Category: Elections

Obama Comes Clean on Rezko

Posted on by TL

Senator Barack Obama gave an extensive interview with the Chicago Tribune Friday answering questions about his relationship with Tony Rezko. The Tribune provided an initial report of the interview where Obama revealed Rezko was much more involved with Obama’s fundraising efforts, but repeatedly chastised himself not showing better judgment:

Indicted Chicago businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko was a more significant fundraiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama’s earlier political campaigns than previously known. Rezko raised as much as $250,000 for the first three offices Obama sought, the senator told the Tribune on Friday.

Obama also said for the first time that his private real estate transactions with Rezko involved repeated lapses of judgment. The mistake, Obama said, was not simply that Rezko was under grand jury investigation at the time of their 2005 and 2006 dealings. “The mistake was he had been a contributor and somebody involved in politics,” he said.

To my mind, the key issue would be potential for payback. Was there any indication Rezko would come calling and expect something in return? This, after all, is the seedy side of politics, and if Barack Obama was playing this game, his words would be empty as a noisy gong or clanging cymbol. The report continues:

Asked if he ever thought Rezko would expect something from their relationship, Obama was definitive. “No, precisely because I’d known him for [many] years and he hadn’t asked me for favors.”

The rest of the article simply recaps some of the history regarding Obama’s relationship with Tony Rezko.

Obama did the right thing. We called for more on this issue, and we’re pleased to see that the Senator took time to set the record straight. The article gives every indication that Obama answered questions patiently and thoroughly. Reporters had no lingering questions. Instead, we find someone taking himself to task for trusting a person who had earned his trust, only then to discover that trust was misplaced.  That would appear to be the case here.

We’ve all been there before.

There may be may be more to the story, but we don’t see it at this point.  For now, we give Senator Obama credit. It’s not easy to admit you’ve been had, especially in the middle of a political campaign when the only thing that passes many voters’ muster is perfection. But it takes character and an ounce or two of humility to admit a mistake.

This is the man we’ve come to know in Illinois.

Give It A Break, Barack

Posted on by TL

Senator, you need to lighten up. As one of your supporters, I’m telling you, this all looks silly.

I understand that no one really understands what it means to “act presidential” any more, especially after seven-plus years of George Bush. The tap-dancing War President is completely out-of-touch. But, Senator, you must start acting presidential. Stay above all of the nonsense. The majority of voters could care less whether Hillary Clinton or one of her supporters hurt your feelings. The majority of voters could care whether one of your staffers had to resign because of the “monster” comment, or Geraldine has to resign because of her stupidity.

The Geraldine Ferraro story was nonsense. You should have let it go. From now on, you have to let these petty things go.

You say you’re ready. Sir, we’re ready. We’re ready for leadership. We’re ready for someone who is capable of seeing to the heart of the big issues, someone who is not distracted by the small stuff. We’re ready for a leader who can rise above. You’ve already inspired us. Now start leading, and stop falling for the bait.

This is the point in an election when the voters start getting fed up. When candidates are at each others’ throats, we write them off. Blagojevich never recovered in Illinois. He’s held in extremely low esteem.

What was he thinking? That we’d love him because he could run a brutal campaign?

Geraldine quit. She allowed herself to get bogged down in the nonsense. Samantha Power resigned from your campaign after calling Clinton “a monster.”

Big deal.

Senator, give it a break. We’re not at all interested in whether you can go tit-for-tat with Hillary Clinton. We desperately need a President who can see to the heart of the issues, who can see with clarity what is really at stake, and make clear decisions, define sound policy.

Leadership is not demonstrated in the playground brawl.

Barack Wins Wyoming

Posted on by TL

The Senator from Illinois has taken Wyoming Democratic caucuses.  As he should have.

The Sun-Times reports:

Barack Obama captured the Wyoming Democratic caucuses Saturday, seizing a bit of momentum in the close, hard-fought race with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for the party’s presidential nomination.

Obama generally has outperformed Clinton in caucuses, which reward organization and voter passion more than do primaries. With Saturday’s victory, the Illinois senator has now won 13 caucuses to Clinton’s three.

Barack has a distinct edge when it comes to caucusing.  Give him and his supporters a few minutes of your time, and they will convince you of his passion for serving this country.  Obama demonstrates the vision Clinton lacks.  But Clinton is smart and would serve this country well.

Here’s the problem Democrats have that Republicans do not: we have two excellent candidates running for President of the United States.  Before that, we had many more excellent candidates who were running for  President of the United States.

The Republicans had to settle.  Ask them.  They’ll tell you.

More Voters Heading Left

Posted on by TL

I was a bit worried when I started reading “phillyPete” at the Daily Kos:

I’m doing something today that many of you may think is no big deal, but to me it’s a small form of surrender that is partly overdue.

