http://www.wikio.com/search=John Edwards Barack Wikio - John Edwards Barack http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69456428 Let me preface this by stating that I did not vote for Barack Obama in the primary in Colorado. My personal preference had been for John Edwards, but this option was denied me by his withdrawal before the Colorado primaries. Since a family friend died years before his time due to lack of medical insurance for a preventable ailment, national health care has been my major deciding factor when voting and I felt that Hillary Clinton’s plan was better. The battle between Clinton and Obama was fierce, but I was ready to back Obama in the general election because some health care plan is better than the farce that John McCain offers. When the tickets for Obama’s acceptance speech sold out so quickly, my wife and I were resigned to finding one of the numerous public viewing locations in Denver to watch this momentous, historical event. I was resigned to simply acting as a chauffer for Team Blue Oasis, experiencing the DNC from their perspective and not mine. Never before had American been given the opportunity to vote for an African American candidate in the general election with a major political party and I wanted to be part of it in some fashion. When I dropped off Celtic Diva and Writing Raven at the delegation breakfast, the plan was to try to obtain Writing Raven a pass so both of them could attend the speech while Monocot and I would take Morrigan with us to watch. Celtic Diva worked some incredible magic and managed to turn her one pass into five, getting the entire Team Blue Oasis in, though only Writing Raven and Morrigan were able to sit together. What does one do when they find out that they are going to be able to take part of history? Yeah, I called my Mom… clichéd I know, but my mother and I have a close relationship and I had to tell her. I also sent a text message to numerous friends, most of which were congratulatory, if not jealous. My wife Monocot and I stuck together as much as possible, but once we entered the gates of Mile High Stadium, we had no choice but to move to completely different sections of the stadium as sections were being strictly enforced. As I became situated in my nosebleed section directly behind the stage, giving me an excellent opportunity to view the back of the head of everyone at the podium, I was prepared to listen to the various speakers and watch history with Obama’s acceptance speech. Win or loose, America was going to have the opportunity for someone to actually live up to Martian Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, coincidently on the same day 45 years later. I had already made my logical choice for a candidate for the November election and while the speech could influence my decision, it was highly unlikely. The people I was sitting with were nice, but they were strangers and something this large I wanted to share with friends. My wife had turned her phone off to save battery power, so I was prepared to make the best of things when I got a text message from Steven in Florida asking my opinion about Bill Richardson’s speech. With his wife in night school after finishing her day job, he wished to communicate with another adult with similar views. There was much banter between us, including some sophomoric humor that could only be truly appreciated by disciples of the wit of Monty Python. By the time that Joe Biden hit the stage, the tone of conversation turned more serious, as we both were intrigued by the events taking place in front of us. During the video biography of Obama, Steven admitted that he was having difficulty explaining to his five year old son what was going on without crying and the full magnitude of the importance of this nomination hit me. As Steven said in his text, he is the father of a wonderful five year old boy who is a mixed race child; his father is African American and his mother is white… just like Barack Obama. On the anniversary of Emmet Till’s death 47 years earlier, the magnitude of black man with a white wife telling their son about a man who was exactly like him sunk in. I lost my logical detachment and general skepticism about all politicians and allowed my emotions to come to the forefront. I will not reiterate the analysis that Steven provided of the speech; suffice to say that I do agree with many of the points. Not having a child of my own, I can only imagine how Steven felt, but it was enough to make me rather misty eyed also. As Obama spoke, I allowed my heart instead of just my mind to listen and I will admit that I dared to hope for a better future. As the speech went on, I could clearly envision Steven trying to explain this to his son and I started weeping due to as much as what Obama said as to what it meant for Steven’s family and millions of others just like him. Hope. Love. Perseverance. Pride. I had become so disgusted by politics in general that I did not think anyone could move me, but thanks to the magnificent speech, the honesty that was behind the words and the text messages exchanged with a friend 1,800 miles away, I was truly moved. I am not ashamed to say that my “male bonding moment” over texting left two grown men weepy eyed. Today has reverted to politics as usual. McCain is doing his best to steal all of Obama’s thunder by announcing his Vice Presidential running mate. This will be hashed out by all the media and dissected ad nauseam. In their focus on the facts, figures and opinions of the day, they will completely overlook the hard to quantify emotional aspects of last night’s acceptance speech. How does one quantify the impact of people opening their hearts and feeling hope? The feeling was a tangible presence last night at Mile High Stadium, and I was far from the only person with red eyes from crying. Win or lose, Obama has undoubtedly inspired this generation that Yes, We Can, if only we put our minds to it. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:19:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69456428 2008-08-29T18:19:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69424493 The Democratic National Convention opened with the Revelation that their nominee Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ. Delegates, Super Delegates, and other party members and press cheered at the announcement that their charismatic candidate was the rebi... