“Obama Wins Historic Election.” November 9, 2008

            In 75 days America will have a black Head of State.

            Democratic nominee Barack Obama has marked history and assumed the title as the 44^th president of the United States, the first black man to do so.

            His opponent Republican John McCain conceded on Tuesday after losing in projected electoral votes 338 to 143. Obama had assumed 78 of the minimum 270 needed for the win by 8:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the Virginia polls had closed.  Obama and Democratic former governor Mark Warner, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, won Virginia. Virginia was considered a battleground state in this year’s election though it had not elected a Democratic president in 44 years.  

            “We’ve come to the end of a long journey,” McCain said. “The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly.”

            Hampton University students, most Obama supporters, gathered together after the election results to celebrate Obama’s triumph. In addition to attending a poll-watching party in the Student Center atrium, many students met outside Ogden Hall and the Hampton Harbor Apartments. Celebration in the Harbors included bonfires and fireworks before moving to Ogden.

            Screams of joy and triumph echoed the campus as students celebrated their first time voting in a presidential election and the historical election of Obama.

            Rashad Drakeford, a senior political science major from Queens, N.Y. was among those many students. Drakeford serves as the National HBCU Director for Students for Barack Obama.

            “I was extremely excited,” Drakeford said. “Relieved, prideful, a lot of different emotions. It means a lot to not only us but people who are not even born yet.”

            Obama’s win is not only monumental in America but abroad.

            “The world is different on November 5^th because of what happened on November 4^th,” Drakeford said.

            Students shared their excitement for the change in the oval office but believe there is much work to be done.

            “I’m excited,” said Whitney Curley, a junior psychology major from Hampton. “I feel like it’s going to be a great thing, a good change for America. I’m ready to see what happens.”

            “Now, he has to govern and we have to help him govern,” Drakeford said. “We have to do our part.”

            While some celebrated, some students were working. Chris Swails, a senior broadcast journalism major from Cleveland, OH, was among those covering the election with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.

            “I was at Christopher Newport University reporting when I first heard,” Swails said. “But when it was official I didn’t believe it. I still don’t believe it. I’ve been watching CNN trying to gather info.”

            Though Swails is in shock when asked if he was excited, he answered, “Excited isn’t even the word.”

            While some students registered and went to the polls to cast their vote for Obama, some sent absentee ballots to their home states.

            Chelsea Sealey, a sophomore pharmacy major from Dayton, OH sent her absentee ballot in almost two weeks ago and was in support of Obama.

            “I think he’s more geared towards the middle class and I like his short term goals more than McCain,” Sealey said.

            Kehinde Adesina, a sophomore pharmacy major from Vacaville, Calif. had sent her ballot in three weeks ago but turned out to the Student Center to watch the results.

            “I want to be around people who want to celebrate change,” Adesina said.

            Change has come as Obama will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2009 and as the Democrats have won majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.  

            Obama spoke before an estimated 125,000 people in Chicago’s Grant Park on Tuesday after winning.        

           “This reaffirms the fundamental truth that out of many, we are one,” Obama said. “What we achieved today gives hope for what we can achieve tomorrow.”

“My Vote Made A Difference…I Helped Obama Win Virginia.”

The urgency and pressing need for a change in the White House has never been so clear, at least not in my 21 years of living.

            I’ve lived through my fair share of events, Y2K and September 11^th alone were huge, and yet nothing has affected me more than watching presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama run the most successful campaign any Black man has done in his attempt at the White House.

            It wasn’t merely the fact that Obama was Black, after all Jesse Jackson was Black and never stood a chance. It was the poise, intelligence and simplicity in which Obama carried himself that I began to love. He represented what my young eyes had never seen in politics, honesty. Now, I’m not naïve enough to believe that everything that comes out of his mouth is 100% honesty, after all it’s politics, no one who’s 100% honest makes it anywhere, an honest but true fact. It is his overall air of honesty that I appreciate. His ability to use simple terms to explain complex problems. No eloquent terms to grandly describe what he would attempt to do for America. No staggering statistics to discredit his opponent. Just facts.

            Yet aside from his political standpoint and views, I also loved that Obama had a wife he openly expressed love for, a stable family and a solid career before his run for president. The Obamas represent a powerful Black family with ease. A family operating under Christian beliefs with unity. Black power and Black love at its most successful level. I loved it.

            It is because of my belief in his idea for change, his political views, his family and his competence as a leader that I couldn’t wait to vote.

