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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (598)	1/2/2007 1:08:10 PM
From: MJ	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 149317

Not surprised with the confusion. Neurologically, typists use the a and s keys on the computer more than the a and b keys, in combination. With the entrainment of the name Osama Bin Ladin in recent years----it takes a conscious effort to write Obama and to remember that Obama is a last name and not a first name. One way of solving the confusion is to adopt an American name that doesn't include his father's name. His teanage name, Barry, could easily be used on his campaign literature and advertisements to remove the stigmatism created by the similarity. Imo, he has been poorly advised by his campaign managers. He should have been advised early to use Barry Obama or to change his last name legally to that of his mother who is the source of his American heritage. "Barry Obama" is much easier to write and remember----easily adapted to a campaign poster or literature. Isn't this the name his friends call him? CNN has apologized-----that will give him free publicity and sympathy for the confusion. And, no doubt some follow up interviews. mj

To: American Spirit who wrote (598)	1/2/2007 1:53:07 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

2008 PRESIDENTIAL RACE: Clinton & Obama have opposing votes ___________________________________________________________ Democratic front-runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have served briefly in the Senate, but their records show some key differences. By SHAILAGH MURRAY Washington Post Service Posted on Tue, Jan. 02, 2007 WASHINGTON - The attack ads practically write themselves: Hillary Clinton voted against ethanol! Barack Obama wants to increase taxes! Such are the perils of running for president as a senator. The two front-runners for the 2008 Democratic nomination are newcomers to the chamber. But in the two years that Clinton and Obama have overlapped, they have taken opposite sides at least 40 times. That's a lot of material to mine, and even misrepresent. Of the eight senators pondering presidential runs, Clinton, who is completing her first Senate term, and Obama, sworn in two years ago, have the briefest voting histories. The Senate has held 645 roll-call votes during their shared tenure, and more than 90 percent of the time the two senators stood with other Democrats. They opposed John Roberts' nomination as chief justice, supported increased funding for embryonic stem cell research and backed the same nonbinding measure that urged President Bush to plan for a gradual troop withdrawal from Iraq. But other votes reveal important differences between the Democratic rivals that distinguish them as they prepare to launch their anticipated candidacies. The areas of dispute include energy policy, congressional ethics and budget priorities, relations with Cuba, gun ownership and whether a senator can hold a second job. One budget-related vote with broader political implications would have stripped funding for TV Martí, which attempts to provide television programming to Cuba, though the Cuban government jams the signal. Critics in Congress complain that the United States has spent almost $200 million on the failed effort and have targeted it year after year. Obama twice voted to cut off TV Martí funding, while Clinton supported maintaining it. Those votes will have resonance in Florida, a key primary state that may reschedule its 2008 primary from March to February. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the senator's opposition to TV Martí was primarily about cost. But within Florida's large Cuban exile population, one of the most powerful voting blocs in the state, Clinton's and Obama's stances ally them with distinct groups: the older hard-liners and a younger, more progressive group of second-generation Cuban Americans and more recent immigrants whose numbers are growing. Clinton 'is going with the status quo,' said Sergio Bendixen, a Miami-based pollster who specializes in Hispanic voters. Obama, he said, ``is with the position of change.' In corn-growing Iowa, Clinton will have to explain the ethanol vote she cast on June 15, 2005. The senator recently softened her stance, but she is on record opposing a large federal boost for the grain-based fuel. And Obama voted to increase taxes when he opposed a package of business breaks that included the extension of middle-class provisions. Clinton voted for the tax bill -- before she voted against it, as did Obama, in the legislation's final form. The two Democrats differed on other energy-related issues than ethanol. In August, Clinton supported a bill to expand oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, while Obama voted against it. During the 2005 energy debate, Obama backed an increase in vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, which Clinton opposed. Clinton voted against the energy bill itself because it was stuffed with oil industry incentives. But Obama supported it because it included language that would double ethanol demand by 2012.