The Obama Administration

the stupak amendment

2009-11-11T17:20:00.004-05:00

this past saturday, the house passed (more like, squeezed out) health care. some see H.R.3962 as a symptom of governmental extravagance; others think the bill is too narrow in scope.

many political commentators are beginning to note a signature feature of the debate, coming in the form of a movement within the democratic party.

simple put: the stupak amendment was an essential element to the bill's passage.
this is confirmed by the numbers. of the 64 dems who supported stupak, 41 of them voted to support the final bill. if even 3 of those 41 democrats so strongly objected to abortion that they would not have supported the bill without the amendment, health care reform would have failed in the house… (among the others who supported stupak and did not support the bill, a great majority are blue dogs democrats whose constituencies would have fried them for voting 'yay'.)

mainstream dems should stand up and take note. i hope this is a sign of good things to come as pro-woman, pro-life agendas find their footing in both parties.

an unsettling element within the discussion is the oversimplification the consequences of stupak. the pro-choice spin is that women won’t be able to "use their own money" for abortion. the legislation actually refers to privately paid premiums within the actual insurance policy.
one implies an effectual end of abortion in this country; the other simply means that government-run health care will keep its hands off the abortion issue. big difference.

there is an excellent piece on NPR that demystifies the content of the amendment. worth a listen...and a forward.

ah! this is all so energizing!!! =)

AP reports: No abortion in Democrat's health care bill

2009-07-30T22:35:00.000-04:00

House lawmakers endorse measure opposing abortion
(AP) –
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers have amended a sweeping health overhaul bill to ensure it does not require coverage of abortions.

The anti-abortion measure was approved late Thursday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee as conservative Democrats banded with Republicans to support it.
The amendment says health care overhaul legislation moving through Congress may not impose requirements for coverage of abortion, except in cases where a woman's life is endangered or her pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

The amendment would have to survive the full House and Senate.
The measure was offered by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat.

FLOTUS and a struggling DC high school

2009-03-20T14:06:00.007-04:00

On Thursday (March 19), twenty-one celebrated women, along with the First Lady Michelle Obama, visited a smattering of public and private schools in and around DC in honor of Women's History Month. The First Lady, took the opportunity to drop in at Anacostia Senior High School, a public school in the heart of Southeast, DC with a predominately black faculty and student body, 56% of whom are eligible for free or reduced meals. (As it happens, Anacostia was also the high school assigned to me according to DCPS neighborhood school zonings. I was, providentially, able to enroll elsewhere).

To find a spot in the daily news for something other than a violent incident or as the epitome of the district's struggling school system is an occasion for Anacostia. In the 2008, less than a quarter of the students gained at or above proficiency in Reading and Mathematics.

DC-CAS results 2006-08: % at or above proficient

Reading
21% (2008)
6% (2007)
12% (2006)
The state average for Reading was 42% in 2008.

Math
13% (2008)
5% (2007)
6% (2006)
The state average for Math was 41% in 2008.

Source: greatschools.net

I could chew my cud here concerning all the factors that play into the poor performance; rather I will highlight a salient point underscored by the First Lady in her visit yesterday. There exists an overwhelming peer censure against academic success among this predominately African-American student body. I do not believe this is just a black issue, but I think it has been reinforced in the black community in language used to describe blacks students who perform well. I quote the First Lady here:

“I remember there were kids around my neighborhood who would say, ‘Ooo, you talk like a white girl.’ I heard that growing up my whole life. I was like, ‘I don’t even know what that means.’ But you know what? I’m still getting my A’s.”

It would be ludicrous to think that the school will be plucked from the muck of violent infamy and mire of academic obscurity with a single gracing presence of the First Lady. But I have to say, that this visit, this notice, must be felt as a significant breech in the crushing sense that 'our school has been left behind; no one thinks of us but to deride us'.

It is a cultural push to provide momentum for the agenda rolled out by the Administration. (Ed.gov fact sheet; Whitehouse.gov fact sheet; Presidential speech)

I don't want to sound ungrateful, but ...

2009-02-10T01:21:00.002-05:00

(cross-posted from Turn the Clock Forward)

Last week, the White House announced its new plan to reduce the perceived need for abortion -- as part of the expanded White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Now, I'm one of those hard-line secularists Katherine mentioned in the previous post. I believe the government should be neutral with regard to religion. But that's not my only concern about this announcement.

I'm pleased to see President Obama following through on this campaign promise. All the same, I couldn't help being disappointed. The word "women" was used exactly once in the announcement. Three out of the fifteen named council members are women.

I had hoped that the abortion-reduction program would be under Health and Human Services, or possibly a revived White House Office of Women's Initiatives and Outreach. Basing the program there would have shown that President Obama understands that the problems driving women to abortion are not just personal, but systemic. It also would have made partners of women's advocates and abortion opponents -- two groups who should have so many of the same goals, but often end up in opposite camps due to our toxic abortion politics.

I worry that this move is more about placating religious people who are distressed by abortion than it is about actually ending it. I also worry about abortion reduction being stereotyped as solely a religious concern -- like that isn't enough of a problem already.

President Expands Faith Based Initiative

2009-02-06T14:47:00.002-05:00

OBAMA MOVES AHEAD WITH PLAN TO REDUCE ABORTIONS
Conservative Catholics, AWOL. President decides he can't wait for them.

This week, President Barack Obama will be expanding the mission of his faith based initiative to include abortion reduction. The Wall Street Journal described the President's approach to the federal faith office as reflecting "his search for common ground on contentious social issues, and his willingness to dial back some of his campaign positions."

The President's plan is likely to anger some hard line secularists who want the initiative abolished entirely. But the President received a favorable reaction from David Kuo, the former deputy director of the Bush faith-based office, and who says that too much energy was spent on questions that have little impact in the real world.

The office will be given four new specific missions, including an administration effort to reduce abortions and teen pregnancies. The goals, said Mr. DuBois, the head of the initiative, will include ensuring access to health care and support for adoption.

