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Barack Obama has lived one version of the American Dream that has taken him to the steps of the White House. But a few miles from where the Democratic presidential candidate studied at Harvard, his Kenyan aunt and uncle, immigrants living in modest circumstances in Boston, have a contrasting American story. Zeituni Onyango, the aunt so affectionately described in Mr Obama’s best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president on Friday

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican, is endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president, citing the senator’s steady leadership, good judgment and ability to unify Democrats, Republicans and independents. "Senator Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America’s standing in the world," Weld said in a statement released Friday. "We need a president who will lead based on our common values and Senator Obama demonstrates an ability to unite and inspire. "Throughout this campaign I’ve watched his steady leadership through trying times and I’m confident he is the best candidate to move our country forward,"...

Anyone who thinks that same-sex “marriage” is a benign eccentricity which won’t affect the average person should consider what it has done in Massachusetts. It’s become a hammer to force the acceptance and normalization of homosexuality on everyone. And this train is moving fast. What has happened so far is only the beginning...

Protesters blame Frank for crisisBY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Saturday, October 18, 2008 2:39 AM EDT WESTPORT - About 15 protesters called for the resignation of U.S. Rep. Barney Frank Friday, saying he is responsible for the recent crisis in the financial markets that required a $700 billion government bailout. The protesters claimed Frank supported regulations that forced banks to make risky mortgages to low-income families who could not afford to own homes, leading to foreclosures and the failure of financial institutions. "He was pushing loans to people who could not pay them back. It was social engineering. He...

BOSTON (AP) -- The treasurer of Massachusetts has asked the federal government about lending Massachusetts money under the same favorable terms it has given banks and firms during the financial crisis. Treasurer Timothy Cahill's requests to the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston this week were prompted by the state's inability to borrow from the short-term debt markets, The Boston Globe reported Saturday. The financial turmoil has caused credit markets to stop lending, or to charge prohibitive rates. California has made a similar request, saying it would run out of money by the end of the month if...

Last night after the debate the McCain/Palin headquarters was vandalised. Someone threw a rock at the front window of the Worcester office on 149 Highland Street. The window was severely cracked and the police are being called upon to investigate. This action is very disappointing and I would hope the Democratic Party would condemn it.

WASHINGTON — Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s. So did Frank’s gay partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions. Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which...

WASHINGTON — Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s. So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions. Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had...

GOP Resurgence Predicted Published On 9/30/2008 1:24:04 AM By ERIC P NEWCOMER Contributing Writer The Massachusetts Republican party is “alive and well” and “poised to take the governorship in two years,” said former Massachusetts Governor A. Paul Cellucci last night while speaking for a joint event held by the Harvard Republican Club and the Harvard Law Republicans. Cellucci, who is also the former U.S. ambassador to Canada, spoke for a little over an hour in Emerson Hall in an event attended by students from colleges throughout the Boston area. His remarks hit on the current presidential race, the state of...

University of Massachusetts officials on Monday quashed efforts by an Amherst campus chaplain to offer two college credits to any student willing to campaign in New Hampshire this fall for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

I received this email today (bold mine). Dear Beckwith, Hi, my name is Roger Fisk and I'm the State Director for the Obama campaign here in Massachusetts.  I want to tell you about an exciting program we're launching called Camp Obama. During these training sessions, people like you will be taking their support for Barack to the next level by learning the (Alinsky) organizing principles that this campaign and our movement for change are built on. Camp Obama attendees will receive real world organizing experience that will have a direct impact on this election. Graduates of Camp Obama will go...

Republican challenger Jeff Beatty took aim today at US Senator John F. Kerry, chiding him as an "elitist" who is "worried about becoming the secretary of state instead of worrying about the secretaries in our state." The attack came less than 24 hours after Kerry shook off a primary challenge from Gloucester Lawyer Edward O'Reilly. Beatty, a counter-terrorism consultant and former CIA agent, reached out to the 31 percent of Democratic primary voters who cast ballots for O'Reilly

BOSTON - Longshot U.S. Senate candidate Ed O’Reilly battered incumbent Sen. John Kerry over his vote to authorize the Iraq war and his delivery of funding to Massachusetts, and questioned his commitment to serve out a full term, but failed to inflict major damage on the four-term senator during a brief debate Friday. O'Reilly grew up in Watertown and has deep ties to the town. In what will likely be their only staged debate, scheduled for air on WBZ-TV Sunday at 8:30 am, O’Reilly also accused Kerry of not doing enough to help other Democratic candidates, a charge Kerry called...

their only debate before the Sept 16 primary election, challenger Edward O’Reilly challenged the vote of U.S. Senator John F. Kerry's vote authorizing military action in Iraq and complained the incumbent may not serve out his term if Barack Obama wins the presidency. Mr. Kerry, who some, including Mr. O’Reilly, believe may seek to become Secretary of State in an Obama administration, said only that he “intends” to serve out a new, six year term if re-elected, leaving an obvious opening to accept a cabinet post next year if Democrats take back the White House. The half hour debate taped...

July 30, 2008 - The Massachusetts Senate passed the National Popular Vote bill on third reading (and engrossment). Immediately beforehand, a crippling amendment was defeated by a vote of 27 to 9. Under Massachusetts legislative procedures, an additional vote is required in both the House and Senate to transmit the bill to the Governor. Although this vote was on the agenda on the session's last day (July 31), no action was taken. On July 9, 2008, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the National Popular Vote bill. National Popular Vote bill passes Massachusetts House 116-37 Massachusetts House of Representatives On...

A measure that would decriminalize minor marijuana-possession cases is on the ballot in Massachusetts largely because of one man: billionaire financier and liberal activist George Soros.Of the $429,000 collected last year by the group advancing the measure, $400,000 came from Soros, who has championed similar efforts in several states and spent $24 million to fight President Bush's 2004 re-election bid. The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy needed about $315,000 of that just to collect the more than 100,000 signatures that secured a spot on the ballot, according to campaign finance reports reviewed by The Associated Press. "All of us owe...

The group that has led opposition to gay marriage says it will not participate in a petition drive to block out-of-state, same-sex couples from being married in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Family Institute said "there is no winning on this issue" because thousands of marriages will have taken place before the proposed ballot question could go to voters in November 2010. A group called MassResistance is organizing the petition drive to reinstate a 1913 law that bars the state from marrying a couple if the marriage is illegal in their home state. First, organizers must collect 33,297 signatures from registered voters...

Is U.S. Senator John Kerry really feeling that threatened by a first-time, relatively unknown, challenger? First it was an allegedly torrid Senate summer schedule that Kerry said made it impossible for him even to think about debating his Democratic primary opponent, Edward O'Reilly, before the Sept. 16 election. O'Reilly, a Gloucester attorney, had asked Kerry for a series of 23 debates in public forums and television appearances. That's obviously excessive, but wouldn't one or two be a good compromise? Apparently not. Roger Lau, Kerry's campaign manager, said on July 28 that Kerry couldn't even discuss debates until he knew when...

BOSTON -- The gay marriage fight in Massachusetts might not be over after all. Opponents of same-sex marriages are seeking a ballot question that would prevent gay and lesbian couples from getting married here if their union wouldn't be legal in their home state. Brian Camenker of the group Mass Resistance said Friday lawmakers and Gov. Deval Patrick bowed to the will of the "gay lobby" last month by approving the repeal of a 1913 statute that banned such marriages. Patrick, the state's first black governor and the father of a daughter who recently announced she's a lesbian, said the...