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This is video is about how Obama will repeat failed policies of the past. It also shows that not all Black voters are drinking Obama's kool-aid

If anyone could lay claim totheir state's Republican Party, it's Deborah Burstion-Donbraye of Cleveland. The 53-year-old international business consultant is the former outreach director for the Ohio Republican Party, for starters. She helped deliver the swing state to President Bush in his 2004 re-election bid in which he garnered 16 percent of the black vote. Among her Republican credentials, Mrs. Burstion-Donbraye worked in several high-level positions during the Reagan and Bush administrations of the late 1980s and was the press secretary for George W. Bush's Texas gubernatorial campaign in 1994. In the 1980s, she was an assistant national desk editor...

(CNN) -- "We had a dream. Now it's a reality." That's the slogan on a popular T-shirt linking Sen. Barack Obama's presidential run to the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream of racial equality. It's one of several T-shirts -- including "Barack is my homeboy"-- that reflect African-American's euphoria over Obama's White House bid. But there are others who warn that an Obama presidency could hurt African-Americans. They say that an Obama victory could cause white Americans to ignore entrenched racial divisions while claiming that America has reached the racial Promised Land. Paul Street, author of the forthcoming book, "Barack Obama...

Jesse Jackson's infamous "hot mic" remarks have raised to the surface tensions seen earlier within the black community. Only days have passed, and already the uproar over Brother Jesse's remarks have been superseded by yet another crisis, courtesy of Eustace Tilley. It can't be said that this is a dull campaign. But it'll pay us to linger awhile over the Reverend's street insult thrown the Senator's way for the offense of talking down to blacks. Most of the incident's context has been elided by the mass media, no doubt due to its involving touchy questions of race. But a closer...

Return to the Article July 17, 2008Jesse, Barack, and African-American SupportBy J.R. Dunn Jesse Jackson's infamous "hot mic" remarks have raised to the surface tensions seen earlier within the black community. Only days have passed, and already the uproar over Brother Jesse's remarks have been superseded by yet another crisis, courtesy of Eustace Tilley. It can't be said that this is a dull campaign. But it'll pay us to linger awhile over the Reverend's street insult thrown the Senator's way for the offense of talking down to blacks. Most of the incident's context has been elided by the mass...

Americans are sharply divided by race heading into the first presidential election in which an African-American will be a major party nominee, with over 80 percent of black voters saying they had a favourable opinion of Barack Obama while only 30 percent of white voters have a favourable opinion of him. Black and white voters also diverge widely on the state of race relations and how black Americans are treated by society, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll published Wednesday. Obama's presumed nomination by the Democratic party, while generating high levels of enthusiasm among black voters, is...

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain praised Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday in a speech to black leaders and outlined what he called honest differences with Obama over taxes, spending and education. "I am a candidate for president who seeks your vote and hopes to earn it," he told the NAACP, the country's oldest civil rights organization and one of its most influential. "But whether or not I win your support, I need your goodwill and counsel. And should I succeed, I'll need it all the more." Indeed, McCain told the NAACP that he thinks highly of Obama,...

I’m only one black American among millions, and I’m no authority on black people, nor do I speak for black people. But I can provide insight.Back in 2004, Republicans were trying to appeal to black voters. Newt Gingrich and the rest wanted to secure at least 25 percent of the “black vote.� Dream on! I poured a bucket of water over their piddling flame. Won’t work, I said. I explained my reasoning in “Why Courting the Black Vote Won’t Work,� which was published in the Washington Times.Unlike some black conservatives and Republicans I know, I don’t think the party should...

It's easy for opponents to ascribe motives to Sen. John McCain's decision to address the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Wednesday in Cincinnati. “John McCain's campaign stop has everything to do with political tactics and nothing to do with genuinely reaching out to voters,” said Alex Goepfert, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party. Another high-ranking Democrat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that appearing before a predominantly black audience from which the Republican presidential candidate has a scant chance of getting votes is designed to earn McCain points with moderate white voters....

