An Obama win in November will unleash a new optimism, a new idealism that I’m sure will be reminiscent of and equal to the optimism and idealism of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
A Person of Color as President of the US!!! Whoo-hoo!!! We can all partake in this victory that is both symbolic and real.
As a Filipino American, this is a moment both historic and powerful; one with the energy to define the aspirations, opportunities and dreams of a new generation of people around the globe. Let’s face it, the US President impacts not only the lives of Americans, but that of other citizens of other countries, as well. People of Color of the world have an occasion to be officially happy and relieved about the US, for once.
It gives me goose bumps imagining the new world that could potentially come from it. A potentially new world of policies, domestic and foreign; a fresh, new start for a better kind of global relations. A previously imagined world of nothing but new — and colored — positives, I hope.
We are all fortunate to have the opportunity to live in a time as exciting and fulfilling as this.
Go vote today, June 3, and on November 4.
The Superdelegate Tally
By JULIE BOSMAN
Updated | 3:23 p.m.: Former President Jimmy Carter has signaled that he will endorse Senator Barack Obama tonight after the polls close in the final two primary contests in Montana and South Dakota.
“The fact is, the Obama people already know they have my vote when the polls close tonight,” Mr. Carter told the Associated Press today after making a speech in Atlanta.
Mr. Carter is only one of the many big fish still swimming in the officially-uncommitted delegate pool. Dozens of senators and House members have yet to endorse, including Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. Former Vice President Al Gore, Donna Brazile, Rahm Emanuel and Howard Dean are all still neutral. Even Senator Jim Webb, rumored to be a possible running mate for Mr. Obama, has not made an endorsement.
Updated | 3:03 p.m.: Score one for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Mrs. Clinton just picked up her first superdelegate of the day, with the endorsement of Jon Ausman, a Florida member of the Democratic National Committee.
Mr. Ausman told The Palm Beach Post that he was leaning toward supporting Mr. Obama until Mrs. Clinton called him this morning and asked for his endorsement.
“She has hundreds of thousands of supporters he needs and we need to work together,” Mr. Ausman said.
According to Mr. Ausman, Mrs. Clinton said she’d “think about” accepting the vice-presidential spot on the Democratic ticket.
But in April, as an uncommitted superdelegate, Mr. Ausman sounded grim about the prospect of a joint Obama-Clinton ticket.
“There’s not a chance,” Mr. Ausman told The Times in an interview. “This has turned into a battle of egos, and strong personal animosity has slipped into this.”
Updated | 2:53 p.m.: Two more superdelegates have pledged their support to Senator Barack Obama, including one from the swing state of Missouri.
Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a state representative from Missouri, announced at a news conference todday that she would endorse Mr. Obama, citing his “inspiration and involvement.”
And Mr. Obama also picked up the endorsement of Deb Kozikowski, a Democratic National Committee member from Massachusetts. Ms. Kozikowski is also the vice chairwoman of the state Democratic party.
Updated | 2:33 p.m.: Kwame Kilpatrick, the embattled mayor of Detroit, announced his support for Senator Barack Obama today.
Mr. Kilpatrick is the fifth superdelegate from Michigan to endorse Mr. Obama so far today, giving Mr. Obama an additional 2.5 votes toward the nomination. Michigan’s superdelegates count for a half-vote each.
Updated | 2:25 p.m.: Representative John Spratt of South Carolina has announced his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama, saying in a statement that while he “could support any of several contenders in this primary,” Mr. Obama has “earned the nomination and proved his ability.”
Updated | 1:50 p.m.: The trickle of superdelegates for Senator Barack Obama continued today with the endorsement of Representative Joyce Beatty, the Ohio House Democratic leader.
While the state of Ohio went to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primary, Ms. Beatty’s district voted for Mr. Obama.
Ms. Beatty released a statement to announce her endorsement, with a nod to Mrs. Clinton. “Especially as a female, I respect the strength she has shown the nation in her historic run for the highest office in the land,” she said.