            I got up at 4:30 a.m. after volunteering with a midnight canvassing for the Obama office until 1: 30 a.m. Operating on less than three hours of sleep I eagerly got up and was excited to go vote. I picked up my friend Craig and we went. We arrived right before the polls opened at six and stood in the long line to vote.

            With umbrellas up and surrounded by people,  I never felt more proud to be a Black American. Not only Black because Obama is Black but American because of our democracy and our progress. The playing field will never truly be equal and racism will never truly end but America has grown by leaps and bounds. The thought of a Black man running for president was only a figment of our civil rights leaders’ minds, merely a dream that no one knew at the time could actually come to fruition.

            In some strange way I felt like I was a part of the civil rights movement, a full circle movement. It began long ago with people dying so that I could do exactly what I was doing now, stand in line with other young Black college kids and vote. Many of the people fighting for my right to vote were no older than I am now.

            As I handed over my voter registration I felt proud, which sounds simple but is the only way to describe my emotions. As they said, “Tiffani Haynes, here to vote,” I beamed inside. That’s right, I was here to vote. To change history. To become apart of history.

            I filled in the bubble that said Barack Obama/Joe Biden as full as I could get it. I didn’t want a single chance my vote was missed. It was silly but those were my thoughts. I slipped my ballot into the machine to be counted and was handed my “I Voted” sticker.

            That’s right. I had voted. Tiffani Haynes, here to vote.

“Jokes, Tricks and Hoaxes…Any way to steal a vote will do.” November 3, 2008

Voters Across Nation Hit by Dirty Tricks

By DEBORAH HASTINGS

,

AP

posted: 34 MINUTES AGO

comments: 2069

filed under: Election News

PrintShare

Text SizeAAA

(Nov. 2) – In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.

The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent.

Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.

Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.

In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.

“He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter,” said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking on behalf of her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. “He totally, totally scared the heck out of her.”

In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. “Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4,” said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. “Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake.”

Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen “an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities.”

“Decision Day is almost here!”

Election Day is merely two days away and the anticipation seems to be eating away at everyone. Early voting has seen huge numbers and polling sites are expecting an even bigger turnout.

Yet, as the anticipation builds to determine who will become the leader of the United States, I feel an extreme amount of apprehension. When you want something or hear about something for so long, the thought of it not occurring is staggering.

It seems the whole school, from President Harvey down, is pro-Obama. Yet, I know this is not the factual case, this is what it appears. America, specifically Black America, is hinging on the win of Obama. I’m nervous to see what would happen if he doesn’t win. Will there be riots? Celebration parties? Sighs of relief? Moans of anguish? No one knows for sure.

The speculation and anticipation is killing me. I can’t stand it anymore. I can only pray and hope that America elects Obama so that we can begin to have a better America, one of change. It’s time for a Democratci rule and a new wave of administration. We’ve seen what the Republican party can do and it’s time for a change in the direction. It’s time to Barack the Vote!

Obama/Biden ’08! : )

“Obama’s Racking Up: He Raised $150 mil in September.” October 19, 2008

By JIM KUHNHENN,

AP

posted: 5 HOURS 22 MINUTES AGO

comments: 943

filed under: Election News, Barack Obama

With HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.

WASHINGTON (Oct. 19) – Barack Obama raised more than $150 million in September, a stunning and unprecedented eruption of political giving that has given him a wide spending advantage over rival John McCain.

The Democrat’s campaign released the figure Sunday, one day before it must file a detailed report of its monthly finances with the Federal Election Commission.

Obama’s money is fueling a vast campaign operation in an expanding field of competitive states. It also has underwritten a wave of both national and targeted video advertising unseen before in a presidential contest.

Campaign manager David Plouffe, in an e-mail to supporters Sunday morning, said the campaign had added 632,000 new donors in September, for a total of 3.1 million contributors to the campaign. He said the average donation was $86.

The Democratic National Committee, moments later, announced that it raised $49.9 million and had $27.5 million in the bank at the start of October. The party has been raising money through joint fundraising events with Obama and can use the money to assist his candidacy.

Obama’s numbers are possible because he opted out of the public financing system for the fall campaign. McCain, the Republican nominee, chose to participate in the system, which limits him to $84 million for the September-October stretch before the election.

Obama initially had promised to accept public financing if McCain did, but changed his mind after setting primary fundraising records. His extraordinary fundraising is bound to set a new standard in politics that could doom the taxpayer-paid system. Many Republicans have begun to second-guess McCain’s decision to participate in the program.

McCain, reacting to Obama’s announcement, raised the potential for fundraising abuses. He said Obama is “completely breaking whatever idea we had after Watergate to keep the costs and spending on campaigns under control. … That has unleashed now in presidential campaigns a new flood of spending that will then cause a scandal, and then we will fix it again”

“Party Shift: Republican Colin Powell Supports Barack Obama”

“Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama.”

