Europe has long wait for its Obama

Catching up on reading and ran across article on MSNBC that found that despite worldwide and European support for Obama, the EU has a long wait for its own Obama: http://tiny.cc/EAmL0.

This reflects my experiences there last year discussing immigration and minority integration issues and hearing a lot of platitudes about the egalitarian nature of European society which were countered by the obvious lack of upward mobility in society, politics and business for people of color, whether native born or immigrant.

Barack Obama in Berlin in 2008

I hope that our awesome new First Family provides the inspiration for European candidates of color to run for office and for other voters there to open up to the possibility of candidates of color and support them in their efforts.

Good news: he won. Bad news: he won.

The nearly overwhelming excitement over the presidency of Barack Obama is somewhat tempered by the realization that the job that lies ahead for him and Joe Biden is being made even tougher even as we speak by the Bush administration. Bush and his minions are busy wreaking as much havoc as possible in their waning days in office. The New York Times has more.

So Little Time, So Much Damage
While Americans eagerly vote for the next president, here’s a sobering reminder: As of Tuesday, George W. Bush still has 77 days left in the White House — and he’s not wasting a minute.

President Bush’s aides have been scrambling to change rules and regulations on the environment, civil liberties and abortion rights, among others — few for the good. Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in Mr. Bush’s case it is more like a wrecking ball. We fear it could take months, or years, for the next president to identify and then undo all of the damage. Read more here.

Barackin' the vote with the next generation

Sent from my Nokia phone

Obama holding babies - or just really near them

We can't be in Chicago with the Obamas for Election Day, but we'll be thinking of them, along with all the other families on the "Yes we can hold babies" site which has lots of pictures of Barack Obama with supportive kids. Here's Ava's contribution. If you haven't yet, go vote!

I want a thoughtful leader, not a gimmicky campaigner

Great op-ed about how Republicans love to campaign and have learned how to use divisiveness to win at all costs, but they apparently hate to govern, which is why many we've seen so many messes during their tenure in power. Governing is really where the rubber meets the road. Unfortunately, they've run us off the road into a ditch. Palin's ascension shows GOP's lack of interest in governing

Debate: who's the weirdly angry guy at the podium?

J., Ava and I watched the debate Friday and like many reviewers, felt it was a solid outing for both candidates with Obama having a slight edge, but probably not changing any committed voter minds on either side. Not sure about the uncommitted, although I'm shocked that there are really people who aren't sure at this point. A friend who canvassed locally said many of the uncommitteds she met were still spouting wrong info about Obama: he's Muslim, not really Christian, etc. Refutations to the contrary were met with, "Well how do you know?" Bleah.

Since the candidates were pretty much re-plowing the same rows we've heard before position-wise, I stopped listening as intently to the specifics and started just watching the body language. Throughout the debate, I kept saying, "Why won't he (McCain) look at Obama? What's that about? I mean, he's really doing everything he can to avoid engaging. What's with the frozen smile? He's clearly ticked!" 

Roger Ebert of all people, answered my question perfectly here: Guess who's not coming to dinner? The upshot? McCain's really angry at and contemptuous of Barack Obama. I guess there are myriad reasons why that could be, but isn't it telling that this is the way he interacts with someone with whom he's presumably had a decent working relationship in the Senate?

If he can't even effectively conceal his anger/contempt on stage with millions of people watching, it seems unlikely that he could successfully and effectively negotiate or interact with other world leaders with whom he disagrees. I would not be inclined to find a win-win with someone who acted that way around me. And I suspect that often international diplomacy is about finding the best possible solution to complicated problems with no easy answer for any of the parties involved - parties often with very different philosophical views of the best solution. Sort of like legislative wrangling. I was already sold on Obama/Biden. The last debate simply reaffirmed my decision. 

Seattle Times supports Obama for president

No, not a typo. This is quite the surprise. The Times has always struck me as rather conservative, as evidenced by its laughable/cringeworthy in hindsight endorsement of Bush in 2000. Granted, they went for Kerry in '04, but still.

Read their reasons here in an editorial entitled "The Times recommends... Barack Obama for president." Surprisingly, a friend who canvassed for Obama last weekend said she was shocked by how many people were either apathetic to the election or still undecided. Some cited reasons ranging from the false (he's a Muslim) to the perplexing (I'm still not sure how they're different). Heavy sigh. 43 days to go.