Three months after Obama's historic victory and Establishment Pro-Life leaders are yet to make any offer to work with the Administration to reduce abortions. Even the Catholic Bishops have for the most part done nothing despite this tremendous opportunity to reduce abortions. Nothing was said in the USCCB statement after the election and only after pressure from the lay faithful was some vague mention made in the USCCB statement before the Inaugural. The bishops did not bother to meet with the Transition team, have appointed no staff person to direct or coordinate on this matter and generally been AWOL to the leading opportunity to reduce abortions. Instead they have invested money and time in a phony FOCA campaign -- a bill that died last December without any congressional action and does not currently exist.

department of education - - post inauguration

2009-01-23T19:06:00.000-05:00

from TPM:

Another federal employee checks in from the trenches:
I work at the Department of Education headquarters in DC. Today completed our 2-day introduction to Arne Duncan. Yesterday he had lunch in our cafeteria (Edibles, ha ha), with his wife and children. His wife wore jeans and a sweater and Arne looked like an average joe in khaki dress pants, white shirt and tie. They stood in all of the lines and talked to anyone who approached them. They probably stayed 90 minutes. It was definitely the highest cafeteria attendance ever. Yesterday afternoon he visited every floor of our building and introduced himself to everyone. We all came out into the hall and he shook everyone's hand with a "Hi, I'm Arne."
By the end of the day yesterday, everyone was aglow, since this was already more attention than we'd received from Spellings or Paige. Today, however, was the all-staff meeting, and I can say that the morale in the building increased ten-fold by the end of it.
Our auditorium was beyond packed, with people standing in the aisles. I myself snagged a seat on the floor next to the stage kindergarten-style. Arne stood in front of a blue screen that read "Call me Arne!" in bright yellow letters. He insisted that we call him Arne, rather than Mr. Secretary or anything like that, saying his name was Arne before he got this job and it would be 8 years from now.
...
I know this isn't anything earthshattering, but the change in the atmosphere at the Department over the last week has been really astounding. In the past, we all knew that the Secretary had an agenda that she was going to follow, and that we were only there to affirm that her way was best. We really feel that Arne wants to know the truth, whether it fits with his agenda or not.

Hello! / Inaugural musings

2009-01-22T10:56:00.004-05:00

Hello, everyone! I'm a new-comer here and I thought I'd briefly introduce myself. I'm Drew Ackermann, and I'm a friend of JFN, who graciously invited me to post here. (Disclaimer: her writing is much better than mine, so don't expect too much!)

A little about me: I'm 25, married to my wonderful wife Drea, and we live in MD in a basement apartment. (Trying to save some money!) I graduated from Salisbury in 2006 as a music major (piano). I work in fire protection engineering as a design technician (yes, totally unrelated to my degree!). Drea and I have a blog on which I've posted a few times about my support of Obama. I'm not a politics expert by any means, but I'm excited to offer whatever rambling thoughts I have here. (Thanks again, JFN, for the invite!)

Hope you enjoy.

-----

"Inaugural Musings"
(Crossposted from The Ackermann Blog)

Drea and I recently had the opportunity to hang out with a friend who just returned from a missions trip to a Dalit colony in India. The Dalits, or “untouchables”, are the lowest-ranking group in India’s caste system and the recipients of brutal and long-standing injustice. Some actually say they are the most oppressed people in all humanity. Because of their status, Dalits are often consigned to live in such colonies where they present no threat of “contaminating” the upper castes. It’s hard to believe that in our modern world, such a backwards social system still exists, but it does. While social equality is officially mandated in the Indian Constitution, the systemic oppression of Dalits persists today, even 50 years after their political emancipation.

My eyes (and Drea’s) were first opened to Dalit oppression and the horrors of caste about four years ago through the amazing Caedmon’s Call album Share the Well. Since then, Drea and I have both developed a heart for India. (It’s actually part of why we started dating, but that’s another story.)

Anyhow, in learning about India’s struggle with oppression and slavery, I’m reminded of our own struggle here in America. While slavery and government-sanctioned oppression of blacks are thankfully off the books thanks to the work of Lincoln, King, and countless others, a stubborn remnant of injustice still plagues our country, just as it plagues India (albeit more subtly). In short, we can see clearly that criminalizing injustice doesn’t necessarily put an end to it.

But praise God for people like Joseph D’souza, the Indian Christian who founded the Dalit Freedom Network; for Bill Hybels, the pastor of a large, well-to-do suburban church whose eyes were opened to the economic and racial injustices in his own backyard, and responded accordingly; for Martin Luther King, Jr., who labored diligently “to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression”; for Derek Webb, whose honest music has educated me, challenged me, and helped me realize that Jesus came not just to die for my sins, but to make things right, including every injustice, both personal and systemic.

Today, we inaugurated our first African-American President, and arguably the first President to, through both racial identity and experience, have significant ties to the developing world. In his inaugural address, President Obama made a pledge:

“To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.”

I watched Obama’s speech live, and was impressed as usual with his humility and intelligence. But when he said this, I teared up a little. Not just because it’s a beautiful thought, but because of the opportunity being presented to our country right now. It’s not my intention at all to immortalize Obama (he’s only a man, and an imperfect one at that), but it’s obvious that he wields a degree of influence that few political leaders, if any, have had.

In an article published shortly after the election, Joseph D’souza remarked that “the world’s oppressed will follow the statements and actions of this president more than any other.” What an extraordinary challenge our new President has. I pray that Obama makes good on his promise, that he uses his influence to inaugurate peace and justice into the lives of those who have never experienced it. If he can do this, well, I think that will be pretty great.

Barack Obama accomplished something truly extraordinary today. I think that given my meager life experiences, I can hardly wrap my head around the significance this day must have not only for African-Americans, but for every person in the world who’s suffered injustice. As they look by the millions to Obama to champion their cause, I pray that he accepts the challenge as a vital objective of his administration, and more importantly, as his calling as a follower of Jesus.

My deepest, deepest congratulations to President and Mrs. Obama. Let’s do this thing!

the future of sex education

2009-01-07T19:51:00.000-05:00

I write this post grated with annoyance at the predictable reactions to the new study put out in Pediatrics, "Patient Teenagers? A Comparison of the Sexual Behavior of Virginity Pledgers and Matched Nonpledgers" by Janet Elise Rosenbaum. The study "compares the sexual activity of adolescent virginity pledgers with matched nonpledgers by using more robust methods than past research." (Check it out here.)