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, AP

posted: 4 HOURS 29 MINUTES AGO

comments: 11435

filed under: Election News, Barack Obama

With HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.

PrintShare

Text SizeAAA

(Oct. 19) – Colin Powell, a Republican who was President Bush’s first secretary of state, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president Sunday and criticized the tone of Republican John McCain’s campaign.

The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said either candidate, both of them senators, is qualified to be commander in chief. But he said Obama is better suited to handle the nation’s economic problems as well as help improve its standing in the world.

“It isn’t easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that,” Powell, interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said of his longtime friend, the Arizona senator.

But, he added: “I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that’s why I’m supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain.”

Powell’s endorsement has been much anticipated because he is a Republican with impressive foreign policy credentials, a subject on which Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, is weak. Powell is a Republican centrist who is popular among moderate voters.

At the same time, Powell is a black man and Obama would be the nation’s first black president. Powell said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but said that was not the dominant factor in his decision. If it was, he said, he would have made the endorsement months ago.

Powell expressed disappointment in the negative tone of McCain’s campaign, his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and McCain’s and Palin’s decision to focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama’s ties to 1960s-era radical William Ayers. A co-founder of the Weather Underground, which claimed responsibility for nonfatal bombings during the Vietnam War-era, Ayers is now a college professor who lives in Obama’s Chicago neighborhood. He and Obama also served together on civic boards in Chicago.

“This Bill Ayers situation that’s been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign,” Powell said. “But Mr. McCain says that he’s a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him?”

“McCain’s done! Or at least in Michigan he is.” October 4, 2008

“McCain’s pullout has Michigan Republicans worried.”

By: Chris Christoff

Detroit Free Press

 

Recap of news article

 

Earlier this week, John McCain decided to cease campaigning in Michigan, including television campaigning. He stated that his reasoning was that he needed to focus on campaigning in states that he can actually win. Michigan is considered a battleground state that is clearly going to vote Democratic if history repeats itself. The state hasn’t voted Republican in over two decades.

 

Commentary

 

            I was originally registered to vote in my home state, Michigan, and was swayed by the Students for Barack Obama to reregister in Virginia. This news makes me so happy that I did so. Whereas, Michigan is known for voting blue and Obama has an eight point lead, Virginia hasn’t voted Democratic in over 44 years.

            At first I was a little leery of voting in another state but now I know that it was the right decision for me to make. Although my vote has always counted, now I feel like it will count for more. Instead of giving my vote to Michigan and helping Obama win by a landslide I can vote in Virginia and hopefully help him win there, a state he has a challenge in.

            Yet, I can’t help but wonder how this decision to give up and cowardly back out of battle for Michigan has affected his standing not only with Republicans but with independents. Surely, it has affected it negatively. How could it not? The president has to be strong and willing to fight for what he wants and what he believes is right for the American people. If you believe that you are so right for America and that Obama is not, how can you so easily cede a “battleground” state to him? This just might make some of his devout Republican voters question his urgency for the Oval office. Also, it might sway some of the independents or undecided to people to vote for Obama, someone who has constantly visited Michigan, where the economy has hit an extreme low.

            McCain’s “pullout” sends a sign of defeat. Palin’s vice presidential speech sends a sign of inexperience. With those factors combined, the Republicans never stood a chance in Michigan anyway.

 

 

Obama/Biden ’08! J

“Obama ‘doesn’t understand’? He’s taken the lead, seems he’s got the idea to me.” September 29, 2008

            On Friday, Sept. 26 all eyes turned to watch the most anticipated debate of the year taking place. Presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama faced off in a debate on the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford, Miss. The debate was centered on foreign policy and the economic crisis.

            Yet the debate almost didn’t occur as McCain was pushing for a halt on all campaigning, including the debate. McCain stated that all attention needed to be turned to the $700 billion bailout deal in the works for Wall Street companies. The House of Representatives will vote on the deal Monday, Sept. 29.

            Two full days after the presidential debate Obama has raised in the polls and many students can understand why he’s claimed the lead.

            “I thought Barack did better than McCain,” Benjamin Carter said. “He also was much more respectful of McCain’s views than McCain was of his. At times, McCain was extremely rude.”

            The senior broadcast journalism major from Pasadena, Calif. was not alone.

            “I was looking forward to the debate because I felt it was a chance for Barack to sway the independents,” said Marcus Davis, a sophomore English major from College Park, Ga. “And I thought he did just that.”

