What does life mean to Barack Obama?

At a town hall meeting in Kaukauna, Wisc., Thursday afternoon, amidst questions about health care and the economy, a young man said he had a question for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and Obama should “please be as intellectual or spiritual as you would like.”

“Well this is a lot of pressure,” Obama said to laugher.

“My question is: what does life mean to you?” the young man asked.

“Oh goodness,” Obama said, a bit taken aback. “What does life mean to me?”

He stammered a bit as he contemplated the enormity of the query.

“Well, uh, I, uh…”

The crowd of 2,500 supporters at Kaukauna High School * laughed with apparent sympathy.

“I don’t know where to start on a question like that,” Obama said. “Let me just say a couple things. Right now what I think about most is my daughters who are 10 and 7,” he said, referring to his daughters Malia and Sasha. “And not that I’m biased but they are perfect in all ways.”

To the young man who asked the question, Obama said, “when I was your age, I thought life was all about me. And how do make my way in the world and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want. And right now life for me revolves around those two girls. And I think about what kind of a place am I leaving them.”

And with that, came the able pivot.

“Michelle and I have been incredibly blessed,” Obama said. “As long as God’s looking over, my girls are going to be OK.” They go to “great schools, will be able to afford college, are in good health and will be well cared for if they ever get sick.

But the country and the world they’re living in, Obama said, needs work.

“Are they living in a county where there’s a huge gap between a few who are wealthy and a whole bunch of people who are struggling every day?” Obama asked. “Are they living in a county that is still divided by race?

“Are they living in a country where because they’re girls they don’t have as much opportunity as boys do?

“Are they living in a country where we are hated around the world because we don’t cooperate with other countries as effectively as we should? Are they living in a country where they are threatened by terrorism and a nuclear explosion could happen in a major American city? Are they living in a country in which because of a lack of sensible energy we are not only ransoming our future, but we’re also threatening the very livelihood of the planet?”

Obama continued, “what life means to me is that every day I wake up trying to figure out how can I secure their futures and the futures of all children, …How can I make sure that we are giving a planet and a country to them that is better than the one we got? And, you know ,so I guess what I’ve discovered is that life doesn’t count for much unless you’re somehow giving yourself to something larger to yourself. And that’s part of my Christian faith. It’s also part of the reason I am running for president of the United States.”

Why to vote Republican

It’s funny, because it’s true.

John McCain’s own words

This is a potential President we cannot afford to have.

Elizabeth Edwards challenges McCain’s Health Care Plan

I have loved Elizabeth Edwards (and John Edwards) for quite some time.
I had so much respect for Senator Edwards and was a big supporter of him as John Kerry’s VP and have always been so impressed with his sincerity. As for Elizabeth Edwards, her battle against breast cancer has been inspiring and the fact that she has become a champion for the issue of health care has just been amazing.

I read this posting by Elizabeth Edwards today which directly questions John McCain’s proposed health care plan, enjoy!

I freely admit that I am confused about the role of overnight funding in repurchase markets in the collapse of Bear Stearns. What I am not confused about is John McCain’s health care proposal. Apparently Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy advisor to McCain, thinks I do “not understand the comprehensive nature of the senator’s proposal.” The problem, Douglas, is that, despite fuzzy language and feel-good lines in the Senator’s proposal, I do understand exactly how devastating it will be to people who have the health conditions with which the Senator and I are confronted (melanoma for him, breast cancer for me) but do not have the financial resources we have. In very unconfusing language: they are left outside the clinic doors.

Senator McCain likes to start speeches with a litany of questions that, presumedly, less plain-spoken politicians would refuse to answer. Well, here are some questions he does not ask but, as that plain-spoken politician, he might want to answer:

1. Under your plan, Senator McCain, would any health insurer be required to sell you or me (or those like us with pre-existing conditions) a health insurance policy?

2. You say your plan is going to increase competition to the point that it actually lowers costs. Isn’t there competition today among insurance companies? Haven’t costs continued to go up despite that competition?

3. You say that under your plan everyone is going to pay less for health insurance. Nice words, I admit, but they are words we have heard before. You must know when American families calculate the actual cost of health care, they have to include those deductibles and co-pays and not just the cost of the insurance. Are you talking about cheaper overall or just a cheap policy that doesn’t kick in until after thousands of dollars of deductibles have been paid?

