Washington Post Endorses Obama

The Washington Post has issued a very strong endorsement of Barack Obama for president of the United States. Check it out and pass it along...

UPDATE: Two more big endorsements today for Obama, the L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune. Note that the Trib is Obama's hometown newspaper, but it traditionally leans Republican. In fact, they have not endorsed a Democrat for President since 1847! And, last weekend, Obama received 15 endorsements, McCain zero. And, with Colin Powell's scheduled appearance on Meet the Press this Sunday, speculation is rising that he will endorse Obama, too. Oh, and don't forget that back in September 6 women's group made an unprecedented move by endorsing Obama. Hell, even some conservatives are endorsing Obama!

DNC Native American Caucus Chair Endorses Obama

Earlier today, Frank LaMere, Nebraska superdelegate and chairman of the Democratic National Committee's Native American Caucus, endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President and released the following statement:

"We, as Native Americans, have always stood four square with the Democratic Party and they have always stood four square with us. We will continue to do so in 2008 as we elect a Democratic President to restore the national vision that has been blurred during the last eight years. I ask your help in this endeavor.

All in this country know that Native people continue to suffer disproportionate need. In light of the service and sacrifice of or young men and women during times of war it is hard to reconcile why this should be. We must continue to pray that things be better for the children, the elders, the sick and incarcerated, all of the dispossessed among us. We must pray for those who have no voice. More importantly, we must continue to hope. Our forebears have taught us that the survival of the generations to come is dependent on our willingness to hope and to change things for the better.

To this end, there is a man who talks of this audacity of hope and of the need for change. He is Barack Obama. He has engaged the Indian Nations with his message and we have listened. It is now time to act.

Hope has always been the basic tenet of the Democratic Party and not an obscure backdrop. Change should be looked at in terms of generations and not what we might be able to do to win the next election without affecting anyone's comfort level.

Hope and change require that we be audacious and Barack Obama knows this better than anyone. We must acknowledge this bold man among us and the good heart that he has for all of the people.

As Chairman of the Native Caucus of the Democratic National Committee and as a Winnebago Indian mindful of what I may leave for my children, my grandchildren, and all of the generations to come I am humbled but pleased to endorse Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States.

I beg your indulgence and respectuflly as that Native people from the four directions join with me in this work as we are all related. It will be good. Pi-nah-gi-gi. Thank you.

Frank LaMere

BONUS: The image to the right is Chief Standing Bear (1834?-1908). Standing Bear was a member of the Ponca Tribe in what we now call Nebraska. It was a suit by Standing Bear in 1879 that prompted the Supreme Court to rule, for the first time, that "an Indian is a person." Standing Bear is often called the father of American Indian citizenship. We are proud of this history in our region.

More Endorsements for Obama...

They are coming fast and furious today:

- California SEIU, with roughly 650,000 members! This is big...

- California's United Healthcare Workers union, with 150,000 members. They are affiliated with SEIU.

- Following Edwards's exit a few days ago, the members of MoveOn.org (3.2 million strong!) have overwhelmingly endorsed Barack. This might be meaningful on Tuesday, as MoveOn has a massive email list and a proven ability to mobilize its troops.

- A number of prominent Latino leaders in California have recently endorsed Obama. Here is a video about it:


- Paul Volker, respected former Fed Chief under Carter and Reagan. This one will matter to financial heads and give some gravitas to the junior senator from Illinois.

- Alma Rangel, wife of Charles Rangel, senior African American congressman from NY. Charles already endorsed Hillary, so I bet dinner is fun in the Rangel household.

- The members of Color of Change have also endorsed Obama, with 70% support! Color of Change began after Katrina. It is a multicultural progressive organizing site, along the lines of MoveOn.

- Oh, yeah, and as I already reported yesterday, Hulk Hogan is on the bandwagon... and Jimmy Carter got as close to an endorsement as he ever has a few days ago.

- And everyone on the planet knows Caroline, Ted and Patrick Kennedy endorsed Obama...

Of course, the two biggest prizes remain unclaimed in the endorsement race: John Edwards and Al Gore

C'mon, guys! Time is wasting. It is now or never. Have some backbone and make a stand. I fear Gore has always been too willy-nilly to actually take a serious stand. He does not seem to have the stomach for politics anymore and appears to be enjoying his celebrity. I also wonder if Edwards might hold off in order to best position himself for a post in the administration of whichever candidate ultimately comes out on top. If so, that would be a very weak maneuvering for a guy that spent the last many moons telling us he was a warrior and such...

Hulkster Endorses Obamanator!

This election is OVER! Hulkamania has joined Obamamania to create an unstoppable political force! Move over Huck and Chuck. Step off McOld, Sly and Ahnuld... You've got nothing on this tag-team!

Barack Obama and Hulk Hogan: Real Americans

In lieu of debates, how about a series of steel cage matches?!??

Jimmy Carter "Lavishes Praise" on Obama...

This is as close as Jimmy Carter gets to an endorsement. In most cases, he stays out of the endorsement game, instead giving public indications of support for politicians he likes. For instance, many months ago, Carter introduced John Edwards at an event, a move that people took as a sign of Carter's approval of his campaign. So, this is as close as it is going to come to an endorsement from the former Prez...



Here is the full article: Carter interview

NY NOW Trashes Kennedy over Endorsement

Well, here we go again. Apparently, the race-baiting didn't work out too well in SC, so the NY chapter of NOW is attempting to play the gender card against Obama; divide and conquer. This letter appeared after Ted Kennedy stunningly endorsed Obama yesterday. It is so far over the top - offensive, even - that the national organization felt compelled to release a statement distancing themselves from the NY statement. Interestingly, though, neither mentions Obama's excellent record on gender and sexuality issues. I guess I will simply ask: Is this the kind of politic you want? Is this the way to a better and different future? Is this the way to overcome our historic divides? Is this the politics of change and transformation? Is this feminism in the 21st century?

Here is the NY NOW screed:

“Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

“And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one). ‘They’ are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! That’s Howard’s brother) who run DFA (that’s the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow). They are Alternet, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women’s money, say they’ll do feminist and women’s rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or America’s future or whatever.

“This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who ‘know what’s best for us.’”

Here is the national NOW conciliatory statement:

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy
January 28, 2008

The National Organization for Women has enormous respect and admiration for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D- Mass.). For decades Sen. Kennedy has been a friend of NOW, and a leader and fighter for women's civil and reproductive rights, and his record shows that.

Though the National Organization for Women Political Action Committee has proudly endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, we respect Sen. Kennedy's endorsement. We continue to encourage women everywhere to express their opinions and exercise their right to vote.

Ted Kennedy's endorsement speech (excerpted)

BREAKING: Toni Morrison Endorses...

Nobel Prize-winning author, Toni Morrison, who in a 1998 New Yorker article famously (or infamously) declared Bill Clinton "the first black president," has decided to endorse Barack Obama for president in 2008.

In that article, many took offense at the suggestion that a southern white guy might be "the first black president." Others complained that the comparison was based on Clinton's embrace (exploitation?) of African American culture, or a set of ideas tying black masculinity to infidelity. Some were angry that Morrison suggested that Bill was "blacker than any actual person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime." To many, Morrison appeared to accept limits on black political empowerment.

Well, no longer. On the day Senator Ted Kennedy is not only set to endorse Obama, but to vigorously campaign for him acros the country, Morrison has stepped forth to embrace Barack, as well. Remember, this is one of our leading artistic minds; Morrison is a brilliant writer. Here is an excerpt of her letter to Obama:

In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.