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama and John McCain vie for African-American votes this week with appearances before the NAACP convention in Cincinnati, a stop with potential opportunities and pitfalls for both candidates.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., says that he won’t back down on his “tough love” message to African Americans -– a subject that prompted Jesse Jackson's angry open-mic gaffe this past week. Obama told reporters aboard his plane to San Diego that Americans need to recognize that there is a problem when more than a half of African American children are growing up without a father in the house. “That is a problem and I won’t back up one bit in asserting that that’s a problem that we have to be honest about," he said. Obama’s tough love message to African...

I felt the following quote requires some further commentary… "I'm confused as to why any African American would be a Republican in this day and age." — Robin Wright-Jones, (D) Missouri State Representative With all due respect to Representative Wright-Jones, I can't understand why more blacks haven't jumped the Democrat ship. Granted, with decades of vilification, I can understand why people decide to avoid the public ridicule one would be exposed to as a black Republican. While many, including former Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry, mistakenly believe (for example) President Lincoln was a Democrat, the belief that Democrats are the...

MARION, Ala. — Federal and state authorities are looking into accusations of voting fraud in three largely black counties of Alabama, including Perry and Lowndes Counties, which played a historic role in the struggle for black voting rights in the 1960s. In May, a local citizens group gathered affidavits detailing several cases in which at least one Democratic county official paid citizens for their votes, or encouraged them to vote multiple times. The affidavits were presented to state officials in Montgomery, the capital, and after the June 3 primary, the Alabama attorney general, Troy King, a Republican, seized voting records...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — TV One will cover the Democratic National Convention because — and only because — the party's nominee is African-American. And yet, oddly enough, some of the people who will be involved in that coverage took umbrage at the suggestion that the cable/satellite network is, um, covering the Democratic National Convention only because the nominee is Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. "Yes, Sen. Obama running for president is a huge deal at TV One as it is in the African-American community," said Johnathan Rodgers, the CEO of the network that, in his words, "targets African-American adults." According to...

Given Barack Obama's historic run for the Oval Office, African American-themed cable network "TV One" plans to break from its usual entertainment programming to provide extensive coverage of the Democratic National Convention in August. "Sen. Barack Obama running for president is a huge deal for TV One as it is for the African American community," said Johnathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, a channel in about 40 million homes. "African Americans have fallen in love with his candidacy, his family … we will be covering the democratic convention all the time." But John McCain shouldn’t expect the same...

TCA -- Given Barack Obama's historic run for the Oval Office, African American-themed cable network TV One plans to break from its usual entertainment programming to provide extensive coverage of the Democratic National Convention in August. "Sen. Barack Obama running for president is a huge deal for TV One as it is for the African American community," said Johnathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, a channel in about 40 million homes. "African Americans have fallen in love with his candidacy, his family … we will be covering the democratic convention all the time." But John McCain shouldn’t expect...

Why Haven’t More Blacks Jumped the Democrat Ship? Bob ParksI felt the following quote requires some further commentary... I'm confused as to why any African American would be a Republican in this day and age.- Robin Wright-Jones, (D) Missouri State Representative With all due respect to Representative Wright-Jones, I can't understand why more blacks haven't jumped the Democrat ship. Granted, with decades of vilification, I can understand why people decide to avoid the public ridicule one would be exposed to as a black Republican. While many, including former Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry, mistakenly believe (for example) President Lincoln was...

Recent comments by well-known black Republicans J.C. Watts and Armstrong Williams that they're conflicted about the upcoming presidential elections and are contemplating voting for Barack Obama have sent shock waves through the Republican Party. I'm hearing many black Republicans echoing similar sentiments. They say that because of the historical significance of casting a vote for the first legitimate black presidential candidate, they may cross party lines. These statements don't surprise me.

Mike Terry is black, and he knows that a black man giving someone a fist bump is not news. He also knows that calling a man's wife his "baby mama" is derogatory, and that no self-respecting black person he has ever met would use the term "whitey," even if they wanted to insult a white person. That's why he rolls his eyes at the news media's recent coverage of Barack and Michelle Obama. He calls it "typical," emblematic of the gap in understanding between black and non-black America. "The brother is black, and he can't throw up a fist?" asked...

THE interim between the primaries and the parties’ nominating conventions is, according to ancient writ, a fertile period for presidential campaigns to talk about how they plan to expand the political map in the fall. This year is no different. Barack Obama’s strategists are suggesting that the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party can parlay increased turnout among black voters into a string of victories in the South. Given that roughly half of all African-Americans live in the 11 former Confederate states, the idea seems intuitive enough. It’s also wrong. Prying Southern electoral votes away from the...

