Donations for Change

OK, I don't normally do this- full disclosure- this is a message asking you to help fund a political campaign.

However, I truly believe that we need a new direction in the United States and I believe Barack Obama is the candidate best suited to help us break the chains of the usual polemic, for these reasons:

1. I believe is time for a new generation to take over and clean up the messes left by Republicans and Democrats alike. I believe that this country has turned a corner. My generation has seen the mistakes made by the last four Presidents to hold office. Politicians from other generations have had their chance at leadership and they have failed, ethically and practically. We need a change.

2. I believe we have moved past the need for Manichean worldviews and a domestic policy based upon division into "interest groups." I tire of being told I should vote for a candidate because they look like me or sound like me. I shudder at being pigeon-holed as a "red" or "blue" American. We do not need a Caucasian candidate, nor a male candidate (or female, for that matter,) we need the BEST candidate.

3. I believe it is time for our next great American President. As a free-minded citizen, I do not require leadership, I am part of it. In order to reunite these United States, we need a candidate with charisma and chutzpah, who understands the internal workings of government but has enough credibility with those who feel "outside" the mainstream to reach a wider audience.

I believe that Barack Obama stands in upon a precipice few leaders in our nation's history have had the courage to brave. Men like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King have held the honor and unique responsibility of healing and uniting a wounded citizenry. Barack Obama holds qualities that I believe make him, like these men were for their
times, a leader for our times.

Please join me, if you agree, in supporting Barack by making a donation to my personal fundraising page:


http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/TankTX

MBT

This is Barack Obama

I love this mass e-mail, which provides an all-inclusive look at why Barack Obama is the man we need to elect as our next President...

1) Senator Obama had the judgment to be against the Iraq War from the very beginning, even when it was very popular to support it. That position could have cost him his Senate bid, but he stuck with it. He takes positions based on principles, not poll tested positions. He has the impeccable judgment to keep us safe. That's why along with getting us out of Iraq, his first priority is going to be to refocus our attention on Afghanistan and capturing Bin Laden, which now should have been done years ago.

2) Senator Obama has proposed the most comprehensive, detailed, and economically responsible stimulus package to help the American People and this economy. It's the exact opposite of Bush's proposal. It's an investment of $120 billion that provides immediate relief by putting money in the hands of workers and seniors, stems the rising tide of the foreclosure crisis, and covers state budget shortfalls.

3) When he finished school, he could have easily taken a job on Wall Street and become a millionaire. Instead, he took a $12,000 a year job to be a community organizer, helping people who'd lost their jobs in the poor neighborhoods of Chicago. He has great judgment and great experience helping real Americans.

4) It has been proven in national poll after national poll, most recently by USA Today and Gallup, that Senator Obama is the most electable Democrat in the race today. He's the only Democrat beating all 5 Republicans, and unlike Hillary and as Obama's win in the Iowa Caucuses clearly showed, he strongly attracts Independents and Republicans. This has been proven nationwide. We want to support a winner and he's clearly our best shot. 50% of Americans have said that under no circumstances would they ever vote for Hillary Clinton.

Check out this action!

5) After watching Bush shred the constitution for the last 7 years, it'll be wonderful to have someone with the experience of being a constitutional law professor as President. The chief responsibility of the President of the United States is to enforce the law - no candidate knows the law better than Obama.

6) We can make world history by making Senator Obama the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, as Iowa made world history by making him the winner of the first-in-the-nation caucuses . . . "An Obama win in Iowa will be the biggest political story coming from America in a generation, in decades, that will be covered on the front pages of every major newspaper in the world on January 4th". -Chris Matthews (Hardball-MSNBC: 12.26.07)

I'm not just bs-ing around here folks, he's good...

7) After 7 years of Bush, we need a President with brains. Senator Obama is the 'anti-Bush'. He was president of the Harvard Law Review, the oldest and most prestigious pupil operated law review in the U.S. To be it's president, you have to be absolutely brilliant, and Senator Obama is brilliant.

8) After 7 years of being lied to by the President and other politicians, we deserve a President who not only tells the truth, but has an outstanding reputation for lifelong honesty, as does Senator Obama. We deserve an honest President.

9) It was Senator Obama who led the successful landmark effort in the United States Senate to pass the most comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill since Watergate. That bill strictly banned gifts and meals from lobbyists, and the use of corporate jets. He has the experience, both as an Illinois State Senator and as a United States Senator, of working throughout his entire political career for transparency and honesty in government.

10) There isn't another candidate in this race, Democrat or Republican, that offers Americans any more of an opportunity for real change and real hope and for a real breath of fresh air than Barack Obama. This country hasn't seen a leader come along like this since John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and we may not see another leader like this again in our lifetime. We should seize this momentous and historic opportunity.

Damn straight we should!

Hair!

See the best YouTube campaign spot yet:



I'll bet there are a lot of sheepish Republicans after they see this...

MBT

Barack to the Future

It is time.

I was an at-large delegate to the 2004 Texas Democratic Convention voting for John Edwards. I have supported Edwards since early on in the primary process for the last Presidential election. I believe John Edwards is a good man and would make a great President. So please don't interpret this as any slight towards Edwards.