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:53:01 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69424493 2008-08-29T14:53:01Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69414643 New Obama Friend is Edwards’ Money Man Fred Baron’s ties to the DNC run deep. With John Edwards exiting the race his former National Finance Chair in ‘04 and ‘08 has turned his attention to Barack Obama. With Baron’s admitting he paid money to Edwards’ ex-mistress to move across the country to have a baby, we [...] Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:51:25 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69414643 2008-08-29T13:51:25Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69412837 I somehow never quite made it to Denver but a reader has sent me a program from it that makes me feel that I am almost there: 5:00-6:00 pm - Jimmy Carter. Topic: Lets give Appeasement a Chance (sung to John Lennon tract). 6:00pm-7:00pm - John Edwards. Topic: Standing erect behind my principles 7:00pm -8:00pm - [...] Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:18:13 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69412837 2008-08-29T13:18:13Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69417647 Barack Obama, Constructing Victory, Orange County, and South Orange Coaches and Precinct Leaders. We will all come together and lay out the street-by-street GOTV effort that will help turn Orange County for Barack Obama, which will help win North Carolina for Barack Obama, which will help win the United States for Barack Obama. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:12:06 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69417647 2008-08-29T13:12:06Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69410818 In 2004, twice failed candidate for president John Edwards made famous (or infamous') the phrase “Two Americas” and when he said it, he was essentially talking about the haves versus the have-nots in classic liberal class warfare style. Last night, we got the Obama who left out several important, intriguing facts about his record and his [...] Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:05:18 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69410818 2008-08-29T13:05:18Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69405353 The "money" man behind John Edwards has turned his attention to Obama. Does Obama really need a new "friend" like Fred Baron? Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:30:48 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69405353 2008-08-29T10:30:48Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69374237 What I Said About Obama after the Democratic Debate of April 28, 2007: Barack Obama didn't make many missteps, to my relief. The pragmatist in me suspects that my first choice (barring Gore's entry, of course) , John Edwards, has very little chance of winning the nomination. The pragmatist in me suspects this is going to be a fight to the death, down to the wire, between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And should that be the case, I'm throwing my full weight and every ounce of energy and every millisecond of my time behind Barack Obama. So you might imagine my relief when Obama's performance turned out to be... pretty good. Not bad, not great -- but he had gravitas and thought quickly on his feet, his answers were in-depth and obviously given more thought than the standard soundbite crap we might expect of a novice who might have been rehearsed within an inch of his life. And, with apologies to Edwards, I didn't get a sense of any "high-falutin'" language. To the contrary, I heard an eloquent simplicity that, while it lacked no erudition, probably could still be digested and understood by most people with an average education and intellect. As to his policies and plans, they did lack specificity, which I expected -- however, I have a feeling Obama has the common sense to surround himself with advisors whose wisdom and experience he will trust -- and though he will "be his own man" and make his own decisions, I suspect Obama will be the polar opposite of George W. Bush, should he become President, and make his decisions judiciously and thoughtfully. So, despite many misgivings, it will not be too troubling to me should my first* choice go down and I be forced to support Obama. Boy, was I a condescending and shortsighted fucking dope. I can't wrap my mind around the fucking SYMPHONY of a speech and ASTONISHINGLY brilliant theatre I witnessed at Mile High tonight enough to give you a proper essay about it -- though, incidentally, I would NEVER have predicted the stroke of GENIUS that was choosing a COUNTRY song as the theme song at the end... I'll just say that I was blown the fuck away by it and that in my opinion, Barack Obama is what Martin Luther King, Jr. saw when he was on that mountaintop. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:01:19 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69374237 2008-08-29T06:01:19Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69371401 After John Edwards left the race, I always said I'd vote for our nominee but would never donate to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. All spring and summer, I vowed never to put an Obama sticker on my car and joked that Bleeding Heartland was last bastion of Obamaskepticism [...] Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:27:55 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69371401 2008-08-29T04:27:55Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69361109 Democrat bad boy cashes in. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:16:10 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69361109 editor@spectator.org (The Prowler) 2008-08-29T04:16:10Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69356684 Barack Obama opened his acceptance speech at Invesco Stadium in Denver by thanking those who joined him in the Democratic primaries, but mentioned only two by name. Obama started by thanking the candidate who stayed in the race the longest, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and concluded the opening portion of the speech by thanking his vice presidential candidate Joe Biden. Perhaps all of them would have been mentioned, but that would have meant mentioning the only unspeakable name of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the philandering John Edwards, a man who only four years ago was standing alongside John Kerry as the vice presidential candidate and who this year is skulking around hotel rooms visiting his mistress (and quite possibly the mother of his child). That meant giving short shrift to such people Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kuninich, and God help us, even Mike Gravel. