Merry Christmas

I would like wish everyone a safe happy and meaningful Christmas holiday. I hope this holiday season will bring the true universal tenets of the core of the Christian message: peace, hope, love and compassion. Today my wife and I attended mass at the National Shrine of Saint Francis. I have a special devotion to the saint - one who learned to work with people of different faiths and who was kind and compassionate to human and animal alike. Take care all of you and God bless. Merry Christmas.

I am an Obama Precinct Captain

I have been selected by the Obama campaign to be a precinct captain. In this capacity, I will be calling voters and talking to people in my local neighborhood, encouraging them to vote for Barack Obama on Feburary 5, 2008 for California’s Democratic Primary. I am very excited to be involved in such a vital way with the campaign. I encourage everyone to inform themselves and get involved in this very important election.

The Fierce Urgency of Now: MLK and Obama

In a meeting at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech that resonates today. Simply change Vietnam to Iraq, China to Iran, and Buddhist leaders to Muslim leaders and this speech could have been given yesterday.

"Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak... ...Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam... ...There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.

Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population... ...for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent...

...Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. So it is that those of us who are yet determined that America will be are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land...

...Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.

This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words:

"Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism."

If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony and men will not refrain from thinking that our maximum hope is to goad China into a war so that we may bomb her nuclear installations. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horribly clumsy and deadly game we have decided to play.

The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways....

...It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken -- the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment.

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just."... ...A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: "This way of settling differences is not just."...

...America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood....

...These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light." We in the West must support these revolutions. It is a sad fact that, because of comfort, complacency, a morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the Western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries. This has driven many to feel that only Marxism has the revolutionary spirit. Therefore, communism is a judgement against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions we initiated. Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when "every valley shall be exalted, and every moutain (sic) and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain."...

...We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. The "tide in the affairs of men" does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out deperately (sic) for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: "Too late." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on..." We still have a choice today...

...We must move past indecision to action."

Click here for the full text of MLK's Speech.


This is a unique time in America's history. We are at a vital crossroad. Will we regain our greatness and make true the vision of the founding fathers, the civil rights activists and our people? Or shall we continue down the road of decay and corruption that many nations have faced before their ultimate demise? Who among the candidates can best lead us in a new direction of hope, justice, and fairness with a positive message and a renewed spirit of optimism? That is clear to me - Barack Obama. The other candidates seek to bandage a deep and potentially fatal wound. They argue only on what type of bandage to use. Obama will give us the medicine we need to recover and then push us back to our task of making this nation once again a beacon of hope and an example to the world.

An Open Letter to Al Gore

Dear Vice President Gore,

I am an ardent admirer of your work. I applaud your efforts to bring attention to global climate change and other important issues of our time. When Bill Clinton ran for President in 1992, I was a strong supporter - in no small part because I wanted you to be our Vice President (And I hoped next President). It took me a long time to recover from the traumatic results of your 2000 winning run for the Presidency. The nation and the world have suffered as a result. This brings me to my reason for writing to you. The nation and the world are in peril. You know this far more and I. We need a leader who will bring this shattered, demoralized, and abused nation back together in common cause. We need someone who will look to the future with hope and inspire others to change. We do not need a continuation of the Bush administration's quasi-fascist policies, that much is clear. But we also do not need a return to the partisanship and cold calculation that was the dark side of the Clinton administration. (Don't get me wrong - I admire the work done under the Clinton-Gore administration, but there were some aspects that were less than desirable.) That is why I am urging you to endorse Barack Obama for the democratic nomination. He is a strong, smart, and compassionate man with a real eye on the future. I see much of your values and goals in his words and ideas. Please endorse Obama and help put this country back on track. Thank you very much Mr. Vice President.

Best Wishes and Sincerest Thanks,

Matthew R. Klempner

Barack Obama: The Right Kind of Experience

A lot has been made about the so-called experience issue in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination. Barack Obama doesn't have years of inside the beltway Washington experience as many of the other candidates do. But is that such a bad thing? Not in my opinion. But what would Obama bring to the Presidency? Here is a list of his experience - just read this list and consider whether one would want the President of the United States to have such experience:

1. Experience living overseas.
2. His undergraduate degree is in Political Science, specializing in International Relations.
3. Worked for years as a community organizer in Chicago, helping resolve disputes and assisting the poor living in public housing.
4. Received a Law degree from Harvard.
5. Served as a Constitutional Law Professor and Practiced Civil Rights Law.
6. Served for 8 years as a Illinois State Senator.
7. Served as a U.S. Senator from 2004 and sits on the Committees for Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans' Affairs.


