The fight for the democratic nomination is going down to the wire and I am certain that Barack Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton are holding their best cards until the final stretch. Barack Obama, in particular, is beginning this week on a high note. He has recieved a union endorsement from the NYC Corrections Officers' Union which has over 9,000 active members.
"Barack Obama is the one candidate who will put an end to the divisiveness in this country so that we can finally achieve greater economic prosperity for the working class and health care coverage for all Americans," said Norman Seabrook, the president of the city's Correction Officers' Benevolent Association.
The NYC CO Union endorsement provides some much needed good news for the Obama campaign although there is still the potential Al Gore endorsement out there. Should Al opt not to get in the race by October, I am looking forward to his endorsement, as predicted by Ben Smith, likely going to Obama.
The New York Times wrote a very interesting article regarding the democratic nomination entitled Proudly Wearing the Frontrunner Label.
Anyone wanting to understand why Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign is being praised these days in many quarters . . . Politicians and journalists inevitably try to simplify crowded political contests by identifying one candidate as a front-runner, long before a single American even votes. It is a designation that is often based on the most tenuous of evidence and one that often proves to be wrong, especially when it comes to Democrats.
Ultimately, supporters of competing campaigns have to recognize that their fight is bigger than Clinton herself. The real fight is against a skewed media and a greater emphasis has to be placed on getting average Americans to get their news from objective sources such as the internet. We got pac groups and 527s covering all sorts of issues and candidates, however, none of them are taking on the issue of media reform which is probably the most important thing to reclaiming our democracy.
Yet Mrs. Clinton is a good example of why the front-runner designation is so ephemeral. Mr. Obama has outpaced her in fundraising and crowds, both in terms of their size and how stirred they are by his speeches. Both Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards have held their own in winning endorsements; though it’s worth noting that Mr. Dean picked up a lot of big endorsements in 2004 — from Al Gore to Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa — and it didn’t do him much good in the end.
. . . But presidential campaigns are learning experiences. And Mr. Obama seems to have learned from these past nine months on the campaign trail. He turned in what was widely seen as an impressive debate performance in Iowa two weeks back, reminding many Democrats of why his entry into the race drew such attention. He has personally rewritten his stump speech to deal with the question of whether he has the experience to be president, and at least at one appearance — last week in Washington — it drew him long applause.
"The length of your resume says nothing about your character," Mr. Obama said. "So let me tell you about the experiences that I bring to bear in this campaign because I think that the experience that American is looking for right now is the experience of bringing the people together to solve problems, Republicans and Democrats."
Proudly Wearing the Frontrunner Label
Hillary Clinton has been avoiding the tough interviews that John Edwards and Barack Obama, in particular, revel in. Her performance last Sunday reveals why she is so low key when it comes to off the cuff interviews. Meet The Press exposed even further why she, unlike John Edwards, has not apologized for her vote. The attached youtube clip pokes glaring holes in Clinton's attempt to justify her vote as misused authority by George Bush.
As this race continues to play out, supporters will continue to do their part to ensure the electorate does not elect a candidate who will fall prey to the same argument that doomed John Kerry's candidacy . . . "I voted for the 87 billion dollars before I voted against it."
Barack Obama speaks to America and America is responding. It is responding with record-breaking crowds, the largest donor base and strongest financial backing of all the presidential candidates in the race. Now lets continue to feed the largest grassroots movement in history to get out the vote. Stay tuned.*
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*Contributions to the writing of this diary was made by Deborah Phelan and Todd Smyth of MyBarackObama.com