4. Isn’t the type of competition you are talking about really a rush to the bottom? As long as you allow insurers to underwrite and deny access, you encourage insurers to offer plans that may be cheap, but that get that way by avoiding people with cancer or other high-cost diseases or by limiting benefits and treatments, particularly if the treatment is expensive or might be needed for a long time. We all live in the real world; those of us lucky enough to have health insurance have seen how insurers cut coverage and up co-pays or deny particular treatments. The insurance company makes money when it doesn’t have to pay for our health care. (I suspect that if they could, they would write obstetrical-only policies for nuns.) Doesn’t your plan really encourage insurers plans to compete to avoid people with cancer or other high-cost diseases? Don’t you think that the kind of competition that starts with a decent level of required coverage, that doesn’t exclude the care we actually need, would be better?

I am not confused about your reputation: you are the straight-talker, you like to say. This is about health care, Senator McCain. Doesn’t the American voter deserve some straight answers to these questions? As one of those with a pre-existing condition, I sure would like some straight talk.

– Elizabeth Edwards

A Message from Senator Obama

A video from this weekend where Senator Obama addresses staffers at one of the HQ’s.
I think his message really applies to everyone that’s worked for the campaign and it’s something we need to take to heart.
On top of that, it’s getting to see Obama in a more relaxed atmosphere and you can hear in his voice that he knows what is at stake if John McCain were to win the White House. It’s up to all of us not to let that happen!

Thank You Senator Hillary Clinton

Today Senator Hillary Clinton endorsed Barack Obama for President.
Her speech today showed her strength of character more than at any other point during this primary season. She was graceful, eloquent and passionate about her love for this country and her hopes for all of our future. Americans are truly lucky to have a champion for the important causes of our time in Senator Clinton.

A Word to Feminist Supporters of Hillary Clinton

Rebecca Walker is the founder of the Third Wave Foundation, a feminist group that works nationally to support young women and transgender activists. She’s also the author of four books, including her latest, “Baby Love”. Walker is the daughter of Pulitzer prize winning-author Alice Walker. Read her blog on theroot.com.

KULA, Hawaii (CNN) — Let’s all breathe a collective sigh of relief, shall we? Now that we’ve got our nominee, Hillary can get some rest, Obama can read his daughters a bedtime story, and the rest of us can relax knowing our relative peace won’t be shattered by another primary-related explosion.

Goodbye Reverend Wright and Bosnia tarmac snipers. Goodbye bitter working-class voters and hard-working white people. See you in November John King and the magic CNN map.

But what now?

Obama has gracefully accepted the victory banner, and a lot of Hillary supporters, especially women, are walking off the field as if they’ve lost a war. I understand their frustration, but the truth is they didn’t lose, not by a long shot. Their candidate is stronger than ever, with 17 million votes under her belt, and the public discussion about the role of gender is more nuanced and compelling than it has been in decades.

The next woman candidate will have a better shot at the White House because of the tireless efforts of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But with a Democratic house divided, now is the time for healing, and this can only happen if Hillary’s staunch female supporters let go of the reverse-sexist ideology that women are inherently better, wiser, and more compassionate leaders.

They will have to acknowledge that sometimes the best woman for the job is actually a man — if it’s the right man. Obama’s vote against the war, marriage to his female mentor, outstanding record on reproductive choice and a host of other progressive issues, and his uncanny ability to inspire people all over the world suggest he’s just that.

It is time to turn the page on myopic gender-based Feminism and concede that while patriarchy is real, so is female greed, dishonesty and corruptibility. It’s time to empower the feminisms embodied by millions of women and men who care about everyone, including, but not limited to, women.

These are the feminists who wanted the first Clinton’s welfare reform to include real jobs for women, with real wages and real benefits. They wanted trade agreements like NAFTA to empower female workers in other countries, not make them easier to exploit. They also want to exhaust diplomatic means before threatening to bomb entire civilizations to dust in response to hostile challengers to U.S. supremacy.

These people — male and female, young and old, black, white, yellow and brown, self-identified feminists and adamant rejecters of the term — move from a place of passion, hope, and yes, pragmatism.

They realize Obama will need to assemble a stellar team to move his vision forward. And they plan to hold him accountable for his positions on all of it: racism, sexism, socio-economic disparities, the environment, education, health care, a living wage and any other obstacles to the ideals of equality upon which this great nation was founded.

