he would have been more aggressive in challenging the unsubstantiated allegations of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth questioning Kerry's military record.
Kerry's endorsement also was a jab at Clinton, the New York Democrat who won the New Hampshire primary after a loss to Obama in the Iowa caucuses.
Kerry had withheld his endorsement, hoping to have an impact on the race and avoid the fate of fellow Democrat Al Gore, the 2000 nominee who endorsed Howard Dean in 2004 shortly before the former Vermont governor's campaign imploded. Gore has made no endorsement so far this year.
While Kerry has been close to Clinton's husband, the former president, he was incensed in 2006 when she chided him after Kerry suggested that people who don't go to school "get stuck in Iraq." Aides said Kerry meant to jab at Bush and say "get us stuck in Iraq," and that he didn't appreciate Clinton piling onto the criticism he was already getting for the remark.
The Republican National Committee pounced on the endorsement to brand Kerry and Obama "liberal soul mates."
Kerry himself had considered running for president in 2008, but that plan fizzled with the botched remark. For many Democrats, his words revived bitter memories of his missteps in 2004, when he lost to Bush.
As for Obama, Kerry gave the young Illinois state senator his first turn in the national spotlight when he chose him to deliver the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Later that year, Obama won election as a U.S. senator.
Since announcing a year ago he would not make the run, Kerry has prodded Democrats to take a stronger anti-war stance, pushing for troop withdrawal deadlines. In another area, he has backed environmental causes, writing a book with his wife on the issue.
Kerry should be able to provide some organizational and fundraising muscle to Obama.
Since losing the 2004 race, Kerry has kept a national network of supporters intact. He has an e-mail network of 3 million supporters, according to aides. He also has traveled extensively raising millions of dollars for Democratic candidates nationwide.
Barack Obama
In 2004, liberal Democrats saw their chosen candidate crash and burn in Iowa, as caucus-goers spurned Howard Dean for the safe, electable alternative: John Kerry.With four years to regret their decision, Iowa Democrats now face a similar choice. Sen. Hillary Clinton is painting herself as the sturdy, reliable candidate who can carry the party back to the White House.
Democratic voters seem to agree. A recent New York Times-CBS News poll showed that 63% of Democrats see Clinton as the most electable, vs. 14% for Sen. Barack Obama.
Republican voters, in the same poll, saw Rudy Giuliani as the most electable by a wide margin, though that may change as his front-runner status fades.
Issues Key In GOP Race
Also, with more policy disagreements between top GOP contenders, electability may be less important to Republican primary voters.
Polling by USA Today and Gallup shows that GOP voters, by a 3-to-2 ratio, plan to vote for a candidate who agrees with them on the issues, rather than the one who is the most electable.
That thinking was reflected in the conservative National Review's endorsement of Mitt Romney last week: "Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate."
Of course, a candidate perceived to be electable doesn't always turn out to be so. Some analysts think Clinton may be the least electable of the top Democratic contenders. Others agree with the Clinton team's argument that she might present the toughest target for Republicans simply because all of the dirt on her is old dirt.
"Realistically, after 16 years (in the public eye), what are you going to tell a voter that is new about Hil-lary Clinton?" asked GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio, who's unaffiliated with any presidential candidate.
Clinton said much the same thing in comments last week. "I've been vetted. I've been tested. There are no surprises," she said.
Meanwhile, former President Clinton told talk-show host Charlie Rose that to vote for Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, would be to "roll the dice."
Obama, for his part, has argued that Democrats need to be guided by principle -- not polls.
"If we are really serious about winning this election, Democrats, then we can't live in fear of losing," he told an Iowa crowd last month.
Obama Excitement
Electability is a function of being able to attract independent voters and inspire supporters to go to the polls without energizing the opposition.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, sees Obama as the most electable of the top-tier Democrats and Clinton as the least.
"She will pull out Republican and conservative independents (to the voting booth) like no other candidate," he said.
In contrast, Obama "will excite the Democratic base more than Hil-lary Clinton will, and Republicans will be hard-pressed to excite their turnout," he said.
In the latest USA Today-Gallup survey, 51% of respondents said they have a favorable opinion of Clinton and 48% said they have an unfavorable view of her.
By comparison, 57% had a positive view of Obama and only 30% negative. Views of former vice presidential nominee John Edwards are nearly as positive, with 53% favorable and 33% unfavorable.
The Edwards camp has argued that his experience on the 2004 ticket and his rural Southern background make him the most electable Democrat.
What's left unsaid is that electing a woman or African-American to the highest office is untested.
The New York Times-CBS poll found that 40% of registered voters said most people they know would not vote for a female presidential candidate, compared with 25% for a black candidate and 41% for a Mormon candidate.
Independent pollster John Zogby pitted the top three Democrats against the top five Republicans. He found that Obama would beat all five, but Clinton would lose to all of them -- including Mike Huckabee. Edwards tied John McCain and edged the others.
Clinton's problem was with independents and moderates, Zogby said. But the Clinton campaign argued that Zogby's online methodology was suspect.
Other polling organizations have reported different results. A CNN survey this month found Clinton losing to McCain 48% to 50% but beating the other Republicans. Obama tied McCain and beat the other candidates. Only Edwards beat all the Republicans, including a 52%-44% edge over McCain.
Such polling has led some liberal Democratic bloggers to conclude that Edwards, the most left-leaning of the candidates, is also the most electable.
That conclusion is premature, Fabrizio said. Head-to-head polling pitting well-known candidates like Clinton and McCain against each other has some meaning. But for lesser-known candidates -- Edwards among them -- "a lot of water is going to go under the bridge in defining them" for the electorate, Fabrizio said.
