Endorsements for Obama thread

[ginnyinWI]

Since I haven't found one anywhere yet, why not make one here and keep it updated?


Senators: Dick Durbin, Pat Leahy, Claire McCaskill, John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy

Congresspersons: Patrick Kennedy, Al Wynn,

Governors: Sebelius (KS), Patrick (MA), Kaine (VA), Napoliano (AZ)

Politcally-related persons: Caroline Kennedy, Maria Schriver, Ted Sorenson,Teresa Heinz-Kerry,

Celebrities: Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Oprah, Edward Norton, Toni Morrison, The Dead Heads, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Robert DeNiro

[politicasista]

1. Oops, didn't see this thread

Here some additional Congresspersons: Barbara Lee, Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper, Bennie Thompson (I think), Sanford Bishop, Bobby Rush, Patrick Kennedy.

Governors--ex VA gov Doug Wilder

Mayors--Cory Booker (Newark, NJ), Shirley Franklin (Atlanta, GA) Frank Cownie (Des Moines, IA)

Politicaly related--members of the Eisenhower family, Eithel and Rory Kennedy, ex-Sen. Bill Bradley, members of the Tsongas family, Garrison Keiler

Filmakers--Ken Burns, Stephen King

Celebrites--Alfre Woodard, Tatyana Ali, Forest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Scarlet Johannson, Jasmine Guy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kerry Washington, Nick Cannon, George Clooney, Matt Damon (I think), Ben Afleck, Smokey Robinson, Alice Walker, Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Usher, Rappers Kanye West and Common

Radio personalities--Tom Joyner, Michael Baisden

There is more somewhere.

[Democrafty]

2. Wow, thanks!

What an amazing group of people!

[politicasista]

3. No problem

The endorsements come out so fast that it's hard to keep up. I am sure there are more out there. :)

[Democrafty]

4. I'm not always sure what constitutes an endorsement.

But I know Michael Chabon is for him, and I believe Tom Hayden endorsed.

[politicasista]

5. I am not sure, either, but those are good ones right there too n/t

[MH1]

6. Great idea! A suggestion though:

Make it easy to read the list of endorsements and retrieve reference links. Say, by posting a reply to the original post for each major endorser, with the name of the endorser in the subject line (and maybe their area of importance), and then in the body of the post a link or links to the endorsement itself.

I'll do a couple of my favorites to show what I mean. :)

[MH1]

7. Lawrence Lessig (technology law guru), Nov. 14 2007

http://lessig.org/blog/2007/11/4barack.html

And that leaves Barack -- an easy choice for me (except for the "trailing Clinton" part) for lots of reasons.

First, and again, I know him, which means I know something of his character. "He is the real deal" has become my favorite new phrase. Everything about him, personally, is what you would dream a candidate should be. Integrity, brilliance, warmth, humor and most importantly, commitment. They all say they're all this. But for me, this part is easy, because about this one at least, I know.

Second, I believe in the policies. Clearly on the big issues -- the war and corruption. Obama has made his career fighting both. But also on the issues closest to me. As the technology document released today reveals, to anyone who reads it closely, Obama has committed himself to important and importantly balanced positions.

First the importantly balanced: You'll read he's a supporter of Net Neutrality. No surprise there. But read carefully what Net Neutrality for Obama is. There's no blanket ban on offering better service; the ban is on contracts that offer different terms to different providers for that better service. And there's no promise to police what's under the technical hood (beyond the commitment already articulated by Chairman Powell): This is a sensible and valuable Net Neutrality policy that shows a team keen to get it right -- which includes making it enforceable in an efficient way, even if not as radical as some possible friends would like.

Second, on the important: As you'll read, Obama has committed himself to a technology policy for government that could radically change how government works. The small part of that is simple efficiency -- the appointment with broad power of a CTO for the government, making the insanely backwards technology systems of government actually work.

But the big part of this is a commitment to making data about the government (as well as government data) publicly available in standard machine readable formats. The promise isn't just the naive promise that government websites will work better and reveal more. It is the really powerful promise to feed the data necessary for the Sunlights and the Maplights of the world to make government work better. Atomize (or RSS-ify) government data (votes, contributions, Members of Congress's calendars) and you enable the rest of us to make clear the economy of influence that is Washington.