The study has triggered a slew of 'see-i-tolda-so' postings in the blogosphere. The immediate conclusion drawn is that abstinence-only education can't work and should be scrapped in favor of comprehensive sex education. (I could easily do something similar with this little tidbit but, alas, it would not be helpful.) Cecile Richards at Huffington Post writes :

Abstinence-only has been an unmitigated disaster -- our New Year's resolution as a country should be to take teens' health seriously and to invest funding in comprehensive sex education that teaches teens about abstinence as well as contraception, healthy communication, responsible decision making, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

("Can You Hear Me Yet?" Dec. 29, 2008).

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for accountability. We must demonstrate success quantitatively in every aspect of education. Otherwise we do a disservice to students and we waste a veritable buttload of money in the process. What I find irritating is the immediate assumption made as to why the abstinence-only education (pursued by both the Clinton and Bush administrations in the past ten years, mind you) have been ineffective. We immediately assume that the issue has to do with content of instruction rather than method.

Any behaviorist will contend that you can teach anybody anything given the right conditions.
Any prevention researcher will point you toward your error in assuming that adapting the content of sex education to from abstinence-only to comprehensive sex education will not magically result in adolescents using contraception responsibly, particularly if you have failed to sort out errors in methodology. You'll simply run into the same problem of having students assimilate the knowledge without any changes in behavior.

The drug prevention program D.A.R.E. featuring 'Just Say No!' ran into the same problem before it restructured itself. Our natural reaction at its initial failure was not to say, "See?!? Kids can't just say 'no'. It's not realistic! We just have to teach them ways to use drugs more responsibly." Uh..no. A suggestion like that would be ludicrous. It is an illustration of how steeped in politics the sex education issue really is. The problem here is a galling lack of objectivity that is infecting a supposedly neutral scientific community that is in the position to make recommendations on the subject.

I wrote a paper for a senior seminar on this subject if you're interested in more details concerning prevention research and its application to the sex education 'debate'.

Any rational suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Season's Greetings

2008-12-25T10:44:00.000-05:00

on the radar...education

2008-12-15T18:53:00.002-05:00

education news.
so Arne Duncan has been pegged to serve as education secretary, and thus, a little in the way of background. He is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools and a Harvard alum. Duncan signed statements put out by the the Education Equality Project & the Bolder Approach. The Education Equality Project statement is mostly fluffy semantics to me, but the Bolder Approach puts out some interesting ideas regarding health initiatives & greater attention to time students spend outside of the classroom (which is about 85% based on the current literature).

More tidbits from Nationmaster:

	Duncan has avoided the spotlight in favor of a quiet, thorough, more studied approach to the problems of the nation's third-largest school system.
	Duncan also is analyzing whether all magnet schools deserve that status, and whether new magnet schools or programs that base admissions on test scores should be added to the city's West and South sides.
	While Duncan unleashed the biggest school accountability hammer to date last week, he also is developing a one-page report card that will put accountability in the hands of parents by summer.

~~Will update tomorrow with Obama transition statement.~~
Update 12/16/08: video

Falling down on the job

2008-12-06T19:14:00.002-05:00

I've been writing up a list of ideas about abortion reduction to send to the Obama transition team, and unfortunately there are a few holes in my list.

I want to write "Work with pro-life, pro-contraception groups to maximize support for your prevention policies," but I can't. There essentially aren't any.

I want to write "There are people who agree with your agenda for reproductive justice in every way except that we view abortion as violence against a human being. Talk to them; they have ideas that people in your circle might not think of," -- it's true, but who can I point to?

This came to mind again when I read all the hand-flapping about Planned Parenthood of Indiana offering gift certificates.

The network of 35 clinics across the state announced it is offering holiday vouchers for basic health care services "or the recipient's choice of birth control method."

The organization decided to offer the vouchers because so many people are uninsured or are putting off health care because of prohibitive costs, said Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana. Nearly 800,000 Indiana residents don't have health insurance, she said.

A few thoughts:

They're not "gift certificates for abortions", the way that many abortion opponents are breathlessly characterizing them. If you look at PP's page, they're not being marketed that way at all. They're clearly meant for basic health care services and contraception. I actually agree with the PP spokesperson who says that although the vouchers can be used for abortions, she doesn't think anyone would give them for that purpose. Whatever people's political views might be, there aren't a lot of people out there who celebrate abortion and would think of it as a fine holiday gift.
That said, someone will take a voucher that was given to them in the hope that they'd get necessary preventive health care, and use it to get an abortion. There's no point telling ourselves otherwise.
All the blog posts I've seen about this (from "Planned Parenthood is selling gift certificates for abortions!" to "those Planned Parenthood-haters don't want women to get health care!") seem to be missing the bigger picture: that there are women for whom this might be the only way they can get a mammogram or a Pap smear. If I'm going to get outraged about something, I think it'll be that, thanks.

I cordially invite pro-lifers who are outraged about this story to band together and start up their own clinics that provide reproductive health care and contraception, but not abortion. We have utterly, utterly fallen down on the job here.

(crossposted from Turn the Clock Forward)

Quote of the day

2008-12-04T21:48:00.001-05:00

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): "[Obama's] going to have to be more assertive than he's been. At a time of great crisis with mortgage foreclosures and autos, he says we only have one president at a time. I'm afraid that overstates the number of presidents we have. He's got to remedy that situation."

National Security Team

2008-12-02T01:05:00.001-05:00

Update 12/3: From Michael Gerson

Obama's appointments reveal not just moderation but maturity -- magnanimity to past opponents, a concern for continuity in a time of war and economic crisis, a self-confidence that allows him to fill gaps in his own experience with outsize personalities, and a serious commitment to incarnate his rhetoric of unity.

on the radar... staffing the agencies

2008-11-24T00:25:00.004-05:00

The MSM and blogosphere are panning the dripping stream of transition leaks to glean some nugget that will give them a clue about the kind of administration that’s forming. A writer at Huffingtonpost suggests we all stop trying and I ~~mostly~~ kind of agree with him....

But I can’t help myself, so I too will venture to offer my view of things: pragmatism seems to be the name of the game. So, don’t expect that Obama will allow his vision to be set by his appointees, though, as Jen noted, the worldview of the appointee may reinforce Obama’s stated plans. Do expect that Obama will select those best for the job, unlike what we’ve seen in the during the Bush administration. (And some President Bush appointments—disappointing in some cases—are being converted into career civil service positions in what some sort of congealed Bush-era remainders.) There is every indication that the president-elect is interested only in results. How do I know this? Well, for one he has already made gestures to bipartisanship and reconciliation with his former rivals.

