FOX New's Howard Beale

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"




This is the famous "Mad as Hell" rant by a disturbed Howard Beale in the 1976 movie "Network" - about the demise of network news.

Beale became a caricature after breaking down on live TV. While it was clear to Beale's friends he was mentally unstable, the network execs saw ratings sky-rocket, while viewers held onto his every word. They gave him his own pulpit to spew on whatever he felt needed spewing - and the viewers kept watching.

I watched this movie for the first time in years last night, and I couldn't help but think "This guy sounds familiar..."

Turns out we have a modern day "Howard Beale". Someone that spews on and on - without much direction - but is thrown on television night after night - not for the coherent arguments, but rather, Ratings.

Sarah Palin is our modern day Howard Beale. And FOX News is reaping the benefits with the ratings. Palin is a walking talking point - whatever is written on her hand that day - and for some reason, people watch.

I can't help but think Palin is drawing on the same sentiment Howard Beale tapped into on "Network" over 30 years ago: Madness, Anger, and Depression.

Beale didn't offer any solutions to the problems of the day - he chose to yell and scream that he was mad as hell, that the world was against 'us', and that anger was the best solution. He was stuck in a worldview that the United States was the be-all-and-end-all in the world, and that anyone different than 'us' was a threat.

Sound familiar?

Sure did love the zingers on all that "Hopey-Changey" stuff... had a lot of fun playing off the perception that the stimulus wasn't working... but sure as hell didn't offer a lot of solutions.

Did it get ratings? Umm... have you watched any cable news? Clearly people are interested. But the disheartening part is that we haven't learned anything since 1976... people who are mentally unstable - or at least mentally unsuited - are given such a forum.

That makes me as mad as hell.

A Letter from Sen. Obama

(The following is a hypothetical letter written by Barack Obama in response to John McCain's Q & A with Newsweek earlier this month. It is suggested you read the Q & A - a simple, 5 minute, read - before continuing.

This hypothetical letter is in response to Joe Buri's request - and is in no way associated with the Obama campaign. It does, however, represent the views of the Obama campaign as published in media reports and online research)



To the Editors of Newsweek, the McCain Campaign, and the American public,



I write today out of disappointment. As I've said before, I admire John McCain; His valor, his courage, his love of his country – but after reading his most recent article, I'm left to wonder who John McCain really is.

When asked about how he will beat me, he hit his campaign themes of Reform, Prosperity, and Peace. While all these precepts are well and good, I struggle to see how he will accomplish these goals when he supports so many of the failed Bush policies of the last 8 years.

Take 'Reform'. If you want real reform, you need to make a fundamental change in the way things work in Washington. While in the past, Senator McCain has bucked the trend – he has filled his staff with Washington lobbyists. In fact his campaign manager Rick Davis is lobbyist with a checkered past with numerous questionable deals to bring funding to his interests. You can't bring real reform when you're surrounded by people paid by the special interests. That's not bottom-up reform, that's top-down status quo.

McCain has closed out the public on his Town Hall meetings, he has failed to admonish the 527s (similar to Swift boat Veterans For Truth) who promote racist and absolutely false smears against my candidacy. In fact McCain has continually claimed that Hamas is rooting for my candidacy to prevail, and have linked my candidacy with that terrorist group because of it. I have no desire to work with Hamas. This is not reform. This is the same old politics of the past.

The second point is "Prosperity". Prosperity for who? The top 2% who are paying less in taxes (15%) on their hedge funds and

Capital gains, while their secretaries are being taxed at a rate nearly double that? Is that what McCain means by prosperity? McCain said in 2001 and 2003 that the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy were a bad idea. Today, he says they should stay in place until 2010 – if not make them permanent. And McCain wants to give tax breaks to the CEOs of companies who have given themselves billions of dollars in bonuses – yet lay-off workers left and right. That's just not good policy – and it will mean prosperity for a very few.

The third theme is Peace. Now, again, I respect McCain military record, and as I've noted – despite my acknowledgement of his accomplishments, he refuses to recognize the 20 years of service I've put into our country on the ground level – working in the extremely poor communities of Chicago and working with churches and community groups to bring real change from the bottom up.

But aside from that, McCain has supported this failed war in Iraq. Despite his objections to the early strategy, he has been a constant defender of the decision to go into Iraq. My question for Sen. McCain is this: What constitutes victory? Do you believe we are going to eradicate every single terrorist in the world? What exactly will show we 'won' in Iraq? The damage we have done and the lives we have ruined cannot be undone – and it was poor judgment – judgment McCain stood behind – that got us into Iraq.