Updated | 1:15 p.m. : Jennifer DeChant, the Democratic National Committeewoman for Maine, is the latest superdelegate to publicly declare her support for Senator Barack Obama. Ms. DeChant told the Associated Press of her decision today.
Updated | 12:22 p.m.: Two more superdelegates have endorsed Senator Barack Obama, the campaign announced just after noon today.
Debbie Dingell and Rick Wiener, both Democratic National Committee members from Michigan, are the second and third Michigan superdelegates to commit to Mr. Obama so far today.
Michigan superdelegates are worth only half a vote, bringing Mr. Obama to 35.5 delegates away from clinching the nomination.
Coming Off the Fence | 12:01 p.m.: Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Democrat of Michigan, became the fifth superdelegate to endorse Senator Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Ms. Kilpatrick joined Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina; Missouri State Representative Maria Chappelle-Nadal; Representative John W. Olver of Massachusetts; and Michigan political activist Joyce Lalonde as the first superdelegates to line up behind Mr. Obama on the day that his campaign hopes to claim victory in the Democratic primary.
By the Obama campaign’s tally, he is 36.5 delegates away from clinching the nomination.
Source: The NY Times, http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/the-superdelegate-tally/index.html?hp
An Obama win in November will unleash a new optimism, a new idealism that I’m sure will be reminiscent of and equal to the optimism and idealism of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. A Person of Color as President of the US! It gives me goose bumps imagining the new world that could potentially come from it. A world of nothing but new positives, I hope.
We are all fortunate to have the opportunity to live in a time as exciting and fulfilling as this.
Go vote today, June 3, and on November 4.
Posted by rbvergara | June 3, 2008, 10:17 pmWhat makes a person of color to be a president so special? What did Obama do for USA, can you tell me? All I know about what he did was talk and lie like hell.
This election is not about just the people of color but it’s about United States of America. So stop putting race as basis for all these nonsense.
Posted by runuts | June 5, 2008, 9:27 pmrunuts, first of all, I’m shocked by your anger and ignorance about race in the US.
I am not saying this election is just for People of Color (POC); what I’m saying is an Obama victory is also a victory for POC. For POC, an Obama win has a special dimension of meaning. Whether you are for him or against him, Obama is a positive symbol of progress. Period. But especially for POC. And because there are millions more colored folk than non-colored folk in the world, Obama’s victory is a group victory as well, against Western (white) greed and intolerance that have kept dark-skinned people down for too long around the globe .
To answer your question, race has a lot to do with this election — with power and privilege in USA, in general. Race has a lot to do with the injustices conducted against People of Color and other marginalized groups. Race has a lot to do with the grievances of many minority communities still left unaddressed by the US government. Social justice requires tangible political empowerment for marginalized groups. Go anywhere in the world and you’ll find this to be true.
Need I remind you of the Filipino WWII veterans, and how they were singled out as a group in being stripped of their service-connected benefits JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE BROWN? I have a grandfather, who recently passed, who came here to process his papers but never got to see one cent of his veterans benefits.
Now you got me started…
Race has been used to rationalize and excuse American injustice domestically and jingoism abroad for centuries, since the occupation of the Americas, all the way through slavery, until the current times when one’s dark skin is still sufficient to warrant being pulled over, or not given a fair loan, or denied other privileges Whites enjoy freely.
I defy you to tell me otherwise.
And while race is a social construct that has no basis in fact, unfortunately, in the US, race is real; dark skin is used as a rationale for subverting human rights and limiting a group’s access to power and opportunity. Racism was once out in the open; today it is still around but more subtle, more institutionalized. As you know, racist sentiments still abound.
Unless you can convince me — with reason and not emotion — that what I’ve just described is not true, then race does have a lot to do with much of what happens in the US, especially electoral politics.
Posted by rbvergara | June 5, 2008, 10:14 pmTo runuts
Senator Obama has 10 years of senate experience(8 state senate and 2 years federal). He sponsored 780 bills and of those 280 were signed into law.