No one has to be reminded of how tough the general election run was for both sides. Despite the fact, there have been reports that even as the public battle was raging, behind the scenes the McCain and Obama camps coordinated on staff rosters. Senator McCain showed a lot of grace in defeat that has extended beyond election night. After a meeting of the two former competitors, McCain pledged his assistance to help Obama in everyway he could. He showered praise over the possibility of fellow Arizonian and governor Janet Napolitano heading up the Department of Homeland Security. And following these positive post campaign strides at unity, the White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel reached out the Republican Senate leadership and will do so with the House GOP leadership in December. Combine that with Robert Gates staying on after President Bush’s term ends in a key position at Defense, and you’ve got a lot of evidence for a marked interest in bipartisanship. (Oh, yea and the whole Hillary as Secretary of State thing, of course. Can you say ‘team of rivals’? If you can’t here are a couple throwbacks to remind you: one frightening & one funny.)

Another key indicator is the economic team Obama has gathered. The group is just brimming with pragmatists. And even appointment possibilities, like Bill Richardson for commerce secretary have surprising and well-considered qualifications. On Saturday Obama outlined his plans for economic recovery during his weekly radio/Youtube address. It centered on creating much-needed jobs. In it he stressed, once again that he “will need and seek support from Republicans and Democrats, and [he’ll] be welcom[ing] ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle”. By all appearances this bipartisan talk was not just campaign fodder.

Keep an eye on the transition on Wiki. I find it’s updated fairly regularly and is extremely comprehensive.

Other things on the radar…

Education
• The Obama girls are going private.
• NPR discusses the private/public debate and Andrew Rotherham says education is important
• The Department of Education announces plans to strengthen NCLB.
• Prevention is good: early childhood education & social skills/ conflict management training
• New regulations to track drop out rates.

Life issues
• Public opinion shifts on the death penalty…in a good way.
• Western states shift on abortion…no so good.
• Pro-life advocates are shifting in smart ways.
• New doctors shifting from the Hippocratic oath?
Update: 11/25 4:16 pm: online chat discussion of the article
• The diocese doesn’t agree with the SC communion denying priest
• Adult stem cells and organ-making

Counterterrorism
• Basically, al-Zawahiri has a huge mouth and sketchy interrogation methods may go unexamined in the new administration.

Obama's AG pick

2008-11-21T12:18:00.007-05:00

Glenn Greenwald reports on the selection of Eric Holder to serve as Attorney General in the Obama administration. Glenn's assessment is mostly favorable, although he does note that Holder initially agreed with the Bush Administration's assertion that the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay were not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

It appears, however, that Holder has come around. In a speech at the American Constitution Society's 2008 National Convention, Holder:

* emphasized the importance of adhering to the rule of law even, perhaps especially, in dangerous times;
* called the Guantanamo Bay prison "an international embarrassment" and called for it to be shut down and all prisoners given expedited due process, and released if appropriate;
* called for an end to torture and extraordinary rendition;
* condemned warrantless wiretapping; and
* called out the Bush Administration for basing its policies on fear and abandoning the values America is supposed to stand for.

It was a strongly pro-civil-liberties, pro-human-rights, and pro-America speech. I don't think we can always assume that an appointee's views are indicative of the policies that the new president plans to implement; I don't, for instance, believe that Hillary Clinton's preferred foreign policy agenda will be the one pursued by President Obama. I think (I hope!) she was chosen for her political skills and good relationships with our allies rather than for ideological reasons. On the other hand, the views Holder expressed to the ACS are largely consistent with those Obama campaigned on. I'm hopeful that this signals a new direction for Justice -- and justice -- under the Obama administration.

on the radar...

2008-11-16T09:12:00.003-05:00

The Transition/ Cabinet Appointments; Bush executive orders

Speculation swirls around Obama pick for Secretary of State; Clinton a contender
Valerie Jarrett named Senior White House Advisor
Gregory Craig pegged as White House counsel.
More Key Staff Appointments: Pete Rouse, (Obama's Senate chief of staff), White House senior adviser; Mona Stuphen (a top corporate consultant) and Jim Messina (COS for Obama's presidential campaign), White House deputy chiefs of staff.
"Obama appoints Youtube... as Secretary of Video"
Obama steps down as Senator
What's up with this down low tax policy change?

Life issues

Op-ed: Obama's promise
Catholic bishops to push back on abortion
Diocese repudiates a SC priest
http://www.fightfoca.com/

Education

Regulations RE: dropout rate adopted
Obama's weigh public/private schools in DC
NM first site to adopt Navajo textbook
Gates Foundation to focus on college completion
States facing budget cuts eye K12

on the ticker...

2008-11-15T08:28:00.004-05:00

Obama surrogates attend Bush global economic summit
Christians: mixed reactions to Obama presidency; Obamagelicals??
Obama and McCain to meet Monday. They will be joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and new White House COS Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.)
Political junkies (* j f n raises hand*) suffer election withdrawal
Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher is...sigh... signing a book deal
President-elect weekly address

j f n: intro

2008-11-12T23:49:00.003-05:00

i started out this blog as a way to the continue the running conversation pro-life supporters for Obama have been having on a group listserv in a publicly accessible way.

Jen R, Fraulein Maria, Eddie K, and Katherine have all graciously accepted my invitation to blog. Update 11/26/08: Tdadpete's on board too. Thanks!
We each will have our niche--Jen R has already outline hers, so here is mine:

"on the ticker"

Pertinent stories gathered from surfing the web, posted roughly every three days, or so. I'll basically be cherry-picking the stories that grab my attention. Update 11/25/08: Everything 'on the ticker' you can find in the column to the right.

"on the radar"

These are more deliberate posts concerning advocacy and attention to particular legislation and occasional mulling over the best means of mobilizing constituents for pro-life causes and building consensus around pro-life-pro-woman legislation. My focus, in addition to life issues, will be education and occasionally urban policy. At times I will monitor developing events, i.e. Cabinet selection, Justice nominations, etc. I'll try to post these about once a week

on the radar

A list of presidential executive orders subject to review by the Transition
Education on the back burner?
Pro-life groups "invigorated" since Obama win
The transition announces its working groups

on the ticker

Obama makes good on talk about weeding out special interest groups.
Obama on veterans day
Journalism on the media: election night at Fox News
Pathways for Obama to accomplish his military goals
Obama speaks with the Pope.