I’ve just printed out the application to switch parties in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania requires voters to register with a party prior to voting.  In Illinois, we do not declare a party when we vote.  This allows us a certain flexibility for the primaries.  We ask for the ballot of our choice when we show up to vote.  This also leads to some typically underhanded voting techniques.  I know at least one registered, card-carrying Republican who took a Democratic ballot in Illinois on February 5 so he could vote for Hillary Clinton.   The Republicans are so hungry for Hillary, they’re trying to stack the deck so she is their opponent in the November’s general election.

This Hunger for Hillary will no doubt lead to overconfidence should the Senator from New York win the Democratic Presidential nomination.

But back to “phillyPete”.  I was worried.  He  says he originally registered as an Independent when he was younger.

As soon as I became 18, I registered to vote, and began paying attention to the Debates and reading the papers. I wanted to be a good, informed, responsible voter. This was not easy because I was not a book-smart kid. But I watched as Dukakis and Reagan sparred and tried to make up my mind. I easily started leaning Democratic, but felt that the Conservatives still had some good ideas.

But, lucky for us, “phillyPete” is changing parties, and registering as a Democrat.

Welcome aboard, Pete.

Out With It, Senator

Posted on by TL

As Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont head to the polls today in Democratic primaries, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet reports that Senator Barack Obama was “thrown seriously off message being asked about influence peddler Tony Rezko and why his campaign at first denied his economic adviser Austan Goolsbee met the Canadian consul in Chicago and talked about NAFTA, some reporters — me included — wanted him to take more questions.”

Sweet and other top Chicago journalists took Obama to task, and Barack did not handle this one well.

“You may still have questions, which I am happy to answer,” Obama said to Marin, adding it is not fair to “suggest somehow” he has been trying to hide something.

Soon after he said, “If there is a specific question that you have, Carol, I’ll be happy to respond to it.”

Obama added as the press conference progressed, “If there are specific requests in terms of information that you feel that you don’t yet have, we will be happy to talk about that.”

And then there was the fourth happy. “If there is a specific question that you have, I am happy to respond to it.”

For all the happy talk, nothing was forthcoming on Monday.

So Sweet concludes her column.

While I personally support Barack Obama for President, the journalist in me is wanting more from him on this matter. Too much is at stake, and if the Senator from Illinois does get the nod today, the questioning will only intensify. As many times as I have heard Obama speak, and in the personal conversations I’ve had with him, I’ve been impressed. But he has to do more on this matter.

Perhaps Sweet and her colleagues were over the top with their questions. But the others she mentions are not sensationalist. Carol Marin, for one, is at the top of her game as a journalist.

It was just Obama’s luck that by coincidence on this particular day he had a contingent of Chicago journalists to deal with who are not, well, shy because we have covered Obama for years. I was there, as well as Sun-Times political columnist Carol Marin and CBS2 political reporter Mike Flannery.

I was impressed during Obama’s run for the senate that he ran a clean campaign. But he will be confronted by many who do not play clean at all. He has to be ready for the worst dirt the right, center or left throw. And right now he’s raising more questions on this matter than he’s answering.

It’s hard to focus on a dream while denying the nightmares.

Barack Prevails

Posted on by TL

This will most likely be my last post before the weekend.

Wow.  Barack cleaned house over the weekend, and very well may continue to do so this week.  I’ll resist the awful temptation to make predictions.  But I’m incredibly excited.

I’m looking forward to “President Obama.”

I know Republicans who voted as Democrats in Illinois.  Why?  They’re afraid of Barack.  One person in particular told me he hopes Hillary Clinton wins because he believes Republicans can beat her.  Pulled a Democratic ballot for the first time in his life.

And a life-long Republican colleague of mine said he’s seriously considering voting for Barack Obama in the General Election in November, should Barack prevail and win the ticket.  This gentleman is over 80 years-old and has voted for Republicans religiously his entire life.  Quite frankly, I was amazed to hear him say this.

I do not look forward to Bill Clinton back in the White House.  I think his time has passed, incredible as it was.  His place in history is firm.  He was successful.

The time has come for change — positive change, a new direction for this country.

The time has come for Barack Obama.

Yes, we can.

So Now Everyone’s Supposed to Hate Barack

Posted on by TL

I don’t get it.

Hillary Clinton wins New Hampshire, and now the left is taking shots at Barack Obama.

I listened to Randy Rhodes this afternoon for a spell on Air America Radio. Always-provocative, fascinating and sensible Randy Rhodes was criticizing Barack Obama, and gloating that Hillary Clinton won — by 3 percentage points.

Hats off to Senator Clinton for a well-crafted victory in the New Hampshire Primary. Senator Obama did sound a bit over-confident, even presumptuous in the last few days, and his, “You’re likable enough,” comment to Clinton in the most recent debate was debasing and should have been beneath him.

But now we’re all supposed to hate Barack Obama? Because of New Hampshire?

Come on, Randy. Lighten up.

I don’t get it.

Barack Pulled It Off

Posted on by TL

I have to admit I was surprised.

Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus.

The race was exceptionally close, and the Big Three finished close together. The New York Times reports:

On the Democratic side, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. Obama had 37.6 percent of the delegate support, Mr. Edwards 29.8 percent and Mrs. Clinton had 29.5 percent. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico was fourth, at 2.11 percent.

