Japi's Blog

Barack Obama Wins - thoughts on the campaign and election

Senator Barack Obama is now President-Elect Barack Obama... first in many ways!

1. First son of a Kenyan to be President of the United States
2. First President to be born in Hawaii
3. First African-American President
4. and I'm sure many others...

Most importantly is that he accomplished it using an absolutely brilliant strategy... starting with his prowess for fund-raising that was obviously out of the great book "The Long Tail" (a few bucks here and there from millions and millions of people).  Obama put together a near perfect campaign using some of the basic skills he learned as a community organizer (I doubt the Republicans are making fun of his volunteer work any longer).

Democrats had more money than Republicans?  I could not believe all the whining... Republicans have been the party with a financial HUGE edge for many, MANY years.  The shoe was on the other foot this time.

Between David Plouffe (Campaign Manager) and David Axelrod (Chief Strategist), the campaign was brilliantly run from start (about 22 months ago), through an unbelievably difficult primary season and an insane presidential battle.  The campaign strategy and results will most certainly be placed in every political science textbook from this point forward.

One of the many discussions on FoxNews yesterday which major mistakes each candidate made... the list for McCain included choosing Palin, his many slips of the tongue (my fellow prisoners, I couldn't agree with Obama more, bomb bomb Iran, 100 years in Iraq, fundamentals of the economy, etc...) and several others... they could only come up with one mistake by Obama in 22 months - when Obama talked about "clinging to guns and religion".  AMAZING!  How many people go 1 week without making a mistake?

And now for the speeches... John McCain's speech was wonderful and full of class... see for yourself:

President-Elect Obama's speech was one of his best... he asked for bi-partisan help, was gracious and (as expected) inspirational:

I expect Obama's administration to be run from the center (and not the left as many of my friends fear).  The one issue which I expect to be more left than center is universal health care... and I DO like Obama's proposal. I'm just not sure if the current financial crisis will allow this to be a priority early on.

I am extremely pleased that Obama won by such a large electoral vote margin... it gives him a mandate which should help him lead the country with broad support.

One final thought...

I really believe that John McCain's upbeat attitude the last week of the campaign, saying things like "we got them where we want them" and "we will surprise everyone when we win" made Obama supporters very nervous and I AM CERTAIN that it helped to get them to show up to vote... so I want to thank McCain for this... I'm not being facetious... I'm absolutely serious!

Barack Obama 30 minute ad

I know a lot of people criticized the 30 minute commercial that Barack Obama chose to run tonight in all the major television networks... but I just watched it and I was happy how it was presented.  Barack showed several families telling their own stories.  These are regular people who have the same challenges that many families around the US are experiencing.

Here's the 30 minute ad so you can decide for yourself:

McCain is a hot head?

Two articles written by typically conservative newspapers called out John McCain for his "hot-headedness" reaction to the current government bailout.

The Wall Street Journal article titled McCain's Scapegoat discusses how McCain unfairly called for Christopher Cox's head.  The article closes with:

"In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help. Mr. McCain is sounding like a candidate searching for a political foil rather than a genuine solution. He'll never beat Mr. Obama by running as an angry populist like Al Gore, circa 2000."

In an even more eye-opening article in The Washington Post titled McCain Loses His Head, George F. Will (a leader in the conservative community)... "Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama."

Mr. Will ends his article with a statement that pretty clearly supports Obama (I was blown away!)

"It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?"

Is this the beginning of the end for the McCain campaign or will this have little to no effect on the election. 

In my opninion this just adds more spice to this already habanero-laced campaign... which makes it that more interesting.

The Republican Convention so far

I've watched the Republican National Convention on and off the last few days... one of the things that so far has stood out is that most of the speeches are either saying wonderful things about McCain or criticizing Obama.... but there is little to no substance when it comes to the issues.  I think they have wasted several days of a large TV audience where they could have made it very clear how McCain would make our lives better.