I look forward to what's to come... :)

Introduction

2008-11-10T12:12:00.006-05:00

I'm very glad to accept j f n's invitation to blog here at The Obama Administration. I'll probably be cross-posting some content from Turn the Clock Forward, my consistent-life-ethic blog about ending abortion through social progress. In addition, I'd like to contribute some commentary about civil and human rights. Among its many destructive legacies, the Bush Administration has made torture, detention without due process, warrantless spying on Americans, and executive unaccountability official U.S. policy. The Obama Administration can do better, should do better, and will do better -- if we make it happen.

the Obama team speaks

2008-11-10T10:36:00.000-05:00

on the ticker

2008-11-08T15:36:00.012-05:00

The President-Elect gives his first radio address. Audio here. Transcript below.

On Tuesday, Americans stood in lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen. It didn’t matter who they were or where they came from; what they looked like or what party they belonged to – they came out and cast their ballot because they believed that in this country, our destiny is not written for us, but by us. We should all take pride in the fact that we once again displayed for the world the power of our democracy, and reaffirmed the great American ideal that this is a nation where anything is possible.

This week, I spoke with President Bush, who graciously offered his full support and assistance in this period of transition. Michelle and I look forward to meeting with him and the First Lady on Monday to begin that process. This speaks to a fundamental recognition that here in America we can compete vigorously in elections and challenge each other’s ideas, yet come together in service of a common purpose once the voting is done. And that is particularly important at a moment when we face the most serious challenges of our lifetime.

Yesterday, we woke to more sobering news about the state of our economy. The 240,000 jobs lost in October marks the 10th consecutive month that our economy has shed jobs. In total, we’ve lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, and more than 10 million Americans are now unemployed. Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes. Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we must act swiftly to resolve them.

In the wake of these disturbing reports, I met with members of my Transition Economic Advisory Board, who will help guide the work of my transition team in developing a strong set of policies to respond to this crisis. While we must recognize that we only have one President at a time and that President Bush is the leader of our government, I want to ensure that we hit the ground running on January 20th because we don’t have a moment to lose.

We discussed several of the most immediate challenges facing our economy and key priorities on which to focus in the days and weeks ahead to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.

First, we need a rescue plan for the middle class that invests in immediate efforts to create jobs and provides relief to families that are watching their paychecks shrink and their life savings disappear.

Then, we’ll address the spreading impact of the financial crisis on other sectors of our economy, and ensure that the rescue plan that passed Congress is working to stabilize financial markets while protecting taxpayers, helping homeowners, and not unduly rewarding the management of financial firms that are receiving government assistance.

Finally, we will move forward with a set of policies that will grow our middle-class and strengthen our economy in the long-term. We can’t afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, health care, education and tax relief for middle class families.

Let me close by saying I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead. We’ve taken some major actions to date, and we will need further actions during this transition and subsequent months. Some of those choices will be difficult, but America is a strong and resilient country. I know that we will succeed if we put aside partisanship and work together as one nation. And that is what I intend to do.

President Bush on Obama victory: "pretty cool".
Review of executive orders (including stem cell research)? Yes... with new findings included.
Newspapers weigh the future of life initiatives on the ballot after some key losses.
Dear Mr. President-Elect Obama
Obama presses action on stimulus plan; roasts future Chief of Staff
Jury still out in McCain-leaning Missouri
White House in Black American history; the first 100 days: Op-Ed

new contributors

2008-11-07T09:05:00.004-05:00

EddieK, and Jen R (of turntheclockforward.org) will be contributing/cross-posting to the site. Welcome, welcome, welcome.

on the radar...

2008-11-07T08:56:00.004-05:00

The Transition/Obama Appointments

Weeks ago, Obama began forging his transition team, in such a way to stifle lobbyist influence. Leading the Obama-Biden Transition Project are "John Podesta, who served as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, Pete Rouse, Obama’s chief of staff in his Senate office, and Valerie Jarrett, a family friend and counselor to Obama" (politico).

So far in the ObamAdministration:

Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel.

Hard as nails, staunchly progressive, pragmatic, result-oriented.

Senior Advisor: David Axelrod
Press Secretary: Robert Gibbs

Obama will hold his first press conference since securing the presidency today in Chicago.

Who else will join? Let the speculation begin...

on the ticker

2008-11-06T08:55:00.007-05:00

Obama camp announces transition team and website.
South Dakota rejects abortion ban. Given the proposed ban was less restrictive than one proposed a couple years ago, one is compelled to give pause and reflect on the best way to engage public opinion in our efforts to reduce abortion. Prohibitive bans do not seem a productive means to this end.
Obama will receive his first intelligence briefing today. One wonders if the new information with give him pause, resolve, or a combination of the two.
Laura Bush invites the First Lady in waiting to the White House.
How the DFLA endorsed candidates faired:

Ronni Mugrove (MS) is defeated by the incumbent
(w) Bobby Bright (AL-2) squeaks out a victory with 1,766 more votes than his opponent.
(w) Parker Griffith (AL-5) wins 52% of the vote
Doug Heckman (GA-7) defeated in a landslide
Mike Montanago (IN-3) falls to Souder gaining only 40% of the vote
David Boswell (KY-2) loses in a tight race to Guthrie falling 53-47. He was a DFLA priority candidate.
Don Cazayoux (LA-6) suffers a disappointing defeat after winning a special election in May.
(w) Travis Childers (MS-1) scores a big win beating by a margin of 10 points.
Jim Esch (NE-2) made the race competitive, but until fell 52-48.
(w) Steve Driehaus (OH-1) wins over Chabot by a margin of 4 points. Driehaus was a DFLA priority.
Bill O'Neill (OH-14) falls 60,000 votes short.
(w) Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), DFLA priority candidate wins over English by a margin of 4.
Pro-life Democrats account for 25% of the 20 new seats gained by the Democrats in the House of Representatives.

The President-Elect

2008-11-04T23:56:00.004-05:00

Today is Election Day

2008-11-04T11:47:00.000-05:00

Update: 5:34pm
A tribute to Obama I found.

