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Barack Obama Speech Urges Race Healing:
Speaking at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, the Democratic presidential candidate said he rejected racially charged comments made by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but he tried to explain the root of those remarks.
"Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely," said Obama. |
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Obama said the discussion of race took a divisive turn when it was implied "that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap."
His comments was regarding last week when Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter and 1984 vice presidential candidate, attributed Obama's lead in the Democratic race to his being black.
"The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through -- a part of our union that we have yet to perfect," he said, describing the resentment felt by many African-Americans of Wright's generation, who experienced segregation and systemic discrimination.
"That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races."
And as he and Hillary Rodham Clinton continue their contest for the Democratic nomination, Obama conceded that some of the crasser remarks by their supporters some crackpot comments "reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through -- a part of our union that we have yet to perfect." That is undeniably true and refreshingly honest.
“As far as I know, he’s the first politician since the Civil War to recognize how deeply embedded slavery and race have been in our Constitution,” said Paul Finkelman, a professor at Albany Law School who has written extensively about slavery, race and the Constitution.
“That’s a profoundly important thing to say. But what’s important about the way he said it is he doesn’t use this as a springboard for anger or for frustration. He doesn’t say, ‘O.K., slavery was bad, therefore people are owed something.’ This is not a reparations speech. This is a speech about saying it’s time for the nation to do better, to form a more perfect union.”
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Historians and others described the speech’s candidness on race as almost without precedent. John Hope Franklin, a Duke University historian who led an advisory commission on race relations set up by President Bill Clinton, said Mr. Obama pointed out how easily the question of race can be distorted in this country, “which has three centuries of experience with it and yet we act like this is something new.”
"We have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, not this time."
Jesse Jackson Praises Obama For Speech On Race in America:
Reverend Jesse Jackson who has first hand experience about racial issues in America, offered strong praises for Barack Obama's speech on the topic of race and politics in America.
"I thought it was a culmination of tough-minded, tender-hearted and a clear vision. It really was warm, filling, captive, reconciling and comprehensive and it displayed real true grit. He was forthright not evasive and used it as a teaching moment in American history: America's struggle to overcome its past and become a more perfect union. And once he made the case about the past and the complexities of Reverend Wright's life or [Geraldine] Ferraro's for that matter, he made the case that we are here now, but this time we will go forward by hope and not backwards by fear."
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Michigan Revote Unlikely:
A push for a new Democratic presidential primary in Michigan appeared near collapse Tuesday as state lawmakers squabbled over details on how to hold such an election. Hillary Rodham Clinton has urged state lawmakers to approve the revote as part of her battle to catch up to Barack Obama in the race for delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August.
In a sign of how badly she thinks she needs the Michigan delegates to catch the Democratic front-runner, Senator Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton made a last-minute schedule change and planned to fly to Detroit on Wednesday to plead with Michigan lawmakers to approve a new primary election in June to replace the January contest that awarded no delegates.
“We will go and make the case for a revote,” said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton.
Clinton and Obama are locked in a tight nomination battle, and Obama leads Clinton in delegates. Neither is likely to get the 2,024 delegates needed to secure the nomination solely through the results of 10 remaining contests. A Florida or Michigan victory could sway "super delegates," the elected officials and party insiders who are free to back a candidate regardless of the popular vote.
Political analysts said Mrs. Clinton had far more to lose from the deadlock than Mr. Obama, which explains why she has pressed harder for revotes. Mrs. Clinton trails in elected delegates and the popular vote. With 10 contests remaining, she will find it virtually impossible to close the gaps without new elections in Florida and Michigan. |
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Obama To Visit Portland and Eugene:
Democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama campaign announced Tuesday that he will visit Oregon on Friday and Saturday. A rally is scheduled for Friday morning at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
The events would come six weeks before voting begins in Oregon’s May 20 vote-by-mail primary election. With Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton close in the delegate count for their party’s nomination, Oregon’s late-in-the-game primary is drawing more attention than it normally does in presidential nomination politics.
This will be Obama’s second appearance in Oregon during his stint on the 2008 campaign trail. He last visited in September and an estimated 4,000 people paid to see him at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.
The schedule
Portland rally: 9:30 a.m. Friday, Memorial Coliseum, 500 N. Winning Way. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. Free, but tickets required or visit campaign headquarters at 3016 S.E. Division St. Office hours are 2 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.
His rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, hasn't yet been to Oregon during her presidential campaign.
Barack Obama To Deliver An Anti-War Speech:
Sen. Barack Obama, who has opposed the war in Iraq since it began, will deliver an anti-war speech this morning in the backyard of Fort Bragg, with a small, hand-picked audience of military families, veterans and Democratic faithful. He will discuss how the war must end for the United States to meet “national security challenges of the 21st century, and to advance American interests throughout the world,” according to a news release.
“The campaign reached out to folks in the community and wanted to make sure there’d be strong representation among the military,” said Dan Leistikow, state spokesman for the campaign. “He’s addressing very serious issues and wants to do it in a very serious way. For a major speech like this we wanted to do it in a more intimate setting.”
Also, Barack Obama will hold a town hall meeting in Charlotte this afternoon that is open to the public.
“Folks can rest assured there will be many opportunities to see and hear from Obama as he campaigns around the state and shares his plans around the future,” he said. |
Liberals Planing Mobilization For Change Election:
A coalition of liberal groups from six progressive groups participating in the “Take Back America” conference this week announced Tuesday that they would undertake the largest and most expensive effort in history to push progressively minded Americans to the polls.
The groups include the AFL-CIO and Change to Win — as well as MoveOn.org and voter mobilization groups for minorities and young people. Organizers were announcing the effort Tuesday during conference sponsored by the liberal Campaign for America's Future.
"We believe that 2008 has the potential of being not simply a change election, but a sea change election not seen since 1980," said Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America"s Future, which sponsored the conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Northwest. He said the informal push would create the "real muscle" behind their movement to take the White House and expand the Democratic majorities in Congress.
MoveOn.org Political Action plans to spend $30 million on the presidential race and in key House and Senate races. The group, which is supporting Democrat Barack Obama, is already soliciting entries for an advertising contest and plans to select a winner before the April 22 Pennsylvania primary.
AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman said the AFL-CIO will devote $53.4 million to mobilizing union members to vote, and affiliates will spend an additional $150 million.
“This is about building a progressive movement in this country,” said AFL-CIO political director Karen Ackerman. The AFL-CIO will dedicate funds and volunteers to target households of its labor union members.
U.S. Rep. Murtha Endorses Clinton For President:
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a leading congressional opponent of the war in Iraq and a Democrat from Pennsylvania, on Tuesday endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, saying her position on the war made her the best candidate to take over the White House. The endorsement gives Clinton a boost in Pennsylvania.
"Senator Clinton is the candidate that will forge a consensus on health care, education, the economy and the war in Iraq," he said in a statement.
Clinton's Democratic opponent Barack Obama, a senator from Illinois, also favors withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq and has criticized Clinton for her vote giving President George Bush the authorization to go to war in the first place.
Clinton on Obama’s Race Speech: I Haven’t Heard It:
Despite the speech’s high profile and intense media coverage of it, Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference she had not heard it yet or read the text. Many reporters muttered in disbelief during and after her remarks, surprised that a candidate as diligent as Mrs. Clinton -– who always talked about being well-prepared and doing her homework -– would not have read the speech yet.
Asked if she thought Mr. Obama had done enough to denounce racially divisive remarks made by his pastor, the Rev, Jeremiah Wright, Mrs. Clinton replied, “I think that question should be directed at him” -– referring to Mr. Obama. |
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