Clinton supporters aren’t the only ones with work to do. I spoke at Harvard a few years ago on the necessity of ending divisiveness and relying more on the human capacity for openness as a baseline for true progress. This position is necessary not only in feminist circles, but in the primal fight or flight mechanism of our own minds.

As angry as some Obama supporters might be, as disheartened as we may feel, the only way out is to believe in the power of human beings to rise to the moral imperative.

Judging by the state of the world, we may not get another chance.

Let’s Remember Robert Kennedy

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of Robert Kennedy.
Robert Kennedy served as the Attorney General of the United States as well as the US Senator for New York. In 1968 he was running for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency when he was assassinated.
Always fighting for equality for all people, Robert Kennedy was a trail-blazer who paved the way for the heroes we have today like Senator Ted Kennedy, John Edwards, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama.
Let’s take a minute to remember Senator Robert Kennedy.

There is still a long road ahead

I have been holding off posting anything recently and just trying to focus on the things that I could do to help Senator Obama secure the nomination.

After Tuesday night’s speech and the reality that Senator Obama had secured the nomination, I just wanted to have one or two days to enjoy it.

As I watched Senator Obama speaking I actually felt myself get a little misty-eyed. (I’m not ashamed to admit it, I’m a man of the 21st century.)

Now that I have had my two days of celebratory time, it’s time to get into General Election mode. And, sadly, the most terrifying obstacle we face has to do with gaining the support of the die-hard Hillary Clinton fans. Recently I took some time to browse through a few of the blogs on the Hillary Clinton website and the comments I was seeing were…disappointing.

I say disappointing because the words I want to use wouldn’t be in keeping with the spirit of this campaign.

They are talking about voting for John McCain, they are talking about hoping Senator Clinton runs as an Independent, they are talking about abandoning the Democratic party and staying home in November.

Disappointing is the only word I can come up with that I will type.

So I just wanted to take a moment to address those Clinton supporters specifically.

I can understand your disappointment that your candidate did not secure the Democratic nomination. It was something that all Obama supporters considered facing at some point or another during this long primary season. Falling short of a goal is never easy, especially for people that have been so involved in a particular campaign.

Now here are the cold, hard facts.

If you are a supporter of Senator Clinton, one would assume that her political policies would have something to do with the support you lent to her. Her, personally, was also a factor no doubt. You admire her – her strength, her intelligence, her tenacity and her willingness to get a job done. Hillary Clinton has fought long and hard for the things she believes in.

So, for any Hillary Clinton supporter to say they would rather vote for John McCain than Senator Obama demonstrates that this individual was never truly a Hillary Clinton supporter at all. How could you consider yourself a supporter of a woman who championed for women’s rights, for health care, for better education, for an end to the war in Iraq and then turn around and vote for a man who is opposed to all of those things?

How could you knowingly cast a vote that would lend the power to a man like John McCain. Your vote would, effectively, be condemning more US soldiers, our brave men and women in uniform, to death in a further drawn out war in Iraq.

Your vote would, effectively, be giving John McCain the power to appoint one or two new Justices to the US Supreme Court, strictly conservative judges who would have the power to affect decisions on a woman’s right to choose.

Your vote would, effectively, be giving John McCain the power to continue the Bush administration’s policies of tax cuts for the richest Americans while neglecting those of us who are struggling with $4.00 a gallon gas at the pumps.

Your vote would, effectively, be giving John McCain the power to continue with the Bush policy of “cowboy diplomacy”, of the “shoot first, ask questions later” diplomacy that led us into Iraq. He would have the power to start yet another war, this time in Iran.

Your vote would, effectively, be giving John McCain the power to continue destroying America’s image around the world. Our country cannot afford 4-years or 8-years of a John McCain Presidency.

So, if you are a Hillary Clinton supporter you must remember that John McCain has NOTHING in common with Senator Clinton.

Senator Clinton and Senator Obama are friends. They have worked on creating bills together, their policies are from the same, Democratic book of beliefs.

So not voting for Senator Obama, or even taking the time to learn about where he stands on the issues, is by all rights an insult to the very things that Senator Clinton has worked her entire public life to accomplish.

If you truly support, admire and respect Hillary Clinton and the work she’s done, then voting for John McCain would be the worst possible insult to her you could ever come up with.

Just a few things to consider.

Our Nominee

We are all Americans.