He was appointed by Speaker Harry Reid as the Senate point man on ethics.He worked for $13,000/yr helping inner city Chicago poor,contributed in providing health insurance to 20,000 children under welfare reform, supported earned income tax credit, increased minimum wage ($5.15 to $6.50) supports death penalty reform making interrogations be video taped, sponsored bill probing police profiling, he opposed the Iraq war from the start,he worked with Republican Senator Lugar to expand and author program to locate and dismantle stray Russian WMD’s left over from the cold war after the disbanding of the USSR and so on…..
So yes just because his name wasn’t a household name as Clinton’s was doesn’t mean anything or should I say doesn’t mean he hasn’t done his part to serve the Americans.
Race does have a lot to do with this election and ones from the past. How else would you explain Clinton winning or doing so great in rural areas where the dominant populace is made up of “whites”? Nobody’s playing the race card and Senator Clinton certainly has used her being Caucasian to her advantage not to mention the fact her name is well known.
My point is it is a special milestone having a minority as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Reverend Jackson didn’t get anywhere near what Senator Obama has gone and we should all be proud of America for embracing him (well not all, apparently). Nonetheless, this is great for our children’s future.
Posted by karen | June 6, 2008, 5:17 pm10 years? Dude, get your facts right. He has only been in the senate for 3 and 1/2 years. What did he do really?
Hillary nor McCain never played the race card. Obama camp did and the rest of his supporters. Are you deaf, blind, or just simply don’t understand? When did Hillary nor McCain play the race card? Never.
I don’t care about special milestone, what I care about is who can run our country whether a Democrat or Republican. I got news for you folks, that is not Barack Hussein Obama.
This country will be in shambles if they elect that guy…hmm, I can see the Jimmy Carter regime coming back. I don’t think America is not stupid to put an inexperienced guy in the White House who talks about Change that is so VAGUE.
Only [no name-calling] people will fall for these LIES.
Change we can believe in… my butt.
Posted by @karen | June 9, 2008, 6:34 amFact check on Senator Obama’s experience in elected office:
Senator, United States Senate, 2005-present (3 years)
Senator, Illinois State Senate, 1996-2004 (8 years)
Source: http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=BS030017
Fact check on Senator Clinton’s experience in elected office:
Senator, United States Senate, 2000-present (8 years)
http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=55463
On experience
We don’t like liars, for example, Clinton who lied about Bosnia, her role in foreign affairs as First Lady, and who continues to deliberately misrepresent the nature of her “32 years” of political experience. Last time I checked, a First Lady is just along for the ride, simply for being married to the elected office holder. This counting as experience is a big, fat fairytale in a pant suit.
On Race
Bill (Hillary’s husband, tsk-tsk) did play the race card, by the way; and he was caught multiple times. The Clinton campaign played the race and anti-Muslim card, as well, 1) painting Sen. Obama as a Muslim (when he is not) by mentioning his middle name and 2) fueling the fire about Rev. Wright, linking his words to his, as if the reverend spoke and thought for Sen. Obama.
And let’s not forget this from a major HRC supporter:
“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” — Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, March 7, 2008.
As for HRC herself, remember her remark last month that “hard-working Americans, white Americans” were supporting her, suggesting that us colored folks were not? If this is not playing the race card, if this is not inflaming the fissures on race, I don’t know what is. By contrast, what Sen. Obama did about race is encourage an honest national discourse on modern race relations.
Swallowing Clinton lies — and being complicit in promoting them — is also not the mark of basic intelligence, to put it mildly. So everybody needs to check their facts. We all care about electing the best person for the job.
Posted by rbvergara | June 9, 2008, 4:56 pmto the reader who attacked my comment …
You asked what has Senator Obama done for America and I listed some of the many he has done for AMERICA. I don’t understand where all the hostility and anger is coming from? If you call yourself American or Democrat you should be proud that someone of his stature is representing us this coming election.
What experience do you want your next President to have? to have been married to an ex President? They have to start somewhere and his character says it all. I have nothing against you if you support Clinton I only responded to your question you posed.
Posted by karen | June 9, 2008, 6:45 pm