BlogHer - BlogHer EXCLUSIVE: Barack Obama answers policy questions from women who blog (Video) - Comments

i like the video so much ...

LYCEJ08 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:04:35 -0500

i like the video so much ... well i just want to share this video with you guys that i saw earlier in pollclash about the two presidential candidates talked about their plan on the huge taxes that we are paying and so far i like the plan of Obama than McCain has..just try to chek the video out in pollclash

Wow

Noell — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:03:34 -0500

I've been undecided so far, though leaning toward Obama. I loved this interview and am looking forward to the issue-by-issue discussion from the various interview cuts.

Blogher--You've got so much more of my respect now! I am so impressed that you've stuck your neck out like this. Wow.

I am also so impressed with Obama and the way he has given us this time and attention.

ab fab

washwords — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:16:59 -0500

How wonderful for blogher (which seems to be just EVERYWHERE lately, I actually heard about this coup on another site!) , great for Barak and great for the public, male and female to add texture to the conversation.

I'm glad to hear you've invited Sens. Clinton and McCain as well. Excellent work to all!

washy || http://washwords.wordpress.com || washwords.dc@gmail.com

You're deluding yourselves

omgiamgoingnuts — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:37:05 -0500

I understand that you want "Change"

Hopefully it will be the kind you want.

Marla Jo - the right to cast

SjP — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:44:25 -0500

Marla Jo - the right to cast my ballot for whom I please was a right granted to me with blood and on the backs of those who fought for it. As such, I have ALWAYS since being able to vote - which has been for well over 40 decades - selected the candidates for whom I would cast my vote based on the issues important to me. As such, in my life time, I have voted for Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and even a few Asians. I have voted for Reblicans, Democrats, Independents, and even some Libertarians.

So as an African-American woman, I am both offended and deeply dismayed that YOU have taken it upon yourself to speak for me and to categorize me in such an inane manner. To say that I and other African Americans support Obama simply because he's Black is as ignorant as me saying that you support Hillary Clinton because she's married to Bill.

I respect your decision to support Hillary Clinton - that is your constitutional right. But, do not cantonize yourself as the spokesperson for the African Americans who have elected to support someone else - even if he's MULTI-RACIAL! That is neither your right nor your calling!

As you can see, I am very capable of speaking for myself. That, my dear, is not something I - nor any other African American for that matter - needs you to do.

And for the record - I started off this political season supporting Hillary Clinton. It was not until I began to hear divisive and demeaning campaign tactics that my support began to diminish for her. I started leaning toward Biden - but unfortunately he dropped out of the race. I never liked John Edwards - even when he ran 4 years ago as VP...he smiles too much for me. Then, after Iowa, I began to take a closer and YES EDUCATED LOOK at Obama. I researched his platform, his stance, and yes even his rhetoric and made an EDUCATED DECISION to support Senator Obama because he's Black, or Multi-Racial, or even a MAN. I support him because I believe that he is the BEST PERSON for this job at this time!

So please, the next time that you deem it necessary to speak for me and millions of other Americans - DON'T!!! Or if you must speak - preference you statements about me and millions of other Americans as "this is only my UNEDUCATED AND UNINFORMED opinion"!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner('s Place) ain't got nothing more to say.

SjP

Obama's got it right!

edcool — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:40:45 -0500

He's got it right, and that's why we see another hit for Obama.
Obama Yes We Can, the campaign song and video recently released to the world by quintessential songwriter Andy Fraser,
chosen to “fire-up” the crowds at more and more campaign rallies.
Encouraged by the reception within the Obama community, support continues at full volume!!
www.ObamaRocks08.com is spearheaded by UK citizen, legendary musician Andy Fraser, with the intent of mobilizing music lovers,
especially the young to support Obama, thru' his hit song-writing talents, urging "the U.S voter to get it right this time, as we have all
witnessed what getting it wrong can mean... to the world at large".
Offered as a free download on Fraser's new politically oriented web site, www.ObamaRocks08.com it encourages voter education
and involvement by providing visitors with links to Barack Obama's official Web site and Rock the Vote where prospective voters may
register to take part in upcoming Democratic state primaries.
Digg this story at - http://digg.com/politics/Obama_Rocks_Music_Vid

E. Cool

I used it...and Erin did a GREAT job.

Catherine Morgan — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:11:07 -0500

I used the code and video on my political blog, thanks.

Erin did a GREAT job...way to go!!!!

:-)

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan at catherine-morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

You were never a democrat to start with. Go ahead,

shwing — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:06:35 -0500

cut your nose to spite your face!

If you would rather have a hundred more years of war than vote for an antiwar candidate then you were never a true democrat. As much as I support Obama, I would vote for Hillary, should she be the nominee.

Say hello to McCain.

Videom: Progressive Video Medium

For omgiamgoingnuts: The issue of race

shwing — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:01:16 -0500

Chill out. Find below an excerpt from a diary I posted at Daily Kos. Please read it, so hopefully you'll stop insulting those of us blacks who support Obama as being sheep content to play identity politics. Keep an open mind and ask yourself why you feel so threatened. It's your right to support the Clintons as i did for many years, however, your vitriol against Obama and his wife is glaringly malformed.

And, yes, the the title is a deliberate double entendre.

I Do Not Support Obama because He is Black:

These are my thoughts on the issue of race in the campaign and the
notion that blacks support Obama because he is black or because of
black pride.

