Barack leads the way on the internet

Hillary Clinton may be leading in the polls, but Barack Obama is the undisputed internet champion according to the most recent Nielsen NetRatings report.

BarackObama.com had 717,000 unique visitors or about 91 percent of the total for the websites of both Hillary Clinton and John Edwards combined.

Clinton's site drew 437,000 unique visitors in July, and Edwards had 348,000.

Fred Thompson drew the most visitors among Republicans with 381,000 during the same month.


The new Obama television ad airing in Iowa.

The Oprah Factor

With Oprah Winfrey's big fundraiser coming up this weekend the question being asked is whether the mega-media star can sway the election toward her candidate Barack Obama.

The last star of Oprah's caliber to get active in electoral politics at this level that I can think of now was Frank Sinatra, who helped both Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Ronald Reagan during their successful campaigns. Sinatra was disenchanted by his Kennedy's standoffish approach after taking office and became a Republican for the rest of his life.

Oprah Winfrey will host a fundraiser for Obama's Democratic presidential campaign at her Montecito, Calif., mansion. (By Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)

Sinatra was leader of the "Rat Pack" during Kennedy's time and a cultural icons to multiple generations when Reagan first ran for the White House.

Oprah is said that Barack will be the only candidate on her show during the election since fair time laws don't apply to talk shows.

That alone can be a tremendous advantage. In fact, she can support Barack through her entire media network.

There are also reports that Oprah may take a more active role in Obama's campaign. This could include appearing in television ads and at campaign events.

While Sinatra likely appealed mostly to men, Oprah's legions are found among voting age women -- a group particularly powerful in the Democratic Party, and a group that many feel would tend to favor Hillary Clinton as the first woman president. If Oprah can wield the same type of influence as she has shown in other areas, this might help Barack cut into Hillary's base of support.

Obama and Clinton for "Change"

Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton began airing ads together with the same name and theme, "Change."

Hillary's ad is running in New Hamphire, while Barack's ad will air in Iowa.

The Obama ad highlights the candidate's efforts in ethics reform and bring the government back to the people.

Anyone who has closely followed both campaigns from the start will know that Obama for America starting using the "Change" first with a number of events including the "Walk for Change," all organized around the same concept.

Later on, both the Clinton and John Edwards campaign picked up on theme. Edwards for example had a "Change for Change" fundraising drive in which very small donations were solicited for the purpose of bringing about change in government. Here also the Edwards followed the Obama strategy of pursuing a large number of very small donations going down to only $5.

Obama, Clinton back bigger Army

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are supporting an increase in the size of the miiltary to combat charges they are too weak on security according to Wall Street Journal article by Heidi Przybyla.

Obama, Clinton support bigger Army to counter security slams
Bloomberg -
A poll released in March by Third Way, a Washington-based policy research organization, suggests 58 percent of Americans think Democrats are "not tough enough...

Barack Obama campaigns at a fire hall in Waukee, Iowa on Sept. 4.

Nicole Belle over at crooksandliars.com says about Barack's recent op-ed on pressuring Iran:

He even justifies the threat by citing Ahmadinejad’s words against Israel, although, unfortunately, he relies on the Bush administration’s translation of Farsi, which as we’ve seen before, only has a glancing relationship with reality.

This is not to single out Obama either; all of the top tier candidates have tried to earn their “I’m not a wimpy Democrat but a strong leader” bona fides with tough talk against Iran. But this kind of talk is incredibly irresponsible and we–as the progressive community–MUST be clear with the Democratic contenders who are seeking our support that if they think the occupation in Iraq is going bad, any military actions against Iran would be like Iraq on steroids. We’ve already seen how much damage a president with no understanding of the geo-political or cultural circumstances of an area can do. We simply cannot afford another one.

Can one remember the last time a president attacked a foreign nation based on "actionable intelligence?"

Yes, that would be the cause for getting into the current Iraq War quagmire.

How many wars have been started based on "actionable intelligence?" Not many. Generally one doesn't waste lives on things that can't be confirmed. But then we have to realize that the current policy on both sides of the aisle favor intervention and preemption. Strike first, or risk getting hit.

Now even if we believe that the next president will try to limit attacks to "surgical strikes," things don't always work out the way. Escalation happens, especially when you have the type of mindset found in Washington today.

Now, I suspect that the focus on Iran is really about Israel. About Israel's failed invasion of Lebanon and war with Hezbollah, the Shi'ite militia sponsored by Iran. Even if we don't hear much about that on the surface, people don't forget things like that easily.

Israel is an extension of America and Anglo-Saxon Protestantism in the Middle East. Yes, you heard that right. Hitherto it has easily handled the Muslim enemies that surrounded it, but now the aura of invincibility is gone. An in the process, America looks weaker also.

Hoping for Obama on Pakistan

Here's an interesting, in-depth analysis of Barack Obama's Pakistan position by a Pakistani intern at the Woodrow Wilson Center and Brookings Institution. You may remember this is the same place that Barack gave his speech in which he stated he would unilaterally attack Pakistan on "actionable intelligence" on the whereabouts al-Qaeda leadership.

Obama and Pakistan: Let’s Hope for the Best

The author, Haider Mullick, tries to give a positive spin on the issue.


Black Women for Obama

A new organization, Black Women for Obama, has announced its formation through a press release.

The group states that it has opened chapters in "Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas and Indiana, and are actively recruiting members to form state chapters in the remaining first primary states - New Hampshire, Iowa, Florida, and Nevada."

I checked the organization's website but could not determine whether they were an independent campaign group, commonly known as a "527" or not. Most of the links at the site returned error messages.