It is hard to think of a thing more out of time than nobility. Looked at plainly it seems false and dead and ugly. To look at it at all makes us realize sharply that in our present, in the presence of our reality, the past looks false and is, therefore, dead and is, therefore, ugly; and we turn away from it as from something repulsive and particularly from the characteristic that it has a way of assuming: something that was noble in its day, grandeur that was, the rhetorical once. But as a wave is a force and not the water of which it is composed, which is never the same, so nobility is a force and not the manifestations of which it is composed, which are never the same. Possibly this description of it as a force will do more than anything else I can have said about it to reconcile you to it. It is not an artifice that the mind has added to human nature. It is a violence from within that protects us from a violence without. It is the imagination pressing back against the pressure of reality. It seems, in the last analysis, to have something to do with our self-preservation; and that, no doubt, is why the expression of it, the sound of its words, helps us to live our lives.

— Wallace Stevens, "The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words"

Update: 3:54pm
I found this quote at TPM.

My polling place is at the fairgrounds in Southern Maryland, about 40 minutes from Washington, D.C. This used to be tobacco country, but is slowly being developed, or other crops are grown. We waited until 10:00 to vote, to avoid the lines. When we got there a 97-year-old Black man was being wheeled out of the polls in his wheelchair. It was the first time he had ever voted in his life. When he came outside he asked if anyone could give him an Obama button. There were none left at the Democrat's booth so I gave him mine. He was so proud and I started crying. He looked at me and said, "why are you crying? this is a day for glory." I am still crying.

Today at my voting precinct
It was absolutely amazing, as my mom, dad and sister rode to St. Francis Xavier & cast our ballots today. There have been many occasions when we serendipitously met at our polling site on election day and on this historic day we decided we'd make our family voting excursion official. It was about eight o'clock when we arrived. At a glance I could tell the line was long. I thought, 'wow, the line is coming out of the building?' When we got out of the car and walked toward the church we realized that the lines were much longer than we'd originally seen. They stretched all the way down to the end of the block and around the corner. My first thought was, "crap!", but my second and more sustained sentiment was, "This is kind of cool".

How awesome is this?. How great it is to have our neighborhoods engaged to this extent! I've never seen such a turn out (Granted, my short voting career is short, but the sight was nonetheless absolutely moving and inspiring.) The organizers had shifted things around inside of the polling place to accommodate the huge number of voters--my family filed in on the "L - R" line, and signed the book and went to collect our ballots.

My sister and I filled out our ballots at adjoining booths and when we were done, snapped a couple of shots of each other to remember the day. A poll worker shouted out "No pictures in the polling precinct!!", much to our embarrassment and much to my sister's disappointment. (Her picture turned out awful because I startled when the poll worker yelled at us.) Anyways, we all got our little "I voted" stickers and sat around chatting with some other voters, talking about the day and reminiscing with each other about some of the times we'd shared in that building. Nice.

As we were leaving an elderly woman passed us by on the street. She greeted us good morning, continuing on toward the back of the winding line. I watched her slow, cane-aided progression and smiled at the historic significance of the ballot she would be casting. My mom broke away from us briefly and hurried up to her. "Ma'am," she said, 'Excuse me, but I think that you can go in this way', and guided her toward the building. A poll worker came out and assisted her inside.

...What an awesome day today is.

Regardless of how this thing turns out, today stands as a call to a revived civic engagement. A renewed ownership by the people of our government. A reminder to pray for our leaders, whomever God may ordain. And a requisite to join our prayer with informed action.

I'm so blessed to be apart of it.

1 day until election day

2008-11-03T07:29:00.000-05:00

Bittersweet; Fired up

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/11/obamas-grandm-1.html

2 days...

2008-11-03T02:33:00.000-05:00

A nice piece covering the good work at 538.com, one of the few sites that has covered the ground game this election season, some SUNDAY PHOTOS and an inspiring group of kids from Atlanta's Ron Clark Academy.

3 days...

2008-11-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

Barack Obama: An 'improbable' journey into history

By SHARON COHEN

CHICAGO (AP) — It was just before midnight last November when Barack Obama stepped on stage in a darkened auditorium in Iowa, trailing in the polls, taking on one of the biggest names in Democratic politics — and facing a make-or-break moment.

His star-making turn when he had introduced himself to America at the Democratic convention in 2004 was a fading memory, his 9-month-old presidential campaign had been lackluster at times. Iowa, he knew, could be the end — or the beginning.

The Democrats had gathered that night for the annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines. Less than two months before the crucial first-in-the nation Iowa caucuses, the event could be pivotal for presidential hopefuls, a moment to outshine their opponents and wow the party faithful.

Good buzz, like a good Broadway review, travels fast.

And Barack Obama, savvy politician and skilled orator, was ready for his debut.

As the last candidate to speak, Obama, considered by some as too cool and cerebral, turned up the heat with a passionate appeal. He condemned the same "old Washington textbook campaigns," chided fellow Democrats — and even took an indirect swipe at then-frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I am not in this race to fulfill some long-held ambitions or because I believe it's somehow owed to me," he declared. "I never expected to be here. I always knew this journey was improbable. I've never been on a journey that wasn't."

The crowd of thousands stood and cheered. He was on his way.

In the year since, Obama — a freshman U.S. senator — has vanquished a Democratic powerhouse, shattered all fundraising records (his campaign has collected more than $640 million), swatted away the he's-too-inexperienced mantra voiced by seasoned rivals and made history by becoming the first black nominee of a major party.

His 22-month journey has put him within reach of the White House.

___

Barack Obama's life story has been unconventional from the start.

His biography — white mother, African father, a childhood spent in Hawaii and Indonesia, working in one of the nation's poorest communities, studying and teaching at some of America's most prestigious universities — is unlike that of any other presidential candidate.

"He has this unusual combination of life experiences that don't fit in any stereotype," says Valerie Jarrett, his close friend and adviser. "He has something in common with everyone."

If his eclectic background has fueled his extraordinary rise, his foreign-sounding name and race also have made his candidacy a tough sell in some corners of America. He has fended off countless rumors that he's Muslim (he's Christian) and this summer, he told the crowd at a Missouri fundraiser that he knows it's "a leap" electing a black man with his name.

His wife, Michelle, recently echoed that on CBS' "Early Show."

"A guy named Barack Obama, who is a young, beginning-to-be-known candidate is always an underdog," she said.

The first pages of Obama's life story are well-known by now.

His Kansas-born mother, Stanley (her father wanted a boy) Ann Dunham. His Kenyan-born father, Barack Obama Sr. Their meeting at the University of Hawaii, their marriage, the birth of Barack — "blessed" in Arabic — on Aug. 4, 1961. The father's departure two years later to study at Harvard, his return just once when his son was 10.