I am a woman. I am black. I am proud of Obama because he seems
genuinely engaged in important issues. I'm proud of his community
organizing, his level head and his message of change and hope. I'm
proud that he chose not to deny his black Kenyan heritage even though
his father abandoned him. I'm proud of the way his campaign is being
run.

I'm proud that a half white, half black man, a Christian with a
Moslem father and family ties from east to west has emerged as a
unifier and a positive symbol already influencing change internationally even without direct negotiation. I'm proud that he has precipitated a much needed, long ignored discussion on race.

You see, I'm proud and excited that Barack Hussein Obama is ALL of
us. In him, I see not only the hopes of black children, but also the
hopes of Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, indigenous and white children.
I see how he excites and propels an 82 year old woman like Jean Weiss
into action.

I'm proud that we the people are the power behind his campaign.
I'm proud that acknowledges that he works for us. I'm proud that
Obama's unprecedented campaign frightens those in the establishment who
want to maintain the status quo.

Up until a few months ago, I was a HUGE Clinton supporter as were
many blacks who only started to take a closer look at Obama after Iowa.
Ironically, I would get into arguments with pro Obama white friends in
which I would use many of the talking points of Hillary voters - It's
time for a woman, the Clintons have experience, Obama should wait.

When I saw the video where it looked like he snubbed Hillary on
the senate floor, I thought he was rude and a complete a-hole. I was
not impressed. The Clintons had me. I had been in their corner for over
a decade and I was not budging.

Then their campaign strategy started to unravel through diabolical
chess moves which caused me to pause and to listen closely without
prejudice. The rest as they say...

I resent the implication that blacks support Obama just based on
melanin. It is highly insulting and assumes that blacks, for example,
would support Alan Keyes over Hillary were such a match up to occur.

In the beginning there were blacks who were wary of Obama whom they
viewed as an outsider not deserving of being the first African American
president, because he did not have ancestors who were slaves and he
had not been vetted. I still hear such rumblings from a few black
intellectuals.

The Clintons screwed up big time. They have squandered much of the
goodwill that they had in the black community. I will not support any
candidate, black or otherwise, who talks about obliterating a country with innocent men, women and children. I support Obama because his values are closest to mine.

Blacks overwhelmingly and passionately worship a pale skinned white
dude with blue eyes called Jesus (at least that's how he's been
depicted -Well, there's this BBC story.)

If it were merely an issue of race, blacks should be followers of
Islam because many Moslems have darker skin than the Jesus dude as we
have come to know him. I realize this might sound ridiculous, but it
isn't any more so than the preposterous supposition that blacks
overwhelmingly support a candidate based on skin color.

---------------------------------

Videom: Progressive Video Medium

Love this!

Katy Chen — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:02:30 -0500

I love that you divided this into individual segments so if someone doesn't want to watch 10 minutes or just want to go to the topics that interest them, they can.

No clue

omgiamgoingnuts — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:09:21 -0500

No clue what to do. At this point I'm voting Republican. I think that says it all.

Fair enough

Kim Pearson — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:05:29 -0500

What I think of your answer is that you are absolutely entitled to your opinion. If I understand you correctly, you might consider supporting such a ticket, but it require getting past hard feelings that you have toward Michelle Obama. Do I understand you correctly?

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

very well done!

A Year of CrockPotting — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:53:05 -0500

yay! I'm thrilled that this happened! I was truly surprised that it took so long to get a yes--I hope Clinton and McCain follow suit quickly.

excellent interview, Erin.

-steph

A Year of CrockPotting

I would have to think about that.

omgiamgoingnuts — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:49:30 -0500

Do those words ring a bell? That is the exact phrase when Michelle Obama was asked whether or not she would support Senator Clinton if she were the nominee. I was so ashamed as an African American that she answered this question this way. I've chosen to see what you think of my answer.

I also support the idea of a dream ticket

Elisa Camahort — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:39:58 -0500

I would totally vote for the dream ticket of Clinton and Obama in which ever order.

However, I am a huge Wes Clark fan, and would be pretty thrilled if he were the choice for VP for either one of them too.

Back when he ran before 2004 he brought up something I thought was so interesting: that running NATO operations in Europe was like being a Governor...he was in charge not just of military operations, but of the base schools and roads and so on and so forth. I always thought that was an interesting point, and would bring not only security gravitas, but executive experience gravitas to the ticket.

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

BlogHer EXCLUSIVE: Barack Obama answers policy questions from women who blog (Video)

Lisa Stone — Sun, 18 May 2008 14:45:13 -0500

Sen. Barack Obama sat down with BlogHer today to answer key policy questions developed by this community of bloggers for 2008 presidential candidates.

In an exclusive on-camera interview with BlogHer, Sen. Obama (D-IL) answers questions about the economy, Iraq, health care and the environment -- including a health-care screening process for every veteran and support for their spouses and families, health insurance coverage for birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and working with China and other countries on climate change, a "major problem."

Sen. Obama is the first presidential candidate to accept our invitation to come on-camera to directly address BlogHer's audience, which now reaches nine million women each month via BlogHer.com and a publishing syndicate of 1,800 blogs. The interview was conducted in Roseburg, Oregon, by Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest, with input from Contributing Editor Kim Pearson.

BlogHer also has extended an open invitation to Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and John McCain (R-AZ) to discuss their presidential candidacies with this community.

What do you think of Sen. Obama's answers to your questions and his decision to participate in this community's discussion of Election 2008?