...For Sen. Obama, the registration initiative is at the fore, especially since the main reason for low black turnout is low registration. The U.S. Census Bureau says that while registered black voters turn out at a rate generally even with white counterparts, qualified African-Americans register at a lower rate nationally -- 68% to 75% for whites. The gap is particularly stark in the battleground state of Florida, where only 53% of eligible blacks were registered in 2004, compared with 71% of whites. In Virginia, it was 58% to 72%. If Sen. Obama can achieve registration parity, the effect could be...

THE interim between the primaries and the parties’ nominating conventions is, according to ancient writ, a fertile period for presidential campaigns to talk about how they plan to expand the political map in the fall. This year is no different. Barack Obama’s strategists are suggesting that the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party can parlay increased turnout among black voters into a string of victories in the South. Given that roughly half of all African-Americans live in the 11 former Confederate states, the idea seems intuitive enough. It’s also wrong. Prying Southern electoral votes away from the...

Mr. Elder, I am shocked that you oppose Barack Obama and belong to the Republican Party. We must get over ourselves and realize there is room at the top for everyone and we must get there by helping each other -- instead of agreeing with policies and old politics that are proven not to work. To endorse John McCain, a person who will not make it easier for the underprivileged, is just too much. How can a fellow black American feel this way? Your Former Supporter Dear Former Supporter, Do you have any Republican friends, let alone black ones? If...

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_062408/content/01125106.guest.html RUSH: I went back and did a little research, folks, because I still can't get over this. I can't get over the fact that this guy from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the Atlanta Urinal-Constipation yesterday, Charles Steele, Jr., went out and said that we're gonna still be criticizing people here because Obama doesn't have any slave blood. He's not authentic. He's not black enough, ain't got no slave blood. He said that Michelle Obama has slave blood, but Obama does not have slave blood himself, and, as such, the genuine civil rights movement blacks will not have...

Kim Whitley (in the Obama shirt), Flo Rida, Lil Mama, Young Joc and Mc Lyte praise Obama from the red carpet at the Black Entertainment Awards in America. BBC has video of the interviews HERE. The BET crowd joined together to holler "Obama or Die" (video here) last night at the annual awards show. MyWay reported: Barack Obama didn't attend the BET Awards, but that didn't stop attendees from talking about him. "If we all register and vote, we will have the first black president in the history of America," Sean "Diddy" Combs told the crowd Tuesday at the Shrine...

It was an Obama lovefest at the Black Entertainment Television awards last night. Puff Daddy/P Diddy/whatever chanted “Obama or die” and urged his peers to elect the “first black president.” Alicia Keys, last heard spreading conspiracy theories about the government killing Tupac and Biggie and creating gangsta rap to perpetuate black genocide, yelled “Obama, y’all!” It was one big race-based ad for Obama. So, who’s obsessing about his race? Oh, yeah. All of us non-black bigots!

Stars like P.Diddy and Alicia Keys rallied up to show their support for Obama at the BET awards on Tuesday. Diddy got on stage and started chanted "Obama or Die." He told the crowd, "If we all register and vote, we will have the first black president in the history of America." Diddy wasn't the only one overexcited about the possibility of having Obama as our next president. As Alicia Keys picked up her award for Best Female R+B Artist, she said, "Together we can do anything," before adding, "Obama y'all!"

In a sign that Democrat Barack Obama will be competitive in the nation's largest swing state, he is beating Republican John McCain comfortably in South Florida and has a slight edge among Hispanics, according to a new Miami Herald poll....

Two black conservatives -- one a pastor, the other a leader of an urban ministry -- say they can't understand why a number of black Republicans have publicly said they are considering voting for Barack Obama this election. It should be about character, they say, not skin color. Ken Hutcherson, an African-American pastor in suburban Seattle, says black conservatives who are supporting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama must remember what they have been saying about race for decades. Several prominent conservative African-Americans have said they are at least considering supporting Obama because of his race. The list includes talk-show host...