Obama did not end up with a double-digit lead, but even this margin is impressive.

After I heard about Barack’s victory, I checked my e-mail, and there was a note from his campaign. Short, sweet:

Subject: Turn on your television
We just won Iowa, and I’m about to head down to talk to everyone.

Democrats turned out in record numbers tonight, and independents and even some Republicans joined our party to stand together for change.

Thank you for everything you’ve done to make this possible.

Barack

Donate

I’m including the “Donate” button as a courtesy to the senator. I am impressed.

I remember arriving at a rally in Matteson, IL, just a couple of years ago, when Barack was running for the U.S. Senate. The rally was not for Barack. It was a “Green Day”, organized by the Village of Matteson, IL, State. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., and others. The idea was to persuade area businesses to do business again in the South Suburbs of Chicago.

Barack was sitting in his car in the parking lot by himself, waiting for something, or someone. He looked a bit nervous, alone. Or maybe he was just bored. No one was around his car. I did not go up to talk to him. Nor sure why. I was heading for the rally, and he looked like he wanted to be alone.

I think about that now, how accessible he was then, and how things have changed.

When the race for Senate in Illinois began, I was inspired by Barack. He is very inspiring. I participated in a 4th of July parade with his campaign in Monee, IL, that year. I was also supporting State Senator Debbie Halvorson, who is now running for Congress.

Barack was very fit. While I was sweating trying to keep up with the parade, Barack did not break a sweat in the heat and humidity running from side to side of the street, greeting people, saying hello.

Barack won Iowa. That’s impressive. That’s not the White House. But he won a very, very white state. That’s encouraging. It’s also very encouraging that so many young people came out to caucus.

I don’t fall for the inspirational speeches as easily now. But when I clicked on the “Donate” button in my email, I heard a selection from Barack’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.

He was very good.

I really, really hope this guy is for real. I am not at all sure he has the experience to lead a nation — but I’m willing to take a chance on him.

Looking forward to seeing where this story ends.

On A Positive Note with the HRC

Posted on by TL

The Human Rights Campaign launched a short video with ideas for New Year’s Resolutions.

This just in from Joe Salmonese:

Did you make any resolutions last night?

Have you broken any yet?

I’m excited to share a new HRC video with you: it’s a close-up look at some of the faces of our community and the changes they want to make in their lives this year.

Watch now >>

I have to say, people came up with some great, unexpected ideas about how to promote GLBT equality in 2008.

And there are a few other resolutions in there that might surprise you, too. For example, did you know what “lesson one of the Beyoncé handbook” is?

Me neither. Don’t ask. Just watch.

This video is inspiring. It’s funny. And it’ll get you thinking about the small things you can do to make a big difference – in your own life, in your community, and in our country.

We have so much to do together in 2008.

Happy New Year!

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese

Joe Solmonese

President

P.S. Here’s a resolution you can keep right away: donate now and help us reach our goal of 2,008 new and 2,008 renewing members by January 28th.

Worth checking out.

I resolve to persuade as many people as possible to vote.

The Star of Bethlehem

Posted on by TL

Every year we listen to a host of theories about the Star of Bethlehem. The story of the star appears only in Matthew’s Gospel, in one of the two Infancy Narratives in the gospels. The other is in the Gospel of Luke. Both of these stories are wonderful tales which are really trying to tell Christians about the adult, risen Christ — according to Christians. These stories are not at all about what really happened. Phil Plait does an excellent job dealing with what may or may not have really happened, and he’s probably right that the tale grew in the telling.

There were no birth certificates. The birth of Christ wasn’t even celebrated in early Christianity. The celebration grew up gradually throughout the Roman Empire, really only taking root after Christianity became a legal religion in 313 C.E. Christians gradually converted the old Roman feast of Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun) to a celebration of the birth of the Christ. While the Northern Hemisphere was at it’s darkest, Christians began to celebrate the birth of the Light of the World. The celebration was symbolic from the start, and the Gospel writers were quite comfortable using symbolism to introduce a wider audience to the Risen Christ by telling a rich story of His birth. Did they take some liberties? No doubt.

Theology is my day job. See, some Liberals do appreciate religion.

Why am I giving space here about the famous Star? Call it a preemptive strike against the Christian radicals as we move further into the election season. We are still in the middle of a Holiday Season, and have already endured strange and bizarre claims that there continues to be a “War on Christmas.” We can anticipate equally weird and bizarre claims as we move forward to the 2008 Presidential Election.

What will the weird right have in store for us? How will they work to create God in their image? In anticipation of all of the unholy rhetoric about to spew forth from the conservatives, I can’t help thinking of Yeats:

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Simple emotion may sway simple people. The weird right has used simplistic and hate-filled quasi-religious arguments before to sway the masses. Whatever they come up over the next 11 months, we must hold them to facts — and science. Otherwise, we haven’t got a prayer.