We need someone who knows about other countries and the cultural differences that exist. We need someone who has first hand knowledge of the conditions of the poor in America. We need someone who has an understanding of our law, our government and our constitutional rights. (Look at the current disaster the Bush administration has made.) Obama has all the right experience for the Presidency!

Obama: Change We Can Believe In

On Wednesday, November 14th, my wife and I served as Volunteer Captains for Barack Obama's appearance in San Francisco. Despite dealing with some headaches caused by the secret service's odd arrangements for seating the crowd, it was an amazing experience. The speech he gave was very similar to the one he delivered in Iowa at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner. This is a wonderful speech that outlines his priorities and demonstrates how he has the best positions on the issues, while highlighting his energy, optimism and genuine sincerity. This speech is a great introduction to the man and the issues he stands for. It was wonderful to have been a small part of this event.

Obama in San Francisco - Part 1




Obama in San Francisco - Part 2




Obama in San Francisco - Part 3




Several excellent speeches were given before Senator Obama entered the auditorium. This was one by Molly Kawahata. (If you look very closely, you can see me for about 1 second, walking from left to right in the foreground as I check up on my volunteers.)

Obama Coming to San Francisco

I am looking very much forward to seeing Barack Obama in person Wednesday!

Worst President Ever: The Bush Administration's Greatest Hits

After one of the closest elections in American history, where Al Gore won the popular vote the supreme court decided George W. Bush would be President. A greater man might have reassured the public by having every vote counted to ensure the democratic process would function as intended. Bush fought the recount in court. A better person (once selected as President) might have actually tried to be a uniter and not a divider and governed in a moderate way with an eye toward uniting a divided nation. Bush was not a better person. His policies were divisive and highly partisan. After the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Bush took advantage of the situation and began a push to make the Presidency vastly more powerful than envisioned by the founding fathers. The level of secrecy turned from the annoying but-understandable-in-a-time-of-crisis to a level perhaps only seen in fascist regimes or centralized communist states. We preemptively invaded Iraq - a nation that was no direct threat to us that had already been crippled by 10 years of sanctions. We as a nation engaged in detainee abuse, torture, and secret imprisonment with the direction or allowance of the Bush administration. The administration has been a horrible pairing of partisanship and incompetence. Perhaps the worst incompetence was seen by the disastrous response to hurricane Katina. Perhaps the worst example of partisanship by the Administration was the outing of Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson (a undercover CIA agent) to punish Wilson's correction of a White House lie. After the investigation found I. "Scooter" Lewis Libby guilty, Bush pardoned him, showing that politics was more important than finding the truth or upholding the law. After U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons (failing to prosecute Democrats) then Alberto Gonzales - the Attorney General, conveniently forgot so much it was hard to see if he could recall anything before Congress.
Under the Bush Administration gas prices have reached new highs and the oil companies are making record profits. Bush comes from an oil background as do many of his latest political donors. Coincidence?
win the next election. ( Now with over a year to go with this administration - what other terrible things will this administration inflict on this nation (other than denying an expansion of health coverage for children?) I fear the last act of this administration may be to start a third war with Iran and then leave the job of picking up the pieces to Obama or another candidate most likely a Democrat (Assuming Dibold machines and/or the Supreme Court won't make that not happen). We must be very careful of what this administration may do in it's last days....

Obama Starting to Confront Clinton

Tonight there was another Democratic presidential candidate debate at Drexel University in Pennsylvania. This time Obama took Hillary Clinton to task on her record and her evasion of questions. While many of the other candidates, such as Edwards and Biden attacked Clinton as well, Obama continued to promote his positive message and made the case for his being more of a uniter than Hillary Clinton could be. I'm glad to have seen Obama handle this well. He is not a negative campaigner and it is obvious that this sort of distinction-drawing with fellow Democrats does not come easily, but he handled himself well, and I firmly expect the polls to reflect a loss for Clinton and a gain for Obama. I think Obama has a real shot at winning the Iowa caucus. I hope Obama has gained the momentum he needs and this will carry him though to the final election as President!