After the debacle that is the last 7 years, the duty is upon the Democrats to be something different. I've been wildly critical of their sameness (remember "Dems to the Net: Go to hell" which earned me lots of friends in the Democratic party). I would give my left arm to be able to celebrate their difference. This man, Mr. Obama, would be that difference. He has as much support as I can give.

About Lawrence Lessig:

Lawrence Lessig (born June 3, 1961) is an American academic. He is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of its Center for Internet and Society. He is founder and CEO of the Creative Commons and a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and of the Software Freedom Law Center, launched in February 2005. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications.

[MH1]

8. Bill McKibben (environmental activist)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/3/9431/41821

Here’s my guess, then, on what Obama’s talk about unity means: not that he’s a patsy who’s going to split the difference with the opposition on every issue. Instead, that he’s going to try and figure out how to run the political rapids differently, so that he avoids the obvious rocks in the water and instead find some new line through the white water. And there’s really one way to do that—try to engage far more Americans in taking part so you dilute the power of the special interests.
For instance: if you’ve got to fight for dramatic shifts in order to deal with medical insurance, you do it less by replaying the precise same battles we’ve fought for the last two decades only harder, and more by figuring out a new way in. Why do we pay twice as much for drugs as Europeans? Why do we pay half again as much for medical care without getting any healthier? These are conversations that only experts have had so far, and that kind of elite dialogue will never build the support we need for real change.

The first key is getting Americans to ask about anything. The pervasive feeling of powerlessness, born of understandable cynicism, needs to be somehow overturned. That’s one reason it’s so hopeful to see high turnout by young people in the primaries. But voting alone is insufficient. Obama spent his formative years as a community organizer, which means he knows more than most of us about how to get people feeling as if they matter. Organizing is tough work—having helped organize 2,000 demonstrations about global warming in the last year, I have some sense of just how hard. Because Americans, by long training, have become cynical about their chance of making a difference.

But organizing always works the same way. You start by making people part of the process. It’s almost the exact opposite of the me-generation personality politics so on display by the Clintons in recent weeks: the idea that they and they alone have the experience and the expertise to solve whatever problems are at hand. This is boomer egoism at its most naked, and those of us who are about Obama’s age or younger are suddenly feeling the possibility of something different for the first time in our political lives. And liking it.

No one can know how any of these people will actually govern. But I hope for a change less in tone than in form. A presidency where, great orator though he is, Obama doesn’t depend on the State of the Union talk to rally people, but instead figures out ways to use the technology of our time. Maybe for virtual hearings or informal referenda; maybe to constantly solicit ideas. And I imagine that he’d be a president in nearly constant motion, covering the country not to hold fundraisers or to meet with other pols, but to...organize. Not to say ‘here’s what I’m doing—back me up,’ but to say ‘how are we going to do this?’

I’ve kept playing that ten-minute Dartmouth interlude over in my mind, and liking Obama more and more because of it. When his supporters chant "Yes We Can," the media has tended to focus on the hopeful "yes," or the assertive "can." But I’m pretty sure the most telling word is "we."

[JanusAscending]

9. You forgot,....

From Ct. Rosa DeLauro, Chris Murphy,( Ned Lamont,) John Larson are Reps. and in Mass. you forgot Ethel Kennedy. Rosa is a Super delegate.

[ralbertson]

10. And, for the more wonkishly-inclined amongst us...

...the endorsements that Obama has received from people like Ted Sorenson, Paul Volcker, and especially Jeffrey Hart would undoubtedly mean more to the kind of people who actually watch C-Span for fun (ack!) than the ones he's received from people like, say, George Clooney and Scarlett Johannson -- even though the reverse would surely be true for most of the average Joe and Jane Sixpacks out there.

[politicasista]

17. True n/t

[Inuca]

11. Some more senators, past and present

Gary Hart, Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson

[Inuca]

12. Conyers

just found out about it http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4402862

[ginnyinWI]

13. Thanks all--maybe we should start a new thread?

I like MH1's idea of a separate post for each person. MH1, If you'd like to start a new Endorsements Thread that way, we could let this one go and keep that one kicked. But with the flood of endorsements coming in for Obama, it will be a challenge.

[treehuggnlibrul]

14. Garrison Keillor nt

[politicasista]

15. Dave Matthews

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well.

A question, a reflection, and an endorsement.

Why is our country divided?
Why has this division been growing?

Can we not all agree that we are a country that supports its families, that protects its citizens and respects its neighbors?
A country that educates its children?
Are we not a country that can lead by example rather than by force?
Is ours a government of the people, by the people, for the people?