RUSH: Since we're talking about Obama, he went out there and he did a Father's Day speech. It was the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Sunday morning. Don't you love all these Democrat politicians that go deliver sermons in churches? They're making a big deal out of Obama's speech, as if nobody's ever said these things before. We have a montage here of the Drive-Bys, we have Jake Tapper, we got John Roberts, Kiran Chetry, and Robin Roberts, Jeff Glor all going nuts here over Obama's speech. We've got sound bites of Obama's speech coming up. TAPPER: It was...

WASHINGTON - Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee. ADVERTISEMENT "I don't necessarily like his policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible." Just as Obama has touched black Democratic voters, he has engendered conflicting emotions among...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee. "I don't necessarily like his policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible." Just as Obama has touched black Democratic voters, he has engendered conflicting emotions among...

Black conservatives conflicted on Obama campaign By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee. "I don't necessarily like his policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible." Just as...

Maxine Waters switches to Obama; Kilpatrick endorses Obama Staff Reporter | Posted June 3, 2008 5:59 PM Three black members of Congress have endorsed Barack Obama today, moving with lightning speed to line up with the man who will tonight become the Democratic nominee. Rep. Maxine Waters, a Hillary Clinton supporter, announced today that she is switching her vote to Barack Obama. And Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan has also endorsed Obama. The news comes just as Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, an uncommitted superdelegate and the highest ranking African American in Congress, announced his support for Obama...

With senator Barack Obama poised this week to clinch his party's nomination for President, there are growing fears in some quarters that the Democratic party may not be choosing its strongest candidate to beat Republican John McCain. Senator Hillary Clinton has been making that argument for weeks. Now some recent polls and analysis, looking particularly at vital battleground states and support among white voters, have bolstered her case - even as Obama looks certain to become the nominee. Obama supporters reject this argument and point to his record of boosting Democratic voter turnout, especially among the young. But sceptics in...

Even as she continues her longshot presidential bid, Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a political rift in New York, where black leaders say her standing has dropped due to racially charged comments by her and her husband during the campaign. African American elected officials and clerics based in New York City say Clinton will need to defuse resentment over the campaign's racial overtones if she returns to New York as U.S. senator. McCain contributions are rolling in Obama takes Clinton's word that RFK remark was innocent gaffeState Sen. Bill Perkins, who represents Harlem, said constituents recently phoned him because they wanted...

  Senator Obama is one of key leaders in a campaign to make Juneteeth Day a National Holiday in the United States. Juneteeth Day occurs on every June 19th, the anniversary of General Granger announcing the emancipation of slaves in the South West. The Holiday would be celebrated on the third Friday in June. Here's what the NYT wrote about it on 2004: "Most gatherings are decidedly upbeat, but the sobering reason for the holiday has also been part of Juneteenth's growth. Dr. Ronald Myers, the leader of a movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday, says June 19 should...

In an attempt to explain how race will impact Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama's run for the White House, Newsweek has created a "Racial Resentment Index" exclusively for white people without measuring such biases of non-whites.

A new NEWSWEEK Poll underscores Obama's racial challenge. Even as he closes in on the Democratic nomination for the presidency, Sen. Barack Obama is facing lingering problems winning the support of white voters--including some in his own party.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is right. She has the broader and whiter political coalition, so she should, by all rights, be the Democratic presidential nominee. After all, in other realms of the political process, we routinely refer to "black districts" or "Latino districts" and speak of the necessity of those jurisdictions to be represented by black or Latino elected officials. Well, then, because the American population is 66% white, maybe the United States is a de facto white district that should be represented accordingly. Don't scoff at the idea. Ethnic and racial self-determination have been underlying factors in the formation of...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Barack Obama shied away from triumphantly proclaiming total victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton last night, but he certainly annihilated the central reason she gives for staying in the race. The Clinton team claims that Sen. Obama is nothing more than a black candidate with a sidecar of liberal academics. This is why, the Clintons argue, white Democrats in working-class and rural states simply can't pull the lever for this black guy with a foreign-sounding name. And, the Clinton's implied reasoning goes, since she appeals so much to these racist white Democrats that are the "backbone" of...