Quintin Mecke for Mayor of San Francisco!

It seems a forgone conclusion that Gavin Newsom will be reelected mayor in November. I originally supported him when I moved to the City. But I have been increasingly disheartened by his lack of leadership in several areas. But recently, Newsom endorsed the hawkish, chameleon-like Hillary Clinton for President. That was enough. After that, he had definitely lost my vote. So, I started to see if there was anyone running whom I could support. It is difficult because Newsom has had no real opposition in this election cycle. But I did find someone who is starting to get the attention of several groups in the city - Quintin Mecke. I have read up on his stands on various issues and must say his positions are much more in keeping with the spirit of San Francisco. His stands on crime, homelessness, and transportation are better than those of our current mayor. I fully support Mecke for mayor and hope that San Franciscans take the time to learn more about him before they vote.

Rising Fascism in America

We live in very frightening times. I have been very critical of many changes taking place in America since President Bush's "election" and the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Many things disturbed me, as one would expect - me being a liberal Democrat opposed to the Neo-Conservative George W. Bush. But soon, events and actions taken by the administration and its supporters were beginning to worry me in more than a difference-of-ideology way. Dissent of the president's actions were being framed as "unamerican" or characterized as supporting "the enemy". Things seemed to be getting worse with the invasion of Iraq, abuses of prisoners, secret prisons, warrantless wiretapping, harassment of administration critics, usage of mercenaries, and the flagrant disregard of the law and the Constitution. All these things disturbed me. But after reading Naomi Wolf's The End of America, I see all these events not as the isolated excesses of an abusive and incompetent neo-conservative administration, but as part of a disturbing trend leading to the establishment of a totalitarian even fascist regime in America.
I know that some will think that I am overreacting. But Wolf presents a well-reasoned, thorough comparison of recent events in America with the rise of totalitarian regimes and the destruction of democracy movements in 1920s Italy, 1930s Germany, East Germany in the 1950s, Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, Chile in 1973, and China in the 1980s and 1990s. Wolf argues (quite convincingly) that leaders always take 10 steps when their societies become totalitarian closed and undemocratic. These steps are as follows: 1) Invoke an internal and external threat. (This can be real or imaginary. In our case, the threat of terrorism is certainly real.) 2) Establish secret prisons. (Such as the secret CIA prisons that are being operated by the Bush administration. 3) Develop a paramilitary force. (Such as Blackwater.) 4) Surveil ordinary civilians. (This was being done illegally and it continues.) 5) Infiltrate citizens' groups. 6) Arbitrarily detain and release citizens. 7) Target key individuals. 8) Restrict the press. 9) Cast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason. 10) Subvert the rule of law. ( How many laws are being broken - we may never know thanks to the evocation of executive privilege by current and former Whitehouse officials and the "forgetfulness" of administration officials.
The founding fathers of America worried about the rise of an all-powerful executive. We may dismiss this notion "It can't happen in America... ...we overthrew the rule of a monarch and democracy is so beloved here..." But we should remember the lessons of history. In ancient Rome, the monarchy was overthrown and a republic established. The revulsion of the kings ran strong and deep in roman society until the rise of all-powerful executives came to power and Rome came to be ruled by an emperor. In Germany and Italy, Mussolini and Hitler came to power legally - though the use and abuse of democratic governments. Am I worried that Bush will enter Washington D.C. with an army and proclaim himself dictator-for-life? No, but I do worry that the damage that this administration has done to our republic may have closed the door on our open society in the guise of protecting us from a handful of religious fanatics.

