Obama wins Nebraska straw poll

Barack Obama received some campaign boosts recently including winning a Nebraska straw poll.

It was reported today that Obama won the Husker Harvest Days straw poll attended mainly by farmers and ranchers.

Of the 165 votes cast by Democrats, 35% were for Obama, 31% were for Sen. Hilary Clinton of New York and 16% were for John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina.

California Black Caucus endorsement

On Thursday, Obama picked up an important endorsement from the California legislature's black caucus.

There are eight members in the caucus, but Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland dissented throwing his support instead for Hillary Clinton.

Barack ain't finished yet

Reading some of the news stories, it would seem that many people are handing the race to Hillary Clinton too early.

Polls are not accurate at this early stage of the game and most likely are only showing Hillary's name recognition built up over nearly two decades.

Barack Obama had a big boost early on in name recognition but then hit that predictable ceiling where he's still at basically right now. I think it won't be until "election time" when people start looking at their candidate's statements and sample ballots that we will see a possible "break" one way or another.

Not that this will necessarily go Obama's way.

Obama has built quite a campaign organization, unlike any I've seen before. They are really systematically preparing for election day. Locally and statewide in California I didn't see anything like this even when Kerry and Edwards were running with all the Democratic resources at their disposal for the general election against George W. Bush.

Barack Obama asks question on LinkedIn

Barack appeared on the professional LinkedIn.com network today with the following question publicly posted:

How can the next president help small business and entrepreneurs thrive?

Obama-Edwards ticket?

David Swanson, a writer who was the Press Secretary for the 2004 Dennis Kucinich for President campaign, thinks progressives should support an Barack Obama-John Edwards ticket to help defeat Hillary Clinton.

Fearing that a Clinton primary win will mean defeat for the Democrats in the general election, Swanson believes that an Obama-Edwards combo would shoot ahead of Clinton in the polls.

Although not terribly sure of what either Obama or Edwards would do if elected president, he believes that clearly Clinton would "govern from the right" based on her record. He also thinks Hillary would choose a running mate to the right of herself.

The strategy of combining Edwards and Obama ought to be especially appealing to those who really support Edwards or Obama. But it's even appealing to those, like me, who support some other candidate.

I would be surprised though if Edwards would concede at this point of the game even though he's well behind in the polls. He may agree to work with Obama to help whittle down Hillary's apparent lead with an "understanding" that if either wins, they will select the other as their running mate for the general election.


Dr. Boyce Watkins analyzes Oprah Winfrey's support of Barack Obama and how it could impact the election, and possible negative effects of Oprah's political involvement among her audience.

Oprah hosts gala fundraiser

The rich and famous gathered at Oprah Winfrey's mansion for her much-anticipated fete for Barack Obama.

Guests payed at least $2,300 to the Obama campaign to attend, and the event is expected to raise about $3 million.

Stevie Wonder performed at the event where guests included such names as Sidney Poiter, Halle Berry, Linda Evans, Cindy Crawford, Jamie Foxx, Jimmy Connors, Forest Whitaker, Chris Rock and others. No media was allowed at the fundraiser.

Earlier in the day, Obama spoke to a crowd of 1,000 supporters at Santa Barbara City College.
He mentioned his experience volunteering with a home health care worker in California in August.

"Listening to her talk about the hardships of her life, talking about her struggles without a trace of self-pity ... I thought, there is the essence of what America is about, this generosity of spirit," Obama said.

Guests arrive at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, Calif. where they were taken by buss across town to the 42-acre estate of Oprah Winfrey for a private fundraiser for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007. Oprah feted her favorite candidate with a private gala fundraiser at her estate in Montecito, just south of Santa Barbara. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant)

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)