Election 2008: Racist Incidents Rattle Obama Backers

Election 2008: Racist Incidents Rattle Obama Backers

Fairfax County, Va.: Your article has unleashed more than 2,100 comments online so far. Many are racist or at least racially tinged. Others are from people of good will or at least some thought who are getting drowned out by the voices of anger. So I'm wondering how you feel when you see all that. Do you read the comments when you write a story? Do you think The Washington Post is doing a service to the community when it opens the door to unfiltered commentary on such a subject (and supplies the bandwidth and software to host it)? Is it a good thing to know what's out there, or a bad thing to give these people a megaphone? I'm confident some are on a regular program of posting to such articles, either on a self-assigned "mission" or as political operatives. But I think a lot of others are one-time posters.

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Fairfax County, Va.: Kevin, were you surprised there has been that level of racism and incidents -- or surprised there haven't been more? As a fortysomething white woman, it sounds about like what I would have expected, and a quantum leap forward from what things were like when I was growing up. We have a long way to go, but these stories now come across to me like the remnants and last bastions of racism, not typical of the whole country any more.

Kevin Merida: I think there has indeed been tremendous progress in the nation. It was only 40-50 years ago when people blacks would be blocked from going to the polls at all, hosed, beaten, etc...The young people who have been inspired to work for Obama are undeterred by racial intolerance. Not defeated.

I think that it a shame that in the year in the year 2008 that people are still racist and believe that people are not equal.

Same Sex Marriage and Election

Same Sex Marriage and Election

The place where same sex marriage will galvanize social conservatives like no other issue since legal abortion is in down ballot races. Republicans, somewhat demoralized since losing three special elections in a row, now have a unifying issue to run on. Americans, while possibly persuadable on civil unions, are against legal same sex marriage by wide margins in most polls. Many will also find galling that the decision to lift the ban on same sex marriage was accomplished by judicial fiat and not through the political and legislative process

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The same sex marriage issue, now brought to the fore, has the potential of bringing out social conservatives to the polls in large numbers. That could turn what many believe will be a Democratic election year into something else entirely.

I think that the sublect of gay marriage is important to the 2008 election. I really believe that that there are a large pollution of gay voters and the candidates need to take that into consideration.

Stars set Obama speech to music

Stars set Obama speech to music

Actress Scarlett Johansson and jazz legend Herbie Hancock sing lines in the music video, created by Will.I.Am from pop group Black Eyed Peas.

The rapper was inspired to create the song, Yes We Can, after the Democratic candidate spoke in New Hampshire.

"That speech effected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time," Will.I.Am said.

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Meanwhile, songs by rocker John Mellencamp have been dropped from Republican contender John McCain's events after the musician's publicist questioned their use.

"Are you sure you want to use his music to promote Senator McCain's efforts?" asked Bob Merlis.

"Logic says that the facts might prove to be an embarrassment, were they to be circulated widely," he added.

Mellencamp had supported John Edwards for the Democratic nomination until he dropped out.

This article is about how musicians are joining the campaign band wagon and if its helps or not.

What's a Peacenik to Do?

What's a Peacenik to Do?

The appalling presidential election campaign drags on. On Super Tuesday Democrats split almost evenly between Hillary Clinton, a hawk turned slightly dovish, and Barack Obama, an Iraq war opponent who otherwise has found no foreign intervention he opposes. A divided Republican electorate boosted John McCain, an enthusiast of war in the Mideast (Iraq and Iran), Europe (the Balkans), and Asia (North Korea). Electoral laggards Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee match McCain's rhetoric, but their commitment to at least one war on every continent is less certain.

Amidst this gaggle of warrior wannabees ready to sacrifice American lives for mostly frivolous national "interests," Ron Paul labors on. The only genuinely anti-war candidate left in the race, he is largely ignored by the media and despised by establishment political interests. He obviously won't be winning the Republican nomination; he now must decide whether to "go independent" in the general election.

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Advocates of liberty have no major party home. Since 2001 the Republicans have proved to be particularly inhospitable to anyone who believes in both peace and prosperity. The nomination of John McCain should drive away even more of those who support constitutional governance.

They need somewhere to go. The GOP doesn't want Ron Paul. Come the fall, he should dump the Republican Party into the famous trash can of history. It is time for American politics to offer a choice, not an echo.

This article is interesting its about how the election is getting closer to the end people are starting to sound the same.