I thought Governor Palin delivered a great speech... I had not seen her speak before and was very impressed... but the content of the speech was very negative and I think she also missed a great opportunity to rise above the fray.  So it looks like the Republicans are just going to run a negative campaign and hope it sticks.  There was an unexpected reaction after Palin's speech - Obama's campaign received a record $10 million in one day.

Attacking Obama is a very risky strategy.... when Hillary Clinton ran negative ads or had negative attacks against Obama, his lead increased.  The only way Clinton got back in the race was when she started talking about what she would do to help the economy, etc... but it was too little to late to win the nomination.

There WAS one speech I've really enjoyed... Mike Huckabee... he has a great sense of humor and good delivery.

I am very interested in what the polls will show next week.  So far there's been little to no movement for either side.

Historic Night - Obama is the official nominee

Barack Obama officially became the Democratic Party's Presidential nominee last night.  On the 45th anniversary of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech - coincidence? I doubt it.

Rev. King's dream of equality is closer to a reality with Senator Obama's nomination... so it's absolutely fitting!

Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night was long and not one of his best if you measure it against some of his more powerful speeches (like the one he gave in March 208 titled "A More Perfect Union"or his 2004 convention powerful keynote).  However, it was Senator Obama's most complete speech detailing the plans he has for our country.

With the 2008 Democratic National Convention coming to a close last night, it's going to be very interesting to watch if there is a dramatic shift in the polls... it will be especially interesting to see what happens with Hillary supporters.

Obama's First Presidential Campaign Commercial

Barack Obama released his first commercial for the Presidential Campaign.  It re-introduces Senator Obama to the public. 

I hope it opens people's eyes and hearts to the message of his campaign.... the minute-long spot shows the democratic nominee in an honest and calm demeanor.

Senator Obama's campaign also announced today that they would not use public funds for the Presidential run.  He is the first Presidential campaign to forgo these funds since the early '70s when this funding was established.

Obama's campaign has over 1.5 million individual donors and most of the donations are of less than $100.  By using only donated funds, Obama's campaign does not have spending limits. 

Maybe I'm naive or there's something I don't understand, but by not taking public money.. isn't this good?  Senator McCain is slamming Obama for this move... but the Republican 527 groups will be spending quite a lot of money to run negative ads - this move allows Obama to be able to match the money spent by these groups to be able to counter those ads.

It's going to be a very interesting campaign.

Hillary Finally Does It Right

After months of bitter Democratic primary battles... Hillary Clinton gave an great speech to put her support behind Barack Obama. 

I don't know if it's a good idea for Obama to put her on the ticket as the running mate... I think she can help bring more votes, but her campaign has been very different from Obama's and I don't believe she is an agent of change... she has a lot of old-time Washington politics baggage PLUS her husband. 

So I think it would be better to ask her to lead the healthcare reform for Obama or something along those lines.

But if she were placed on the ticket, I would still vote for Obama-Hillary.

Here's a short snippet of her speech this past Saturday:

Senator Obama's Quotes Taken Out of Context

I received an email from a family member with the following:

This guy wants to be our President and control our government. Pay close attention to the last comment!!  Below are a few lines from Obama's books ' his words:

1. From Dreams of My Father:  'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
2. From Dreams of My Father :  'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mothers race.'
3. From Dreams of My Father:  'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
4. From Dreams of My Father:  ; 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
5. From Dreams of My Father:  'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
6. From Audacity of Hope:  'I will stand with the Muslims, should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

I was quite upset by it so I decided to research the context of each of these (since I HAVE read the books and my perception is that the family member who sent me this has not).  If they had read the books, I'm pretty certain they would not be sending these quotes taken out of context... it's pretty sad that there are so many people out there willing to take just a tidbit of information and make their minds up about someone without really delving into the truth. 

I think it's somewhat understandable because we have a finite amount of time to spend on certain things... but this particular presidential election is too important to just read the quotes.  I am not a Rhodes Scholar... but I've educated myself on the differences between the candidates... none of them are perfect, they all have good and bad ideas... but I believe Obama gives us the best option.... but that's obviously my opinion from what I've read.