The exotic childhood in Indonesia, homeland of his stepfather, Lolo Soetero; the exposure to Third World poverty, disease and beggars.

And then, after his mother's second marriage broke up, the return to Hawaii.

There was little hint then that politics was his destiny.

As a teen, Obama was smart and well-read but "he wasn't particularly driven or ambitious," says his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. "He wasn't part of student government. ... He was a young man concerned with ... hanging out with his buddies, playing basketball, body surfing and eating in excess."

When his mother's work as an anthropologist took her back to Indonesia, Obama — then known as Barry — stayed behind for high school, living with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn, known as Toot, short for tutu (Hawaiian for grandparent), and Stanley, or Gramps.

He played golf and poker, sang in the choir, wrote for the literary journal and listened to the music of Earth Wind & Fire. Most of all, he lived for basketball. He kept a photo of his hero, pro star Julius Erving, on his bedroom wall, played on the high school team (his nickname was Barry O'Bomber) and practiced his left-handed pump shot into the night, his grandmother watching from their 10th-floor apartment window.

For Obama — a biracial kid struggling with his identity — basketball was a refuge.

"At least on the basketball court I could find a community of sorts, with an inner life all its own," Obama later wrote. "It was there that I would make my closest white friends, on turf where blackness couldn't be a disadvantage."

His life was shaped by his circumstances: growing up without a father, and with a mother who was often far away.

"He ended up being the kind of man who would solve problems on his own," Maya says. "He always has been a lone traveler. He's a gregarious guy and he loves people, but ... he doesn't expect those closest to him to be all things to him."

Some have suggested Obama's cool demeanor may be a bit too chilly, but his half-sister rejects that notion.

"He understands what it means to be a regular guy," Maya explains. "He is equal portions laid back and deeply focused. He has a sense of humor. It's not all fire inside of him. There are wide pools of water as well."

After high school, Obama entered Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he started using his birth name, Barack, and took his first plunge into politics, speaking at an anti-apartheid rally.

Obama was confident and casual on campus — he favored flip-flops, shorts and a trim Afro — and not one to dominate dorm discussions about political issues such as the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan.

"He didn't get in people's faces," says Ken Sulzer, a dorm mate who is now a California lawyer. "He wasn't trying to get people's goats or get a rise out of them."

But Occidental was a small liberal arts college and Obama wanted broader horizons, so he moved across the country to attend Columbia University in New York.

Obama graduated with a political science degree and held a few jobs in New York. It was there he received a call from an aunt notifying him his father had been killed in an auto accident. The news eventually led Obama on a journey to Kenya and a tearful visit to his father's grave.

After New York, Obama moved to Chicago. He knew no one in the city and was stepping into a low-paying job with a formidable mission: motivating poor people to participate in a political system that had traditionally shut them out.

Chicago proved to be a much smarter move than it looked at first.

___

Obama had a beat-up Honda and a city map to navigate the streets as a community organizer on the South Side, a cluster of poor neighborhoods ravaged by the loss of steel mills and factory jobs.

Working for the Developing Communities Project, Obama met with black pastors and tried to mobilize people to agitate for themselves — whether it was lobbying for a job training center or cleaning up public housing.

He quickly won over skeptics, says Loretta Augustine-Herron, one of the project founders.

"He looked so young and tender" and the ladies soon dubbed him "babyface Obama," she recalls. "But he was very businesslike, very respectful. He had incredible people skills. He would keep us on task to move us along, to make things happen. If we'd get distracted, he'd shake his head and say, 'Come on guys. This is important.'"

She says Obama also offered sensible advice: "He would talk about no permanent friends, no permanent enemies. He would say, 'Don't get personalities involved.'"

Obama — who calls his organizing work "the best education I ever had" — gradually became a skilled conciliator, says Gerald Kellman, the man who hired him.

"He became very effective at getting people who initially did not get along ... to work together and build alliances," Kellman says. "He found a way to be tough and challenging when he didn't like something. At the same time, he was not one to burn his bridges."

Chicago became the place where Obama set down roots.

He joined the Trinity United Church of Christ and became friends with its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose incendiary comments about race and America would later raise questions about Obama's judgment and threaten to derail his presidential campaign. (Obama denounced the remarks after they created a national uproar; he no longer attends the church.)

Chicago also was Obama's political boot camp, where he learned about the power of coalitions and the importance of making connections.

But Obama was not all work. He wrote short fictional stories that evocatively captured the feel of the streets. (He would later write two best-selling books, one of them a memoir.)

Obama also remained close to his family. Maya, who is nine years younger, recalls how he "really took on the role of a father," after her own father died. He escorted her on college tours, introduced her to jazz, blues and classical music — and, much later, consoled her when their mother died of ovarian cancer at age 53.

After three years as an organizer, Obama had become increasingly pragmatic about what he could accomplish. "The victories were small, they changed peoples' lives, but they didn't change American society and he wanted to do that," Kellman says.

Obama took a giant leap from the gritty South Side to the heady atmosphere of Harvard Law School, the training ground for America's elite. He made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, perhaps the most prestigious law journal in the nation.

The distinction brought a flood of publicity. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Obama said a Harvard education "means you can take risks. You can try to do things to improve society and still land on your feet."

After his first year, Obama worked one summer at a corporate law firm in Chicago where his adviser was Michelle Robinson, another Harvard law graduate and a product of a working-class family.

They later married, and had two daughters, Malia, now 10, and Sasha, 7.

As Obama prepared to leave Harvard, job offers poured in.

But he already had a plan. He would return to Chicago for a political career.

___

Again, he chose a grassroots job.

Obama ran a voter registration drive that added tens of thousands to the rolls. "He was very straightforward and had a no-nonsense, all-the-cards-on-the-table approach," recalls Sandy Newman, founder of the national group Project Vote!

Obama also began carefully mapping out a path that positioned him for public office.

He joined a small, politically connected boutique law firm that did civil rights litigation. He and his wife, Michelle, lived in Hyde Park, the racially mixed neighborhood around the University of Chicago that is home to progressive politics, intellectuals and a sprinkling of Nobel Prize winners.

"He moved in an area where an independent can come out of nowhere to win," says Don Rose, a veteran political strategist. "By choosing to work at (that law firm), he was making a political statement to where he stood."