A final thought: Right now, just by reading this, your computer activities may be monitored by government officials. Perhaps the words terrorist and September 11 got their attention. You might be added to a list whereby you might not be able to fly on a commerical airliner. When you try to fly, you could be detained, strip searched and held without being charged. If it is the whim of the President (or perhaps even a minor official) you may be labeled an enemy combatant and flown to a secret prison where you could be drugged, sleep deprived and forced to stand for days without rest and put into solitary confinement. (This is not considered torture by the administration.) Your family, friends and employer may wonder where you are as your detention would be classified as a state secret. You could be tired in a secret military tribunal with secret evidence that you and your consul are not permitted to see. Any contact permitted with your lawyer could be monitored perhaps by the same people prosecuting you. An overzealous contractor might "interrogate" you to death without much fear of punishment. This is a real possibility under current interpretations of the law. Does this sound like anything that could happen in a free society? This is truly frightening. This is NOT the America I learned about in school. This sounds more like what could happen to one under a fascist regime...

Obama Needs to Draw Sharp Distinctions With Clinton

In the latest MSNBC Democratic primary presidential debate, most of the candidates attacked Hillary Clinton to some degree. But Barrack Obama seemed to be content to let the other candidates attack Clinton, while he either stressed more of a more positive message or saved his attacks for the disastrous Bush administration's policies. Normally, I would applaud such an approach, but I fear that he is not showing the public enough of the differences that he has with Clinton. While I dislike negative politics, I think its time to draw that contrast sharply. I do not want Clinton to be the Democratic candidate in 2008. If Clinton were elected, things would be better than under Bush - but that is not saying much. That would be true for just about anyone . I fear that Clinton would be "Bush Lite", thanks to he aggressive hawkishness and willingness to give ground to a GOP unwilling to budge in their convictions. I hope that Obama can show the voters an honest and truthful distinction that can show why he would make an excellent President. The facts are in his favor. His positions are more in tune with the Democratic party as a whole and the American public in general. After what will then unfortunately be 8 years of near hell, the U.S. (and the world) will need Barack Obama. I wish him the best of luck, pledge my support and will do all that I am able to do to convince others that he will make an extraordinary President.

Gonzales and Rove are Out !

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is resigning! This is truly good news – but our Republic is still threatened. The damage done to our civil rights and the rule of law as well as the dangerous positions asserted by the Bush administration still stand. It is good to see Gonzales (as it was with Karl Rove) resign amidst pressure from both political parties. But Congress and the American people must push on and fight the unprecedented power given to the executive branch.

Impeach Bush and Cheney Now

I am not a person who endorses tit for tat petty politics. I always advocated following the higher road of common interest rather than the quick, easy and often misleading path of partisan politics. I hated the fact that Bill Clinton was impeached and our nation’s resources and attention were given over to a matter that I (like the majority of Americans) felt was ridiculous. Clinton was (no matter how one frames it, impeached for the high crime of lying about sex.) What he had done was obviously wrong but certainly not a matter that put our nation in peril. With that in mind, I had strongly been opposed to the prospect of impeaching President George W. Bush. Despite the fact that I could not stand his views, his lack of interest in important issues and a condescending attitude of governance, I did not want to see him removed from office for political reasons. I respected the electoral process too much. But things have changed. This administration has consistently showed a dangerous lack of respect for the rule of law. This administration is dangerous. (I will not even mention the preemptive war in Iraq in the rest of this piece.) They, in the administration, have taken for themselves the unprecedented power to seize people (foreigners as well as American citizens) anywhere in the world, use “hard interrogation techniques” (a thinly veiled euphemism for torture) either here in America or use rendition to allow a sympathetic but less monitored foreign regime do the torturing. This administration had opened secret prisons. This administration has lied repeatedly and then invoked “executive privilege” to silence and criticisms when caught in a lie. This administration has been ruthless against its opponents, implying that they are not supporting the troops or “hate America”. This administration has even gone to the point of publicly outing a CIA agent in reprisal for her husband’s open criticism of George W. Bush’s lies in his state of the union address. This administration is using signing statements to circumvent enforcement of laws passed by congress or to work contrary to their spirit. This administration even claims that the Vice President’s office is not part of the executive branch and therefore does not have to hand over documents as stated in the law. The attorney general Alberto Gonzales is obviously lying about his role in the firing of the U.S. attorneys for political reasons. White House Counsel Harriet Myers is refusing to appear before congress despite a subpoena to do so, and other administration officials are refusing to testify because they have taken an oath to defend (not the constitution) but the President. We are in dangerous waters. This is not simply a President and administration with a different interpretation of the law, this is one who seems to have no regard for the law, the constitution or our civil liberties. Last night I watched Bill Moyer’s Journal on PBS. There two scholars, one from the left and one from the right (who had advocated the impeachment of Bill Clinton) and they were both in agreement about the need for impeaching both the President and the Vice President. From the left there was concern for our civil rights and from the right the concern was the flagrant disregard of the Constitution by the administration and the dangerous precedents that eroded the systems of checks and balances. One very important point was made on the program. When the next President is sworn into office in January 2009, they will possess unprecedented power handed over by the Bush administration, and people seldom give up power willingly. This is the slow path to true Empire, giving the executive more and more power until the legislature is sidelined as irrelevant. Impeachment would be the needed check on the current abuses of power and would help ensure that future Presidents could not begin their terms where the current administration left off. Besides, our nation cannot afford to wait the nearly 18 months before Bush and Cheney are scheduled to leave office. We cannot afford to sit out and wait for the storm to pass – who knows what other ills this administration would release upon the nation and the world. We must act now to impeach both the President and the Vice President.