Even before I heard Chris Matthews mention it, it struck me too . . . Among the visuals a big-time campaign carefully choreographs is the human backdrop when the candidate speaks—particularly when it's a matter of an important, nationally-televised speech. So it's very hard to imagine that it was coincidence that the crowd visible behind Hillary this evening as she gave her Kentucky primary victory speech . . . was comprised 100% of people of pallor. Kibitzing with co-anchor Keith Olbermann immediately after Clinton's comments, Matthews mentioned it. CHRIS MATTHEWS: I thought a giveaway line was "who is best positioned...

WASHINGTON - What a difference a nomination makes. Now that he's wrapped up the Republican nomination for president, Sen. John McCain has decided to attend the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Cincinnati in July. A year ago when he was just one of a pack of GOP contenders, he turned down the civil rights group's invitation. McCain disclosed his plans in an interview with the African-American publication Essence, which was released Tuesday. Asked how he might reach out to the black community, McCain replied that he would "go to places and venues...

If it were not for a number of conservative journalists who deal with facts and not spin, many of us would have no idea what the news media are not reporting about the social, financial, academic, religious and political events upon which we are called to make informed – indeed, crucial – decisions. A recent article in To The Point News, “Barack Don’t Know Much About History Obama,” by Jack Kelly, is a perfect example. In his article, Kelly points out the numerous historical flaws contained in Sen. Barack Obama’s victory speech after the North Carolina primary. Obama said that...

Furthermore, Obama does not deserve the vote of any Catholic, Jew, or self-respecting African-American. The reason has nothing to do with the color of his skin, and everything to do with the content (or lack thereof) of his character. ...It is easy to imagine white people, and especially Jewish white people, reacting to this picture the way most African-Americans would react to a candidate posing arm in arm with someone in a sheet and hood in front of a burning cross. ...Hillary Clinton added, and quite correctly, that she “found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans,...

I'll never forget a frigid morning in Springfield: Sen. Barack Obama, elegantly Lincolnesque in a long wool coat, launching his presidential candidacy in the shadow of the old Illinois State Capitol. The echoes of history were almost deafening—not just of Abraham Lincoln, who, like Obama, had been a legislator there, but of the argument over slavery and race that Lincoln had joined there. On that sunny February day in 2007, Obama seemed to radiate uplift and glorious possibility. He was making a statement: that his candidacy would be the exclamation point at the end of our four-century-long argument over the...

A confluence of groups customarily inclined toward Hillary Clinton was voting in the West Virginia primary, with less-educated, lower-income Southern whites predominating. Nonetheless there was room for criticism of Clinton -- and bringing "needed change," Barack Obama's trademark, was again the most-desired candidate trait. The Race Factor Racially motivated voting appeared to be running higher than usual: Two in 10 whites said the race of the candidate was a factor in their vote, second only to Mississippi. And only a third of those voters said they'd support Obama as the nominee against John McCain, fewer than in other primaries where...

It appears that Barack Obama has survived a tough couple of weeks. In the words of some, he's shown that "he can take a punch." But, frankly, I think Senator Obama is still getting kid gloves treatment from a press corps that tilts left. Despite the hounding about his "bitterness" remarks, and the ongoing story of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, there's been hardly 10 seconds of attention about his incredible statement that he wouldn't want his daughters "punished with a baby" if they "make a mistake." This in a discussion about HIV/AIDS in which he said that contraception should be...

Democrats bristle at talking about this in plainer terms. They say Sen. Hillary Clinton has found her base -- the "working class." That's why she won in the Rust Belt primaries. That's her great hope in Kentucky and West Virginia. But calling Clinton's strategy one of kowtowing to the "working class" doesn't quite say it, does it? Isn't this just old-fashioned racism within the Democratic Party? When Hillary strategists say they are winning the "working class," they don't mean they are winning working people with a household income of, say, less than $50,000. All the exit polls show quite clearly...

From the very beginning, the premise and the promise of Barack Obama’s campaign was that it would transcend race. And last autumn the Obama team also knew this was the only way it could win. The Clinton brand among black voters was so strong, so unbreakable, so resilient a force that even the first credible black candidate for the presidency remained stuck 20-30% behind Hillary Clinton among African-American voters. She was, after all, the wife of the “first black president”, as the author Toni Morrison called Bill. She had almost all the black political establishment behind her. Her husband, from...