Zogby agrees that while it's early to draw conclusions, such polls still have value: "Public polling is the antidote to PR flacking."
Barack Obama
December 17, 2007: The heat has been turned up even higher on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his plan to have the commission vote Tuesday on his proposed changes to the FCC's media-ownership rules as Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) have said they will ask the Senate Appropriations Committee to deny funding to implement the new rules if Martin goes ahead with the vote.Last week Martin testified before the Senate Commerce Committee -- after a contentious exchange with Kerry -- that he planned to proceed with the vote on his proposal to partly relax the long-standing newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban by allowing cross-ownership in the top 20 markets if certain conditions are met.
Obama and Kerry's letter to Martin, dated December 14, says "the intent of the Senate Commerce Committee was made clear" when it passed the Media Ownership Act.
The Media Ownership Act was introduced by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Trent Lott (R-MS) a few days before Martin's proposal was made public. It would, among other things, require the FCC to establish an independent panel on female and minority ownership and await that panel's recommendations before voting on any changes to the ownership rules. The Senate Commerce Committee passed that bill on December 4.
The letter to Martin continues, "We understand that for a variety of reasons you are being asked to postpone the vote to permit more time for the commission to fully understand how a relaxation in the cross-ownership rules will impact other important issues such as localism." A localism proceeding and study are also required by the Media Ownership Act.
"It is our hope that the sum of these objections will convince you to delay this vote until a time following the commission's consideration of other pressing matters," Obama and Kerry write. "Specifically, we believe that moving forward with this change will have a direct and detrimental impact on the state of media diversity."
The letter concludes by warning Martin, "Should you decide to move forward with this vote against the expressed bipartisan, bicameral intent of Congress, we will approach Appropriations Chairman Byrd with a request that funds be denied for the implementation of this rule."
Barack Obama
The bedrock of America’s greatest advances — the foundation of what we know today are defining values — was formed not by cheering on things as they were, but by taking them on and demanding change.Howie P.S.: This post comes just in time to remind us:
The thoughtful exchange of diverse viewpoints not only helps guarantee our freedom as individuals, it ensures those in power can be held accountable for all that they do.
But to engage in the debates that have always made America stronger, it takes a stage and a platform for discussion — and never before have these platforms been more endangered.In recent years, we have witnessed unprecedented consolidation in our traditional media outlets. Large mergers and corporate deals have reduced the number of voices and viewpoints in the media marketplace.
At the same time, massive technological change and an explosion of Internet access have opened new avenues for information and new methods of discourse. One thing we can be sure of: Change is upon us.
As we look toward the future, we must ensure that all voices in our diverse nation have the opportunity to be heard. One important way to do this is to expand the ownership stake of women-owned, minority-owned and small businesses in our media outlets.
History provides plenty of proof.
Minority-owned radio stations, television stations and newspapers played an essential role in battling segregation during the civil rights movement.
When Hurricane Katrina struck, minority-owned media outlets helped expose the true depth of poverty and inequality that others were content to ignore.
Even today, while much of the media establishment has moved on, minority-owned media outlets continue to highlight these issues as the victims of that storm continue to struggle — two years later.
Just recently, African-American radio stations — together with coverage on the Internet — helped propel the injustice in Jena, La., into the national spotlight.
Providing opportunities for minority-owned businesses to own media outlets is fundamental to creating the diverse media environment that federal law requires and the country deserves and demands.
The Federal Communications Commission is the agency charged with governing the media. The FCC has an obligation to promote the public interest, including diversity in media ownership.
Unfortunately, the FCC has failed to adequately assess the state of minority-owned media or develop constructive ways to encourage underrepresented entities to become larger players in the media landscape.
Now we understand the FCC may soon consider changes in the media ownership rules that only help big media get bigger, but do nothing to make media more responsive to minority viewpoints and local communities.
The FCC tried this once before, in 2003. At that time, the nation’s top broadcasters met behind closed doors with FCC officials more than 70 times. But the public was not invited. After the proposed rules were announced, a major public backlash ensued.
It has taken the FCC — still smarting from that public reaction — four years to try again. This time, any changes to the media ownership rules must encourage new entrants into the market and prioritize the entry of small, women- and minority-owned businesses.
Last year, we urged FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to address the issue of diversity in media ownership.
Several other leaders in Congress — including Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Rep. Hilda L. Solis of California and Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan — have also pressed the FCC to stop allowing greater corporate consolidation and start promoting media diversity. But our questions went unanswered, and our concerns continue to grow.
If the FCC chairman chooses to reopen media ownership rules, he must take into consideration the needs of local or minority communities.
If this is done improperly, more radio stations, television stations and newspapers will fall into the hands of fewer owners and those owners are less likely to include minority firms. It means that fewer minority- and independently owned stations and newspapers will be able to contribute to the national dialogue.
Today the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on these issues, and we ask our colleagues to take this opportunity to have an open and honest debate on this important subject.
For too long now, the FCC has been putting corporate interests ahead of the people’s interests. It’s time for that to change.
We need to not only create the opportunity for minority-owned businesses to participate in the market, but also to help those who enter this business succeed. We will keep fighting until we have a free and open media that represents every American in our diverse nation.
Seattle FCC hearing announcedCommissioners of the Federal Communications Commission will hold a public hearing in Seattle on Friday, Nov. 9, on issues related to localism and access to public airwaves. Testimony will be heard from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Street, Seattle. Live audiocast of the hearing will be available on first-come basis at www.fcc.gov
