Black scholar says Obama is the right choice

Theodore Cross, editor of the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, published a detailed comparison of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on issues of specific importance to African Americans.

Cross concluded that Obama's program was much better for African Americans. He also felt that many black voters are not giving Barack sufficient consideration primarily because they do not think he has a chance of winning.

For the first time in the history of our country, a black man has a credible chance of becoming president of the United States. After the long nightmare years of slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow, and enduring race discrimination, one would expect that, in the upcoming presidential primary contest, Illinois Senator Barack Obama would be the overwhelming choice of black American voters.

You can read the entire article online here.

Roland Martin on Oprah's support

Roland S. Martin, a regular commentator on both CNN and TVOne, disagrees with Oprah that her greatest contribution to the Obama campaign would be herself rather than her money.

Martin notes that Oprah can open a independent campaign organization known as a 527 and run her own tv ads. She can spend as much money as she likes, and she's a billionaire.

Unlike most other billionaires, Oprah is neither unknown or greatly disliked, something that will probably be in her favor if she decides to open a 527. Independent tv ads require that the person who paid for the ads be identified by name.

Ads coming from George Soros or Bill Gates might be viewed as negative by some who distrust corporate types. However, Oprah has a completely different image. The fact that she hasn't been involved much in politics before doesn't hurt either.

If she decided to go this route, she would be unable to consult with the official Obama campaign on any matter related to her efforts. Most likely she would hire a political consulting and media firm to develop a strategy for helping Obama win.

Pena backs Obama

Former Clinton Cabinet member Federico Pena has become a co-chair of the Obama for America campaign. Pena is one of Obama's highest profile Hispanic supporters yet and he will be tasked with helping build support in that community.


(Source: http://www.wifr.com/elections/headlines/9646092.html)

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.