He made many acquaintances in Hyde Park, but none proved more troublesome during the campaign than Bill Ayers, a college professor who was co-founder of the Weather Underground, an anti-Vietnam war group that claimed responsibility for bombing government buildings.

The two men served on the boards of two civic organizations in Chicago, and Ayers hosted a meet-the-candidate session during Obama's first legislative race. That connection has prompted repeated attacks from Republicans who claim it demonstrates flaws in Obama's character.

By all accounts, the two men are not close and Obama — who was 8 when Ayers was protesting — has condemned his radical past.

Obama also has been dogged by another association, this one with real estate developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who raised funds for many Illinois politicians, including the senator. Rezko was recently convicted of using his influence with the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich to launch a $7 million fraud and extortion scheme.

Obama was accused of no wrongdoing and barely mentioned in the trial, but the connection has proven an embarrassment. Obama gave about $159,000 from Rezko-related contributions to charity.

On the more positive side, Obama also impressed a wide number of influential Democrats and party donors who have proved invaluable in his campaigns. Among them is Abner Mikva, a former Illinois congressman and federal judge.

"He's just a complete political talent," says Mikva, who became a mentor. "He likes to get along with people. He likes to listen to them. ... He has these great talents and skills to build coalitions."

Obama's friendship with Mikva also illustrates the senator's knack for making the right connections.

"If you don't like the guy, he's a calculating politician," says Rose, the political strategist. "If you do, he's a smart, methodical worker. He does nothing that's different from most politicians, even the reform politicians. The difference is he's extraordinarily gifted. ... His greatest capability is he never makes the same mistake twice."

But that skill was nothing without a political opportunity. While waiting for one, Obama became a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. He taught constitutional law. He was popular with students and faculty, though some found him a bit remote.

"He's a great conversationalist and a good listener," says Richard Epstein, a law school professor who was not a close friend. "But he never tips his hand to what he thinks. ... At the end of the day, you don't know whether you've changed his mind or not."

In 1996, when Obama was elected to the state Senate, some lawmakers dismissed him as an ivory tower liberal.

"Some members of both parties thought that Barack was longwinded and a tad aloof and arrogant. Not me," says state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Republican and Obama friend.

Obama won over many colleagues in nearly eight years in Springfield, joining them for weekly poker games, befriending suburban and white rural legislators.

"He was very inquisitive," says former state Sen. Denny Jacobs, a poker buddy. "He wanted to know why. He would ask a lot of questions, even on the floor (of the Senate.) I'd say, 'Barack, enough is enough. How much more do you need?'"

Obama had several legislative successes after his party took control of the Senate. He passed measures that limited lobbyists' gifts to politicians, helped expand health care to poor children and changed laws governing racial profiling, the death penalty and the interrogation of murder suspects.

He generally was a liberal, but he reached across party lines to work with Republicans.

"Barack can compromise without giving up his principles," says Dillard, who supports John McCain. "He's a realist and he knows when to fold his cards."

Obama stumbled badly, though, in 2000 when he challenged Rep. Bobby Rush, a former Black Panther member with deep roots in the community. Obama was dogged by the question raised by some pundits and black politicians — whether he was "black enough" for the district.

Obama says there never has been any question about his being black. He addressed the race issue in his book, "The Audacity of Hope," describing slights and prejudices he has encountered. "I know what it's like to have people tell me I can't do something because of my color, and I know the bitter swill of swallowed-back anger," he wrote.

But in that congressional contest, Obama was seen as the outsider. Rush, the insider, crushed him in the primary.

Two years later, Obama eyed another office: U.S. Senate.

Valerie Jarrett, his friend, was leery, telling him: "'My gosh, you can't lose two races in a row. You'll be done in politics. He said, 'If it's OK with me, it should be OK with you. I'm not afraid of losing.'"

Obama won a crowded primary and quickly emerged as a rising star, impressing Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who tapped him for the keynote speech at the 2004 convention.

In 17 minutes, Obama jumped from obscure state lawmaker to a force in national politics.

That fall, Obama, prospering from some lucky breaks, won his U.S. Senate seat in a landslide. Almost immediately, talk began of a presidential run.

___

In 22 months on the campaign trail, Obama has walked a fine line, presenting himself to America as a fresh face and an outsider — but with the knowledge and mettle needed for the White House.

He has rallied huge crowds with inspiring words and vows to bring change to the calcified ways of Washington, even as critics have tried to cast him as a celebrity whose oratorical sizzle conceals a thin resume.

But in a series of debates — including three with McCain — Obama proved adept and skilled at answering questions and offering proposals about health care, the financial bailout and Iraq, among other issues.

And his approach to dealing with the Wall Street meltdown earned a much ballyhooed endorsement from Colin Powell, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, who praised Obama's "steadiness ... (and) depth of knowledge."

Throughout his campaign, Obama has talked about defining moments — from his victory in Iowa to the day five grueling months and 53 contests later when he won enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination.

On that June night, he made history.

On Tuesday night, he'll find out if he can do it again.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

4 days...

2008-10-31T11:25:00.000-04:00

The Obama camp never loses an opportunity to repeat the message, even All Hallow's Eve.

5 days...

2008-10-30T21:36:00.000-04:00

And the odds are staggeringly favorable for Barack.
The most likely EV totals are all well above the magic 270.
I love 538.

6 days...

2008-10-29T22:16:00.000-04:00

Obama debuted a 30-minute television program highlighting ordinary Americans and their struggles. Very well crafted.

WATCH:

7 days...

2008-10-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

With just one week left in the campaign, on a dreary day in Pennsylvania, Sen. Obama rallies in the rain, while the McCain camp cancels. In Pennsylvania, Obama comfortably ahead in the latest polls...yet he still stumped while McCain cut out. Don't know quite what that says, but it says something.

8 days

2008-10-27T21:37:00.001-04:00

Obama made his closing argument today in Canton, Ohio.
Watch:

9 days...

2008-10-26T20:15:00.000-04:00

I've spent to much time following an election for which the outcome is beginning to seem all but certain... it's like a compulsion. Check out my latest pet project: website with special plug for some articles on the voices section.

10 days...premature much?

2008-10-26T00:14:00.000-04:00

10 days away from the Election, perhaps it's presumptuous to begin a blog on the topic of the 'Obama Presidency'.

oh well...

let the countdown begin!