What a speech, what a night

Our whole family sat rapt tonight as we watched the last night of the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado. It was an amazing event, capped off by speech after speech that spoke to the concerns I and so many others have about the direction our country has taken and what it will take to get it back on track.

From Richardson to Gore to Obama's wonderful finale, it was a night filled with hopefulness and clear articulation of the problems, priorities and possible solutions the Obama/Biden team have identified.

Ava: Babies for Obama

The speech delivered and should have silenced the hollow carping of critics by providing specifics about taxes and social security, and even deftly covering the hot button issues of gays and lesbian rights, abortion rights and gun rights.

68 days until every voter can weigh in. I can't wait.

Presidential politics, technology and the war on terrorists

I saw this image in my inbox and realized a) John Edwards must really be bored now that his campaign is over and b) the Democrats are clearly leveraging social media to connect with younger and more tech-savvy voters. They are at least making sure they have a toehold in that space, regardless of whether Twitter or Tumblr or some other application becomes the next category killer in new/social media.

Conversely, McCain is a self-described "computer illiterate," as referenced in Anna Quindlen's recent article about the importance of technology for today's leaders and even for past leaders. Specifically, Abraham Lincoln, who used the emerging technology of telegraphs to monitor battlefield conditions and make decisions during the Civil War.

I'm not saying leaders need to be friending me on Facebook and moblogging to get my vote. But we're in a world where the terrorists are using laptops and steganography to encrypt plans for destruction. So I'd rest a little easier knowing the Commander-In-Chief doesn't think steganography is a Jurassic Park sequel and that he has some basic level of understanding of how the world stage has changed, how technology can be used positively and defended against, and the challenges as well as opportunities it presents.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check my Meetup, Evite and Daily Candy calendars to see if there's anything worth Twittering about so I can write about it on my blog and update my status on Facebook.

Lunch with Michelle Obama and a couple governors

Last week, Michelle Obama came to Seattle to stump for Governor Christine Gregoire at Qwest Field's WaMu theater. The cavernous space was filled with a who's who of local Democratic politics, and hundreds of folks who wanted to see Mrs. Obama.

Governor Gregoire has hitched her wagon to theirs as the local paper writes, and did it early on, which has so far been a big coup for her.

But come on: suggested $200 donation to the Governor's campaign for lunch? Sorry: the economy being what it is, I suggested a smaller amount on my check. And I get that it's a fundraiser, but what about the Obama national campaign model of give $25 or whatever you can? That would go a lot farther in building the broad coalition statewide the governor needs to return for a second term.

That said, it was a great lunch with an amazing acappella rendition of the national anthem (see, Democrats are patriotic too!), followed by some good points from Governor Gregoire (the GWB countdown timer bit got lots of laughs), and an inspiring, pragmatic, common sense speech by Mrs. Obama about what's at stake in both Washingtons this November.

Afterwards, Mrs. Obama worked the handshake line and I got close enough to snap these shots.
Whee! She's as tall, gorgeous, smart and welcoming from this distance as she appears on TV.

Former Governor Gary Locke was there too.

And the lunch capped off my second, up close Obama sighting in the past two weeks. Well, sorta. In Portland recently, someone at the Mississippi Street Festival set up this life size Obama cut out for pictures. I hope Ava will get a chuckle when she comes across this years from now.

I already had an affinity for Michelle Obama. But the more I see and hear her, the more I like her. Over at BlogHer, she's blogging too and talking about topics that obviously resonate for me and most women in the country, regardless of political affiliation or whether they have children: the challenges of juggling work and family and how it's getting tougher for everyone, especially those who already struggle to make ends meet each month. Her talk at the luncheon and in interviews I've seen convey her understanding of that struggle that so many working-class folks, and women in particular, are facing.

Despite the financially comfortable life she and her husband have been blessed to create, she grew up on Chicago's Southside in a working class family and thus I think she "gets" what's happening for working class folks more intimately than the photo-op understanding McCain seems to have. He looked like he hadn't been in a grocery store in ages.

Why do politicians even do those? I think a more telling photo op would be to give the candidates (or their wives) a single, working mom's family food budget for the month and have them buy groceries and live off of it to see if it was actually enough. I think Michelle would do swimmingly, because Black women in particular have a rich history of making a way out of no way.

If you're interested, there are also some videos of Michelle's recent interviews on YouTube. I can't wait to see and hear more as this campaign progresses.