Is John McCain Good for Business?

Is John McCain Good for Business?

How will corporate America react if John McCain lands the Republican nomination? For business, Senator McCain (R-Ariz.) is a candidate of contradictions. He initially opposed President Bush's tax cuts, but now supports making them permanent. He has crusaded against the influence of corporate lobbyists, yet has more K Street fixers raising money for his campaign than any other Presidential candidate. And he says he's a full-bore, free-enterprise capitalist even as he admits that he hasn't understood economics as well as he should. "He doesn't fit neatly into a box," says GOP pollster Whit Ayers, who is unaffiliated with a Presidential candidate.

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"That's an agenda that's good for the American people, and the agents of that agenda will be the businesses of America," says McCain's senior domestic policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. "He will be a leader on economic issues the same way he has been on foreign policy issues." McCain also boasts of a list of big business backers including Cisco (CSCO) Chief Executive Officer John Chambers, Merrill Lynch (MER) CEO John Thain), and former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Carly Fiorina, who has been traveling on the campaign trail with McCain. "His record is far better than the record of the governor of Massachusetts," Fiorina told a business group in Michigan
in January.

This article is basically about is John McCain ready to be in the white house can he handle the business of the white house the economy and so forth.

Republican McCain gains Schwarzenegger endorsement

Republican McCain gains Schwarzenegger endorsement

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Popular California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed Republican candidate John McCain on Thursday, giving McCain a key boost in a state crucial in his drive to gain the party's presidential nomination.

"He is a great American hero and an extraordinary leader. This is why I am endorsing him to be our next president of the United States," the actor-turned-politician said.

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We need all parts of our party together if we're going to win in November. I believe our party is beginning to realize that," he said.

Schwarzenegger said he made up his mind to endorse McCain after Giuliani, a moderate Republican also admired by Schwarzenegger, dropped out of the race.

"It's all Rudy's fault. Both of them are friends of mine and this is why I really didn't want to endorse anybody," he said.

This article talks about how Governor Schwarzenegger supports John Mc Cain in the presidental race. This interesting to me i think that this might tip the scales alot bit. I think that he might just get the votes in California and with movie fans you now American is hollywood crazy.

Republican Discontent: Conservatives Dislike McCain, Mistrust Romney

Republican Discontent: Conservatives Dislike McCain, Mistrust Romney

Now the field has been winnowed down largely to two candidates -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

Nevertheless, the discontent remains.

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Questioning Romney
And while Romney claims conservative credentials -- that assertion is undercut by his own record.

"I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush," Romney said during his unsuccessful 1994 Senate bid against Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Six years later, in 2002, Romney sounded as if he favored abortion rights.

"I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose," he said, while campaigning in a successful bid for governor of

This article is very interesting to me I shows the front runners for the republican party are being doubted by their parties. Its talks about how either candidate is fitting the traditonal republican. This is my flip things for the parties and might just put democrats in a better postion.

Kennedys endorse Obama

Kennedys endorse Obama

WASHINGTON -- The keepers of the Camelot legacy - the family of President Kennedy, who inspired a generation of Americans with his soaring rhetoric before his assassination in 1963 - embraced Sen. Barack Obama for president today.

In a rousing speech at American University, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) called Obama, a freshman senator from Illinois, a leader "who can lift our spirits ... who has the power to truly inspire and make America great again."

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Both Obama and Clinton sought an endorsement from Edward Kennedy, who in 46 years in the Senate has become an icon. In addition to his status as a lion of liberal causes, Kennedy also has a vast network of political contacts. Just last October Kennedy was quoted as saying that it would be difficult to choose among the Democratic candidates. "I've got a lot of friends who want to be president," he said.

Kennedy had privately urged former President Clinton to temper his attacks on Obama, and was said to have been chagrined when Bill Clinton compared Obama's landslide Saturday in South Carolina to civil rights leader Jesse Jackson's victories there in the 1980s.

Ignoring the hoopla over Kennedy's endorsement, Hillary Clinton today focused her criticism on President Bush. "Tonight is a red-letter night in American history," she said. "It is the last time George Bush will give the State of the Union. Next year it will be a Democratic president giving it."

I think this article is really interesting. I think its shows how influential people can really can affect something. Obama getting this endorsement could just send him over the top. I say this because the Kennedy's inspired a nation and people have alot of trust in their family. So by them backing Obama people may believe in him.