I would like to think so.
But I believe that corporate greed and its involvement in policy making, along with political cronyism have made it nearly impossible for the people to govern.
So we fight amongst ourselves over the spin of political slogans and half truths.
And so we are divided.

It is time for a change and that is why I support Barack Obama for President.

Respectfully,

Dave Matthews

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/C7nS

[politicasista]

16. Andrew Shue (from Melrose Place)

According to a blog post at BarackObama.com

This morning Andrew Shue actor/activist articulately endorsed Barack Obama on MSNBC with Joe Scarborough and Mika.

Andrew supported the Clintons in the past and has a personal relationship with them. Asked whether he was torn about supporting Sen. Obama he indicated that this was bigger and more important than personal loyalties. He spoke to some of the challenges we face and the importance that we have a leader who can bring us together to face them.

He spoke to the fact that the Clintons share some responsibility about the divisive path this country has taken and stressed repeatedly how we need a new kind of transformational leader in this pivotal election.

Andrew created an organization back when he was in his early twenties that deals with the issues of families. He used the clout he had at the time from being on the TV show Melrose Place to give back.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/C7nS

[Democrafty]

18. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I had the biggest crush on him when I was about 11. I'm glad he has good taste in candidates.

I wonder if Luke Perry will endorse....

[politicasista]

20. Good question n/t

[politicasista]

19. Wyclef Jean (though more of support)

Let's talk a little bit about the election. I know you attended the 2004 Democratic Convention, and you're friends with the Kennedys so you're down with the Democrats. What are your thoughts on this election?

Even Republicans love Obama. It's a difference when someone writes a speech for you or when you're saying something from the heart. I didn't get a chance to hear Martin Luther King speak. I got a chance to hear Minister Farrakhan speak. Farrakhan had a way when he spoke which moved people. Obama just feels like the voice of the new generation. Like no one can take that from him. Like some people are saying 'Yo, is he experienced enough? Guess what, I got news for you, JFK wasn't that experienced.

The key to a presidency is leadership. To be able to lead is to be able to go into countries and communicate. This guy, I see him going to a country with any world leader and having a man-to-man conversation. So this is my stance with Obama. My stance with Hilary is that you can't take nothing from her. The facts are there. She does care about health care. As a woman, I think she can relate to certain things about motherhood that are important to us. You've seen her fighting for that in New York. On the Republican side, they're in trouble. (Laughs.)

Who's going to get your vote? Do you know, are you going to say?
I mean really for me, I really, really, really, really love Barack.

Have you met him?

I met him at the Black Caucus a few years ago. This is my Barack story. He comes up to me with his wife and he says, 'Yo, tell Wyclef what's in my car right now.' And she goes "All he plays is The Carnival. He won't take that CD out of his car. So, he's definitely on it, you know what I mean?

http://www.bet.com/Music/News/musicnews_wyclefpolitics_2.5.htm?Page=2

[my2sense]

21. Marion Barry just endorsed on MSNBC "Tucker"

This is certainly not a boost considering his record.

[ralbertson]

22. Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington state endorsed Obama today

And House Appropriations Chair Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin had done it mid-week as well, thus leading to this delightfully snarkilicious Daily Kos post:

David Obey, Christine Gregoire are now Cultists

by Geekesque
Fri Feb 08, 2008 at 12:16:54 PM PST


Somehow, over the past few weeks, David Obey and Christine Gregoire have lost their damn minds.

They clearly have become brainwashed automatons, worshipping hype and ignoring a plain lack of substance.

Their statements of adoration for a David Koresh-type figure below the fold.



As readers of Jeralyn Merrit's Talk Left and Taylor Marsh know, Barack Obama is as much a cult leader and evangelist as he is a political figure running for office.

Sadly, his reinvention of Jonestown has several new residents.


{snip}


Very sad. I think Joe Klein and Taylor Marsh should hold an intervention.

Also getting ready shave her head and chant mindlessly is Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.


{snip}


Jake Tapper and Villagers, please intervene before it's too late. Save this poor, vulnerable soul from the mass hysteria and blind worship that is the Obama campaign.

</snark>

[sandnsea]

23. IA Gov Chet Culver, Dave Obey, and

Frank LaMere, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee's Native American Caucus.

[Inuca]

24. I did not know about Obey

Nice, I like him a lot.