"If" Barack Obama runs for President in 2008 (all but a foregone conclusion,) I have pledged as much support as I can muster to his campaign. I do this for three reasons:

1. I believe is time for a new generation to take over and clean up the messes left by Reagan, Clinton, Bush and Cheney. I believe that this country has turned a corner in its overall direction. My generation has seen the mistakes made by the last three. Politicians from these groups have had their chance at leadership and they have failed, ethically and practically. We need a change.

2. I believe we have moved past the need for Manichean worldviews and a domestic policy based upon division into "interest groups." I tire of being told I should vote for a candidate because they look like me or sound like me. I do not need a Caucasian candidate, nor a male candidate, I need the BEST candidate.

3. I believe it is time for our next great American President. As a free-minded citizen, I do not require leadership, I allow leadership. In order to reunite these United States, we need a candidate with charisma and chutzpah, who understands the internal workings of government but has enough credibility with those who feel "outside" the mainstream to reach a wider audience.

I believe that Barack Obama stands in upon a precipice few leaders in our nation's history have had the courage to brave. Men like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King have held the honor and unique responsibility of healing and uniting a wounded citizenry. Barack Obama holds unique qualities that I believe make him, like these men were for their times, a leader for our times.



MBT

Three Pressing Issues For One America

This is a post I recently made answering a question posed at the One America blog. It concerned what I believe are the top three issues facing us today as a country. Putting aside the obvious "getting out of Iraq" and "Republican leadership learning how to tell the truth," which I have just about given up on happening, this was my reply:

Number one for me would have to be education. Even though it has become a cliché, I believe that an educated population is one that has the ability to solve many of the other problems which plague us. People who have received an education commit fewer crimes, are more productive for society, vote, can figure out long-term solutions to problems rather than focusing on short-term thinking and on down the line. My parents were both teachers and I have seen firsthand how little education really matter to politicians from both parties. If we truly wanted to improve our public schools in the United States we would study how the best schools, both public and private, are run and utilize their methods. We would also pay teachers like the professionals they are- perhaps we could also exempt them from paying taxes- all taxes (along with cops and firefighters.) Spend $5 billion of that emergency funding for The War (tm) on reforming our education system in a way that benefits students rather than administrations and political careers.

Number two would be health care. It is sickening, all puns intended, that our country is ranked in the middle of several "third-world" nations in infant mortality rates and other health care statistics. In a nation as prosperous as ours, no citizen should have to worry about whether a problem with their health will be taken care of if it arises, period. There are successful models we could follow and improve upon if we really valued the well-being of our people over the profitability of corporations ruining our health care system- Big Pharma, Big Insurance and the like.

Number three in my opinion is one we MUST tackle before 2006. We desperately need election reform and election finance reform in our country. We must make sure EVERY citizen has an equal chance to vote and that everybody's vote counts. We need to investigate ways to increase the convenience of the voting process. We should make Election Day an official holiday that companies must honor by law. We should nationalize uniform voting procedures and election law. And there MUST be a paper trail to ensure that if a recount is necessary an individual's vote cannot be tampered with in any way. We have several states that have taken steps to make sure citizens from every economic strata have the chance to run for office- this should be the model for a nationalized set of campaign finance reform initiatives.

MBT

Hungry for Hope Over Fear

OK. Enough mourning. To use a cliche, it is time to Move On :-)

The Left will regather, revive and retake what was lost on November 2. Remember- WE REPRESENT 1/2 of the NATION! The opposition is trying to make it looks as if they hold some sort of mandate or majority but the FACT is that our nation is still split down the middle. What we need to do is figure out a way to communicate our message more effectively to 2-5% of the people, especially those in rural communities. It can and will be done. Howard Dean and John Edwards managed to do so during the primaries- old-liners couldn't see past Kerry's seniority and foreign policy expertise to realize that is not necessarily what would win in 2004. Kerry and his handlers allowed the opposition too much latitude in framing the issues. The party bigwigs were dead-set on Kerry from day one and ignored the populist groundswell behind Dean at first and Edwards later. We will do BETTER than that in 2006 and 2008.

Look at our own Chet Edwards as an example of how to win in the rural south. Chet won handily in a Tom DeLay imposed new Texas district specifically designed to oust him. How? By being genuinely himself. He managed to appeal to the middle without dismissing the hard Left. He never tried to appear as something he is not. This allowed him to come off as the rational choice and pushed his opponent to hard-right stances that alienated mainstream voters. He did this right in w's backyard.

Look to Barrack Obama in Illinois. Granted, he had virtually no real opposition- Ryan fled in scandal, Keyes is, come on, Keyes. But he is an electrifying speaker who presents himself well and understands how to tell his story and make it relate to you. Kind of like a guy I remember who won in 1992 and 1996...

People WANT to be inspired- they are HUNGRY to hear about real hope. It has to be communicated directly though- face it, we are a blunt-edged society where B.S. can be smelled from an inch away. In that environment, true statesmen like Edwards and Obama stand as breaths of fresh air. It is NOT about "values trump jobs" as the media and Karl Rove will tell you. Its about communicating clearly and standing behind what you say.

THAT is how we'll win in 2006 and 2008.

MBT