Recently in Barak Obama Category
Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barak Obama were both in Alabama this weekend hoping to build speed for their presidential bids by gaining the support of black southern voters.
The democratic candidates were in Alabama to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Selma voting rights march, that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. On that day in 1965, police attacked over 500 protesters with tear gas and batons as they marched from Selma to Montgomery to enforce Gov. George Wallace's ban on such demonstrations.
Both Clinton and Obama gave thanks to the bloody march on Selma saying without that pivotal moment in history, they wouldn't be campaigning today.
Obama talked about his African father who visited America and met his white mother whose ancestors once owned slaved.
"They looked at each other and they decided, 'We know that, in the world as it has been, it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child, but something is stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across the bridge. And so they got together, and Barack Obama Jr. was born," he told the crowd. "So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama," Obama added. "Don't tell me I'm not coming home when I come to Selma, Alabama. I'm here because somebody marched for our freedom. I'm here because y'all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of this."
Senator Clinton, the democratic front-runner, took the stage a few moments later and recognized Obama and the other minority opponents as she too gave thanks to Selma, AL.
"The Voting Rights Act gave more Americans from every corner of our nation the chance to live out their dreams. And it is the gift that keeps on giving," Clinton said. "Today it is giving Sen. Obama the chance to run for president of the United States. And by its logic and spirit, it is giving the same chance to Gov. Bill Richardson, a Hispanic, and, yes, it is giving me that chance, too." She added, "I know where my chance came from, and I am grateful to all of you who gave it to me."
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), one of the leaders of the Selma march, said the competition for black voters between the senators is "a very difficult position to be in, but it's a good position to be in." "We have choices," Lewis added.
With still over a year and a half left until the presidential election, the democrats are hoping to look like a unified team while presenting many options to take back the White House in 2008.
With more than 20 months left before the 2008 presidential election, things are already starting to get nasty between the two democratic front runners.
Senators Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are slinging mud thanks to entertainment tycoon David Geffen.
Geffen is a former Clinton friend who contributed to her husband's presidential bids and was once the center of the "Lincoln Bedroom" fund-raising scandal. President Bill Clinton was accused of practically renting out the historic room in the White House in exchange for campaign funds raised by Geffen.
Now Geffen is backing Obama and calling the Clintons the "royal family" that tells "lies."
Reps for team Clinton say Obama should keep his pledge to "change the tone of politics" and give back money that Geffen raised for him over the weekend while taking low blows against the Clintons. Obama's reps fired back saying "the Clinton's had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising $18 million" to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey who was the first to plant the seed for a possible Obama presidential bid told Ellen Degeneres this week that she is "feeling" Obama over Clinton at this point.
Neither candidate has openly thrown their support behind same sex marriage or other gay rights initiatives.
