In Selma, Obama Appeals to Black Voters

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070304/D8NLH6200.html

In Selma, Obama Appeals to Black Voters
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Mar 4, 1:41 PM (ET)

By NEDRA PICKLER

SELMA, Ala. (AP) - Barack Obama reached out to the civil rights generation Sunday on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march, saying the protesters helped pave the way for his campaign to become the first black president. He also urged blacks to take more personal responsibility.

"I stand on the shoulders of giants," the Democratic senator from Illinois told hundreds at a breakfast to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the clash between voting rights demonstrators and police.

He was just 3 when police with billy clubs bloodied blacks who tried to cross the bridge out of Selma on the way to Montgomery, the capital. On his first visit to Selma, Obama was coming face-to-face with Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as the candidates seek support from the party's loyal black constituency.


Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at the Martin and Coretta King Beloved Community Unity Breakfast, Sunday March 4, 2007 in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Obama and Clinton, joined by the former president, planned to speak at the same time from pulpits three blocks apart. They also were to appear together at a rally before making the ceremonial walk to the Edmund Pettus Bridge to honor the Selma-to-Montgomery marches.

FULL story at link.

[Kurovski]

1. Obama makes a fine point about the...

"the anti-intellectualism that exists in some of our communities..."

And he asks:

"How can it be that our voting rates dropped down to 30, 40, 50 percent when people shed their blood to allow us to vote?"

Communities know full well about voter intimidation, dirty tricks, and theft of the black vote by the right Wing with Jim Crow tactics still being used. If Obama doesn't address this as well, I think it will be a mistake because that's a reality one must face and correct if a vote is to count.

To know that a leader is going to fight fully for your right to vote, well, I think that would have more power to get out the vote than just about anything else. Making that promise and then KEEPING it would do more to overide voter cynicism than just about anything else you could write into a speech.

I haven't yet read his full speech, and while he gave his speech in historic Selma, I'm getting a sense that his speech is chiefly for the ears of white America. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

But this fact remains: The voting system in America is blatantly racist.

[carpe diem]

2. his speech will be replayed on CSPAN tonight

on Road to the Whitehouse, you can judge for yourself after actually seeing it if it was in fact "chiefly for the ears of white America"...there's also this:

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=23479


Obama Legislation Would Protect Voting Rights
Senator introduces proposal to ban 'deceptive practices'

People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas praised Senator Barack Obama’s introduction of legislation intended to crack down on deceptive practices and bring greater accountability to the electoral process. Senator Charles Schumer is the principal cosponsor of the legislation. In response, Neas issued the following statement:

“In 2006 as in so many years before, we saw examples of unscrupulous political operatives trying to mislead and deceive voters, and attempting to hold down voter turnout for political gain. Some voters were told the date of the election had shifted. Others were told that their polling place had changed. Some were given misinformation about voter I.D. requirements. Others were the victims of inaccurate or misleading campaign flyers, or annoying robo-calls with deceptive information.

“Enough is enough. Americans deserve elections that are clean and fair. We may not be able to stop dirty tricks in campaigns, but we can make it harder for them to succeed—and we can make the consequences very serious for those who carry them out. Senator Obama’s bill is an important step forward. His Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act proposes strong, effective procedures to prevent deceptive practices in the future, and to ensure that the individuals responsible for such practices are held to account. Senator Obama should be commended for introducing this legislation.

“Senator Obama’s bill would criminalize egregious deceptive practices that keep voters away from the ballot box. It would provide immediate accountability before the election and encourage citizen participation by making it easier to report voter intimidation tactics and seek justice through the courts. And it would require the Attorney General to investigate every reported problem and make the findings public. The bill is an important component of the comprehensive election reform that Americans are demanding after suffering an avalanche of problems in the 2006 elections—most notably the inexplicable disappearance of 18,000 votes in a congressional race in Sarasota County, Florida.

“I encourage all senators to take a close look at this legislation, and I hope that they will recognize, as Senator Obama has, the crucial need for reforms to ensure that every American’s right to vote is protected."

For more information on deceptive practices, see People For the American Way Foundation’s reports: The Long Shadow of Jim Crow, The New Face of Jim Crow, and Shattering the Myth.

[Kurovski]

4. Thank you for taking the time to give me this info...

Obama is under consideration as far as a candidate I'd support. I like many of our candidates.

I'm still in the camp of "Obama for VP", but there's still a long way to go.

Again, thank you, jg82567 for the hand-feeding of info here. I appreciate it. :hi:

[carpe diem]

6. you are more than welcome

:hi: back atcha!

[Eurobabe]

3. I watched the entire speech and I respectfully disagree

re: this speech was for white America. I thought it was a very moving and motivating speech for any ears that heard it, regardless of color.

[Kurovski]

5. I'll be watching it in a few hours on C-Span.

He's an excellent speaker, as I recall his speech at the Dem convention for '04.

And I helped to vote him in as Senator in Illinois.

[Eurobabe]

9. Good on you! He's an awesome man!!

You're lucky, although I now have Jim Webb. So I ain't complainin' :D

[JerseygirlCT]

8. Hillary addressed some of those other points you make

Together, it was a nice set.

[benny05]

7. Obama Better Enjoy a Little Reprieve from this AP Writer

Not to take away from his day at Selma, but I think Pickler is either a RW or perhaps a shill for another candidate, and it ain't Edwards either.

Otherwise, I say good for all today. Civil rights are not a given, as they should be. I'll be watching on C-SPAN for both Clinton and Obama, and hopefully a YT will come out on Edwards' speech at Berkeley, which seems timely, considering all of the controversal shill from the Coultergeist.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2754955&mesg_id=2754965

Now the Coultergeist has determined that union activists are front men for Arab terrorists.