Voter Purging is Happening in the Battleground States

People who are registered to vote are being purged from the voting rolls. Lists are purged to remove people who have died or moved, but people are now being purged for political reasons. Please watch the video and make sure you are registered prior to November 4th especially if you are in a battleground state.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWsVkUybX9c

The Candidacy of Barack Obama has Energized a Community

There are a little over 30 days until the election and who would have believed a year ago that Barack Obama would be the Democratic Party candidate? Not me. I believed the Clinton machine was unbeatable but as I watched the primaries unfold I started to become a believer, and not only a believer, but I  became a recruiter. Barack Obama was not the candidate with the most experience, but he was a candidate with a vision and a different point of view that had been shaped by a unique life experience. As a person of mixed heritage he had the opportunity to look at the landscape of a America through two lens. Now as we approach November I see the black community has come together united in their efforts to elect Obama. I hear radio personalities who normally provide humor during drive time are now encouraging people to register to vote. This morning one dj asked people to call in with the names and numbers of friends and relatives that were not registered. Radio personality Tom Joyner was going to call each of the people and encourage them to register. Everyone is excited at the posssiblity but that excitement is tempered with reality. Will America just see Barack Obama as a black man or will they judge him as a man?  I have faith in America. I have to believe what I teach my children.  America is the best country in the world and this country is full of possiblities. It is wonderful to have Obama as the candidate, but my hope is that the new found interest in politics does not die after November 4th. This indeed is a big election, but there are things that effect the community on the local and state level that should also demand the attention of every citizen. This is not just about Barack Obama’s candidacy, this is about exercising your hard fought right to vote every time you are given the opportunity. It is through the ballot box that you can impact your own community. So my hope is that on November 4th record numbers go to the polls, and my prayer is that the community stay energized no matter what happens on election day.

The Clintons Are the Gift that Keeps On Giving to the Republicans

During the primaries Hillary Clinton campaigned against Barack Obama like he was a Republican. As I would watch the commercials I knew that we would see snippets in upcoming Republican ads, and McCain and the crew did not disappoint us. Now we have Bill Clinton coming out of hibernation lavishing praise on John McCain. His support of Obama could be described as tepid, but he has no problem verbalizing his admiration for McCain. Now we see the McCain crew use Bill Clinton’s words in their latest commercial. “I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”  The former president said this on an ABC interview.  He also said, “  it is important not to assign blame at this time for the current state of the economy: “We are where we are. I think the most important thing is we got two candidates for president saying ‘let’s try to minimize the partisan differences. We will have plenty of time later to look at who caused this and what mistakes were made.” These comments did not make it to the ad. Wonder why?  

McCain and Palin Attack “Gotcha Journalism”

Yesterday while watching the CBS News I was struck by the fact that the original Maverick would not let Maverick Jr. answer Katie Couric’s questions. Katie asked Sarah Palin about her apparent conflict with McCain’s position on Pakistan. Before she could speak McCain went into his partisan rhetoric. He said this was a case of “gotcha journalism.” They had no conflict and she was just answering a question from a voter. Katie asked her if she would like to apologize for the remark, and McCain immediately jumped to her defense. Palin is the self- proclaimed reformer, moose eater and moose killer but when cornered McCain has to step in and do the talking. Will he be there on Thursday night or will we get the opportunity to hear what Maverick Jr. really thinks?

You Have Got to Register or You Can’t Vote

Today I saw the following statement online, “Spend 3 minutes registering or spend 4 years wishing you had.” If you are 18 or over you can make a difference, but you have got to be registered.  You can register at www.rockthevote.com or you can register at www.naacp.org. Time is running out so act today. If you don’t vote you can’t complain.

Republicans Blame Pelosi for the Bailout Fiasco

The Republicans claim they were offended by the partisan speech delivered by Nancy Pelosi. They were so offended that some of them failed to vote for the bailout. There are some serious questions that need to be answered before this kind of money is released. The Republicans are responsible for the bill not being passed and they should stand up and say why they did it, but to say it was Pelosi’s speech is a lame excuse. Politics is partisan and she is going to spin the situation to make her party look more favorable. Both parties do it. John McCain inserted himself in this process last week and now he has the nerve to try to flip it back on Obama. McCain injected politics into this equation and ever since his intrusion this has become political. There is enough blame to go around, but they shouldn’t try to blame Pelosi it makes them look like punks.

Bailout Vote–Is it Do or Die or Something Else?

The House is voting on the bailout this afternoon and it is truly scary. There are so many things about this bailout that the members of congress simply do not know. They have been told by the White House that this is a do or die situation. They have positioned this to us as if the sky will fall without this extreme measure, but they never fully explained what would happen if it were not passed. This same kind of mania was in place when the vote was taken on the Iraq War. they had weapons of mass destruction and they were an imminet threat. There was a rush to judgment and George Bush led that charge, and now we are dealing with the diastrous results of that decision. This is a vote that will affect our future, our children’s future and their children. Hopefully we are making the right decision and in 3 years we will not be lamenting that we were a part of another Bush stampede into oblivion.

Sarah Palin and The Low Expectation Spin…Don’t Believe It

Sarah Palin is being positioned as the underdog in the Palin/Biden debate. After the Katie Couric interview pundits have expressed concern regarding the upcoming debate. Expectations have been set so low that if she shows up without tripping over her own feet she will be declared the victor.  Some have said Biden might need to thread carefully because he does not want to come off as if he is a bully. This is truly a crock if you are going to run with the big dogs you had better learn how to bite back. When McCain plucked her out of Alaska she stepped on the national stage and took a bite out of Barack Obama. She did not need a cheat sheet to start spewing the GOP talking points. She will be debating one man. In the primaries Hillary Clinton debated 7 or 8 contenders and nobody spoke about the prospect of Clinton being bullied. She held her own and that is what Palin will have to do Thursday night. We can not allow the low expectation spin to color what we witness Thursday night. Palin will have to not only show her capacity for memorization, but she will also need to show a depth of knowledge that is garnered over a lifetime.

The Party is Over…We Weren’t Invited and Now We’ve Got to Pay

The bailout is pretty much a done deal. American taxpayers are stuck with the bill. It’s like having your pocket picked, and then having the pickpocketer explain to you that he has just done you a favor. The final plan at least has more oversight than the first plan out of the White House and there are more provisions to help the little guy, but it still stings to pay for years of wild, wild west behavior. We are victims of 8 years of Bush and we can not afford 4 more with McCain. We need a change of direction and new blood at the helm and that is Barack Obama.

Barack Obama is Now the Maverick

John McCain is now calling himself an agent of change. He and his co-maverick Sarah Palin are going to change the way Washington is doing business. McCain and the crew have been grabbing Obama’s slogans and using his lines because they know America is sick of business as usual. Today while campaigning in North Carolina Obama had a great line “The other day he said, I think, we need to ‘turn the page.’ It’s like, come on, John! I’ve been saying that for – how long have I been saying that? Pretty soon I’m going to have to start saying I’m a maverick!”