            While most agreed that they believed Obama had done well, they all had high expectations for the Illinois Senator.

            “I was expecting Obama to chew out McCain, to better him in the sense of policy, everything,” Carter said.

            Britney Littles, a senior business administration major at the University of Michigan, agreed.

            “I thought Barack would be dominant and McCain would look weak,” Littles said.

            Yet all agreed that the debate outcome faired even.

            “I thought Barack did better but as far as addressing the issues, they were equal,” Littles said.

            Though most haven’t declared a winner of the debate, many believe this debate alone won’t clinch the election for either.

            “The race has always been close. I thought the debate was important but I didn’t think it was going to make or break anybody,” Davis said.

            The race has been too close to truly call anyone a winner, but both presidential hopefuls plan to debate their ways to Nov. 4 to earn the title.

            The next scheduled debate for Obama and McCain is Oct. 7 in a town hall style meeting at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

 

Obama/Biden ’08! J

Obama’s “Baby Mama?” Obama’s looking like Aunt Jemima? What’s really good? September 19, 2008

Martin Luther King Jr. called for a day when race wouldn’t matter, a man would be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin and when little black children and little white children could hold hands and play together.

Yet King’s dreams have yet to be fully realized. 

While little black and white children can hold hands and play together, they can’t do so without unwarranted stares or side glances. A black man can’t walk into a room and be transparent, have his personality shine through his ever-present dark skin. Just like a black man can’t run for president and be judged solely on his ideas, platform, morals and character without his skin color being put on display.

We’ve won the right to vote, attend college, apply for positions that our white counterparts can and attempt to grab a slice of that American pie dream, but we can’t pretend our skin color doesn’t matter. It’s too dark not to.

This historic presidential election is supposed to be based on the critical issues that are affecting our damaged economy, shattered patriotism and unspoken sense of fear for our government.

Yet, it’s not.

Senator Barack Obama is running for the presidency, the first African-American with an actual chance at becoming president. While racial prejudice and preconceived notions are supposed to be a thing of the past, it’s become one of the biggest topics in this election.

On June 11, 2008 Fox News called Obama’s wife of 16 years, Michelle, his “baby’s mama.” A term almost always associated with the African-American community, a “baby’s mama” is known as a mother who is unwed and typically not with the father of her child. If the couple were in a relationship, the woman would be regarded differently, as a girlfriend, fiancée or wife. Known for its negative connotation to signify an out-of-wedlock relationship or unbalanced family structure it is mind boggling that Fox News would use this term to describe the Obama family.

Married for over a decade with two children, the Obama family structure seems to be fine. Outstanding actually, considering that over half of America’s marriages end in divorce. They represent the nuclear American family. They’re the new Cosbys. Everybody wants to be the Obamas. With their unified Christian family, 1.6 million dollar home and prosperous future, the Obamas have become the new black family ideal.

So how could a news station responsible for reporting ethically cover politics with such a bias? It’s obvious. They’re racist. Or ignorant. Either way, their actions were inappropriate.

Not once did they refer to McCain’s wife as being his “baby’s mama” or made mention of her being his second wife. So when looking at the campaign it seems clear who the statistic is. It’s John McCain. Presently in America, almost all families are blended, including second spouses and step siblings.

If Fox News wanted to make a play on words and statistics they should have come up with some clever joke to describe McCain’s family life. It wasn’t funny and it wasn’t responsible. Two things Fox News has never been too successful at achieving.

Yet, Fox News isn’t alone. Two writers who deem themselves humorous came up with a product called “Obama waffles.” Marketing them nationwide, Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss, have made money featuring Obama’s image with politically incorrect satire. Obama is shown at the top of the box with a Muslim headpiece on and an arrow saying to “point the box to Mecca.” He is also depicted with a sombrero erasing the border between the U.S. and Mexico saying that the box of waffle mix “makes up to four illegal aliens.”

And when asked about the similarities between the “Obama waffles” and the Aunt Jemima box, the creators shrugged it off and laughed. They stated that they didn’t realize at first the similarities but that they didn’t matter because to them, Aunt Jemima meant quality. Yet when thinking of Aunt Jemima no one immediately thinks of quality. They think of the image of her in a red scarf, big lips and nose, extremely dark skin are racist. Just another incorrect image and portrayal of African Americans.

Both Fox News and the “Obama waffles” creators were wrong and proved what black America has known all along. Race does matter and it always will. While King dreamed that they would judge a man’s character, they will. But you can rest assured that they’ll always judge the color of his skin too.

 

Obama/Biden ’08! J