Here are the 6 quotes mentioned above in more detail... you decide if they are accurate as stated above or if they make more sense (and you agree with them) when placed in the proper context.

1. The quotes of Dreams From My Father are all race-related...
   1. 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
   2. 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mothers race.'
   3. 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
   4. 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
   5. 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
   • In the book Dreams of My Father, Senator Obama describes his teenage years as he struggled with his identity... as every single teenager has done throughout history.  The quote explains how he saw himself, as white or a black?
   • This is from a response on answers.yahoo.com:
     • The book is about how growing up Barack came to reconcile being of mixed heritage. "Dreams from my Father", pertains to that conflict in his youth, and how he came to resolve it. He writes about how he romanticized the life of his absent black father who he never knew and resented his mother, and how growing up changed his views on things
     • Read the book. Don't just find a few quotes that describe a conflict he felt at the age of 13 and pass it off as views he holds right now. He wrote the book to document how he came to reconcile the issue of race in his life
   • If you understand the concepts of the book, Dreams From My Father, you will see the process he went through to get to the point where he is now.
   • A better statement of his current views can be obtained from the speech he made in Philadelphia.  The description of the race issues in the U.S. that he gave in that speech are amazingly similar to mine and (I'm sure) most people.
2. The quote from "The Audacity of Hope" ( 'I will stand with the Muslims, should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.') is completely chopped... here's the full version from the book:
   • "Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

It's really sad that these quotes are either taken out of context or adjusted to fit the needs of the ultra-right to scare people into not voting for an amazing candidate.  If you really want to understand what Obama offers, read one or both books (with a truly open mind) and make up your mind aftewards.

I don't think Obama is perfect, he's far from it... as we ALL are.  But out of the candidates running for president, I believe he offers the best option... read Oabama's views on the REAL issues and compare them to McCain's views... TRULY INFORM YOURSELF! 

I believe Senator Obama can bring both sides together to move our country in a positive direction.  In my opinion, Hillary would give us a similar polarization (on the opposite end) as we have witnessed with Bush... and I believe McCain would continue the policies that the Bush administration has supported and that would be a big mistake.

Read the books and make an educated decision on who you think would be the best leader for the nation.... don't just read a few lines and believe their message without understanding the whole story.

Body of War - A Powerful Documentary

Ellen Spiro (a friend of my brother Joaquin) and Phil Donahue have produced and directed a powerful documentary called Body of War. 

It is the story of a young man, Tomas Young, who joins the military to fight the evil doers and is wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week.

Here's a synopsis from the film's Web site:

"Body of War is Tomas' coming home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. Body of War is a naked and honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man."

Watch the preview below:

Collective Intuition Which Inspires Us

Barack Obama has many qualities which draw us to his campaign and his message.  In fact, his message has inspired numerous individuals to begin Obama's change right now with organizations like ObamaWorks in Philadelphia and Obama Volunteer Corps in Houston.

Some of the qualities which inspire us include:

1. Message of change
2. Powerful oratory
3. Ability to rise above the fray
4. JFK/MLK like qualities
5. Hope
6. Charisma
7. Intelligence
8. Speak about race in an intelligent and adult manner
9. Mad Basketball Skillz (well, I like that one... grin)

I read an article by Mark Morford in the San Francisco Chronicle's online edition (SFGate.com) called "The very best thing about Barack Obama" in which Murford mentioned all those qualities and others... but explained that THOSE do not describe the very best thing about Senator Obama... it's actually the "feeling" or "intuition" we all have about him... we all feel (as Morford describes):

"People feel it. They hear an Obama speech or read the articles or talk to like-minded folk, and they squint their eyes and weigh everything and then dismiss all that surface crap and get that look on their face that says, you know what? This guy gets it. He feels right. It's not a trick of light. It's not complete bulls—. It's not the usual spin and manipulation and fakery. There is actual meat on this bone. What a thing."

I completely agree... it goes beyond just Obama's message of hope... it's something we can't touch yet it lives inside each of us.  Even the most jaded (of which I was one), are coming around to hear and act on Obama's message of hope and change.