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:18:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69356684 2008-08-29T02:18:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69357112 Election ???08: The idea of Democrats emerging unified from their acrimonious convention is laughable. If the GOP convention had the Clinton/Obama feud and John Edwards scandal, it would be declared a catastrophe Investors Business Daily Obama and Michelle's World Lisa De Pasquale, Human Events Andrew Bostom wrote, "After viewing the text of Barack Obama???s acceptance speech, I can at last fathom the true meaning of his platitudinous mantra about ???change.??? It was articulated eloquently in 1971 by the despotic Latin American junta leader Esposito in Woody Allen'??s ???Bananas'??: From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now??? 16 years oldThe video begins ...get your shovels. "When I was young my mother said, "he's an American and he is going to know what that means" What mother says that? Lots of family shots of ma and grannie, where's the Kenya family album. Him and his grandfather "waving American flags" ..... what was mentor and family Frank waving ? Video over. Obambi is in da hous .....walking down the grandiose runway of the Invesco coloseum spectacle Barack Obama tells packed stadium he accepts Democratic nomination "with great humility." heh. Crowd goes wild (I think they applauded more for Billy Clinton though) Pays lip service to Hillary and Bill. 4 years ago (evoking Republican Lincoln's four score .... speaking of his speech at the Kerry nomination -- the speech that put this man on the man. Here he goes ............ running down America. Cars you cant afford to drive, tuition beyond your reach, homes you can't afford, mortgages you can't pay ... BLAME BUSH! Crowd goes wild "America, we are a better country than this!" Better than what, we rock bro. He is bellowing ENOUGH! I feel the same way buddy. It's funny, the man is bashing Bush while ignoring the glaring fact that Bush's approval ratings have been climbing since January. They never talk about that or that the approval ratings of the Democrat Congress is lower than Bush's and sinking. Deriding trickle down economics .......... calling it " YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN" Problems? - "YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN". Lost your job? "YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN".... "It's time for them to own their failure" [speaking of the Republicans] So what is he saying? That the Republicans should be responsible for themselves and their mistakes but the Democrats shouldn't? That the Republicans are responsible for the Demoncrats mistakes? That's rich? Why isn't it time for Democrats and every American to own their failure? These moochers and looters are exhausting. His mother turned to food stamps but was able to send him to finest schools in the country. Uh, whatddup wit dat? Where did she get the dough? Al Mansour? Obambi is talking tough about foreign policy. REMOVE OUR TROOPS FROM... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:01:44 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69357112 2008-08-29T02:01:44Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69347970 I don't know if the John McCain we've been seeing lately is the real McCain or "Candidate McCain", but either way, John McCain is turning... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:10:48 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69347970 2008-08-29T00:10:48Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69347123 I don’t know if the John McCain we’ve been seeing lately is the real McCain or “Candidate McCain“, but either way, John McCain is turning out to be a real jerk. For the candidate whose earlier promise to run a “respectful campaign” has already become a running joke, John McCain has spent the last few [...] Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:31:24 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69347123 2008-08-28T23:31:24Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69284102 Following Joe Biden’s acceptance speech yesterday evening, many of the TV pundits gave the senator average marks. “Serviceable” was how I heard David Gergen describe it. O.k. Sure. Content-wise, it was a bit of a smorgasbord and the attacks on John McCain were predictable. But there was something I really liked about Biden’s speech. The toughness. After [...] Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:00:29 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69284102 2008-08-28T14:00:29Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69273259 Do you get the feeling that someone is missing from the convention? Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:15:40 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69273259 editor@spectator.org (John Tabin) 2008-08-28T13:15:40Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69277812 The Top Ten most popular stories from our first year. Part of our One-Year Anniversary Celebration. Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:05:58 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69277812 2008-08-28T12:05:58Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69253952 John Kerry: Bitter much? The entire speech was a catharsis for Kerry, one that was... Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:21:05 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69253952 2008-08-28T10:21:05Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69248329 Democrats made history here yesterday by formally naming Barack Obama as the first African-American nominee for the White House, marking the moment with a deafening welcome for their candidate when he made a surprise appearance at the convention centre to cap the landmark day. Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:30:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69248329 2008-08-28T08:30:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69238945 When Barack Obama accepts the nomination tonight, it will be a powerful moment for many black Democrats. Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:30:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/John+Edwards+Barack?rinfoid=69238945 2008-08-28T05:30:00Z