Barack’s Announcement.

New York Times

For my friend Abbey, sorry lady, this is the best I can do. 🙂

Barack Obama Victory Speech

Click here for much higher quality/full speech.

Obama Tax Calculator– see how much you would save.

I would save $500 with Obama’s plan, $0 with McCain’s.

Click here to find out how much you would save.

You just can’t ignore a bond like this.

I just found these pictures and wanted to share. You can tell his daughters adore him, and vise versa.

I don’t know of any presidential candidate or president for that matter who looked his wife in the eye, laughed together, and openly displayed affection and attraction in front of American public. I just like seeing this type of realness from an important public figure.

more photos here. and here.

Petraeus agrees with Obama about negotiations (and more about McCain foreign policy.)

Take from The Huffington Post:

The McCain Doctrine, if there is such a thing, basically boils down to two core beliefs: 1) you don’t sit down and talk with your enemies (and sometimes you don’t sit down and talk with your friends, either — see Spain) 2) the surge was the greatest, most successful strategy ever, and should be exported to Afghanistan.

Obama can make his case on the wrong-headedness of McCain’s approach by calling on a persuasive lineup of evidence, including the words of Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. David McKiernan (commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan), and the latest consensus findings of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.

Let’s start with Petraeus, who McCain has called an “American hero,” and who is also the person he’d most like to have dinner with. Last week, speaking at the neocon -friendly Heritage Foundation, Petraeus basically gave his seal of approval to Obama’s stand on negotiating with hostile foreign leaders while undercutting McCain’s.

Asked specifically about the disagreement between the two candidates on this issue, which flared up again during the last debate, Petraeus said, “I do think you have to talk to enemies.” He pointed out that in Iraq “we sat down with some of those who were shooting at us” — even some “with our blood on their hands.” “This is how you end these kinds of conflicts,” he said.

That’s precisely the kind of thinking that led Sarah Palin to call Obama “beyond naïve” and “dangerous,” and McCain to repeatedly accuse him of not understanding the world. Betcha they won’t say the same thing about Petraeus.

and more…

Despite all this, McCain continues to point to the surge as proof of his foreign policy acumen — and, in the last debate, suggested it’s the same strategy that is “going to have to be employed in Afghanistan.”

Gen. McKiernan doesn’t agree. He points to “countless… differences between Iraq and Afghanistan,” and concludes: “What I don’t think is needed — the word that I don’t use in Afghanistan is the word surge.”

McCain obviously hasn’t gotten that memo. Nor the one explaining that those still occupying the White House now privately admit that Afghanistan is, as according to Katie Couric, the “single most pressing security threat in the war on terror.” McCain and Palin continue to insist the “central front” in the war on terror is Iraq.

All told, McCain’s response to our greatest national security crises, Iraq and Afghanistan, has been every bit as erratic, reckless, glib, and clueless as his response to the financial crisis.

If Obama and Biden forcefully drive this point home again and again, should McCain unleash an all-but-certain-to-be-about-national-security October Surprise, it will prove to be no more successful than his pathetic attempt to smear Obama using Bill Ayers.

Letter from Jim Leach about the GOP.

Dear (______), 

I am proud to have served thirty years as a Republican in Congress. But this past Spring, I came to the conclusion that the party I loved, respected, and supported had lost its moorings. 

The tradition, pragmatism, and inspiration of leaders like Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Reagan have given way to partisan divisiveness. 

Today, our country faces unprecedented problems — an economic downturn as profound as any in living memory, growing instability in global security, and important questions about our energy future. 

More of the same simply doesn’t fit the times, and Republicans as well as Democrats understand that change is needed. 

After decades in Washington — witnessing the processes of government firsthand — I have every confidence that Barack Obama is ready to bring that change. 

Please join me in sharing that message by forwarding this email to your friends and asking them to visitwww.BarackObama.com. 

Or better yet, reach out to your entire community by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper. 

We’ll provide a list of local papers and some important background on the issues to help you get started. We’ll even send the letters to the papers for you. 

As Barack often says, this is a defining moment. Good citizens may disagree on issues and approaches to problem solving, but rarely have we had a greater need to pull together and seek unity in the face of division. 

Barack has a broad, inclusive vision for the future of America. He is forward-looking in his proposals on alternative energy and education, and grounded in an approach to decision making that transcends party. 

He has chosen foreign policy and economic advisers of the highest caliber. People like Retired General Anthony Zinni, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, and President Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury Bob Rubin are all first-class professionals. 

And he has shown his ability to withstand challenge. I often tell my students at Princeton to choose a candidate who most reflects what Lincoln termed “the better angels of our nature.” Senator Obama has more reason than any Presidential candidate I have observed to lash out with anger. Yet he responds to irresponsible Swift Boat-style attacks with calm and steady leadership. 

Barack Obama has inspired millions who want a new approach to politics and civic life — Democrats and Republicans alike. 

Please join me in welcoming everyone to this movement for change. Forward this message to your friends, or use the link below to write a letter to the editor in your local paper: 

http://my.barackobama.com/gopforobamaletter 

Thank you for making your voice heard. 

Sincerely, 

Jim 

Former Representative Jim Leach
Iowa’s 2nd District, 1977 – 2007 

P.S. — I gave a speech laying out some of the reasons so many traditional Republicans and independents support Senator Obama at the Democratic National Convention. You can watch it here: 

http://my.barackobama.com/JLSpeech

“Lipstick on a Pig”- defended.