Marin Headlands Trip

On April 28, 2007, my wife, Jen and I went on a short trip to the Marin Headlands for the first time. We picked up a Mini Cooper convertible from City Car Share and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time. It was a very fun experience. We drove around the Marin Headlands, admiring the view of the Golden Gate and it's famous bridge. It truly is a beautiful marriage of natural beauty and human construction that compliment each other. We had time to visit the beach and the Marine Mammal Center before we headed back to our home in the City. It was a very nice day.

Our First Obama Event

On Saturday March 31 my wife Jen, and I attended our first event for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. It was a gathering of 20 people at the office of two supporters who volunteered to host the event. We gathered to watch Obama answer questions in a town-hall type setting in Iowa. The event was webcasted live over the internet. Despite a few lags and a few minor technical delays it was wonderful to hear Obama answer people’s questions and outline his priorities for national government. Even more importantly however, this event provided us with the opportunity to meet and speak to other early Obama supporters. We found them to be very interesting and genuinely concerned people. Many of them were obviously quite wealthy professionals – but none of them put on airs. We found them to be well educated but modest and down to earth. They represented some of the best examples of wealthy liberals – those who are aware of their place of privilege and desire to give back to their communities and improve the lot of those who do not share the same privileges as themselves. For most of those in attendance, this campaign was the first to really get them motivated and involved in politics especially at such an early stage. One of the hosts described himself as a “life-long libertarian” whose faith in politics and government had moved from the cynical to the nihilistic under the Bush administration. Obama he said was the first person who spoke like himself, who seemed to understand how things work and how interconnected the world truly is. He went on say that he recently registered as a Democrat for the first time in order to vote for Obama in the primaries.

Barack Obama is truly a candidate who is inspiring many people and that explains his success in raising money and his broad support so early on in this election cycle. I think that his ability to raise that kind of excitement and enthusiasm should speak loudly to Democrats when they decide to vote in the primaries. For truly I believe that if Obama wins the Democratic nomination, he will be our next president. If Hillary Clinton wins the nomination, I am sure that we will have yet another Republican in the White House. She is just too divisive and polarizing. After 6 years of an extremely polarizing administration, we need a real uniter not another divider.

Please examine Barack Obama and his plans for America (and the world’s) future. He is a great man who would make an excellent President.

Barack Obama for President !

I am supporting Barack Obama and his bid for the Presidency of the United States in the 2008 elections. I have never been as convinced or passionate about a candidate as I am for Obama. He is a good man who understands the plight of the poor and middle class. His values are strong but he is not an uncompromising ideologue. On the other hand, unlike Hillary Clinton, he will make stands and not give ground on fundamental issues. He was opposed to our preemptive invasion of Iraq and seeks to get our troops out as quickly and as safely as possible. His ideas of economic security, health insurance coverage, and education are sound and well reasoned. His foreign experience is first rate - he has lived abroad and served on the senate foreign relations committee. We desperately need a president who understands that there are real cultural differences in the world (and at home) and can work as a partner with others, not simply as an adversary. I intend to do everything in my power to help Barack Obama win the Democratic primary and the presidency in 2008. I encourage you all to learn more about the man and see why you should support him as well.