The truth is McCain said – point blank – if it means being in Iraq 100 years, fine, we'll be there 100 years. That's not the mentality to have with this crisis. We need to undo what we've done immediately. McCain said victory is no American casualties… but our young men and women are still coming home in flag-draped caskets every day. And there is no end in site. Even if we hypothetically say we kill all the terrorists in Iraq… then what? I've got news for Mr. McCain: There are a lot of other terrorists in a lot of other countries that still hate us. And the number grows exponentially when we are in the Middle East. Our presence alone exasperates the problem. Again – McCain wants reform? Well you can't have reform with the cowboy diplomacy of the Bush Administration.



A couple of other small points: There was a Senate Intelligence Committee report about the administration allegedly misleading the nation on prewar intelligence. McCain said he "hasn't read the report". That frightens me. For someone who stands so lock-step with the administration to not have read a report like that – it should concern us all.

Also, McCain says he never commented on the media's coverage of Hillary Clinton – saying it was in the prepared remarks but that he didn't say it out loud. One Problem: He DID say it. Watch the speech. This kind of denial is also concerning.



In wrapping up, I want to address McCain's claim that I went back on my word to accept public financing for my presidential campaign. Yes, I did indeed say I would take the 80 million dollars of public financing that is allotted under the McCain Feingold campaign finance bill. But after further consideration, I have changed my mind. I'm trusting the American people to donate their money to my campaign. This way I will have to answer to them – not the special interests. One of the driving forces in my decision is knowing that in late August of 2004, the 527 Swift Boat Vets for Truth started running smears against John Kerry. Because of the broken system, Kerry was unable to respond because he was restricted by the campaign finance rules. While the GOP has numerous smear groups with endless cash from the oil companies, the democrats do not have a wealth of special interest money. By opting out of public financing, I will use the donations of the American people to fight these 527s without being restricted by the broken system in Washington. Once elected, we can begin making real change in our election policy by making it 100% publicly financed without loopholes for special interests.



You may call my actions a flip-flop… but let me ask Sen. McCain who the flip-flopper is: I didn't say in 2005 that I didn't want off-shore drilling for oil… then say in 2008 that I'm in support of it. I didn't vote against the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, and now support them. I didn't ask for the suspension of Habeas Corpus for Gitmo Detainees – knowing full well the importance of giving prisoners of war their due rights… then change my position 180 degrees when I was running for president. I didn't – in 2004 – say I refused to drill in ANWAR… then in 2008 say I'm willing to drill.



McCain may attack my substance… but it seems to me his substance is ever-changing.



This election is a choice between change you can believe in… and someone who likes changing his positions.



Thank you for your time,





Sen. Barack Obama

The Issues: Economy

Today, I'm starting a series of pieces breaking down the two presidential candidates on the issues. With each post, I will be linking the actual candidate page on the given issue - to assure my readers that I am accurately representing the candidate's views.
I'm open to questions on any of these issues - and will gladly provide posts giving you in depth information on anything you'd like to know more about.

Our First Issue: The Economy

Taxes:

John McCain Plan

McCain has been a constant defender against pork-barrel spending. In his economic plan, he claims he'll cut taxes by $500 billion over the next 5 years - mostly by expanding the 15% tax bracket to include more people in the middle class bracket.

He is in favor of the Bush tax cuts, given primarily to the top 2% of income earners in the country.

McCain has proposed a decrease in the Corporate tax, reducing it from 35% down to 25%. He also wants to improve business incentives by giving tax breaks for businesses which purchase new equipment.

McCain also wants to freeze the tax rates on dividends and capital gains at current rates: 15% - a number scaled back since the Clinton Administration
His plan would Ban new taxes on cell phones, and ban any tax on Internet businesses.
McCain wants to double the personal exemption for dependents - from $3500 to $7K.

Finally, McCain wants to make it more difficult to raise taxes, requiring a 3/5 majority vote in the congress to pass any increase.

Barack Obama's Plan Outline, Full Plan

Obama has said what's vital to his economic plan is rolling back the Bush tax cuts that were passed for the top 2% of income earners in the country.

His plan includes a $1000 income tax credit for working families and a $500 dollar income tax credit for per person. This would affect 150 million lower/middle class workers - and essentially eliminate an income tax for 10 million low income Americans.

Obama favors lifting the cap on the capital gains tax from 15% to as high as 28% (levels during the Clinton Administration).

His job stimulus plan includes tax breaks for clean technologies, tax breaks and loan guarantees for job training and education - specifically designed for green technologies.

Obama plans to implement a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) - requiring 25% of electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, and the hope is this will spur job growth in the renewable energy field.

He also wants to make trade fair by revisiting NAFTA and changing our trade policy to ensure American workers aren't having their jobs sent overseas.

Gas Policy

John McCain

McCain has supported a Gas Tax Holiday for the summer months when gas prices tend to sky-rocket. This would remove the 18.4 cents/gallon tax all Americans pay from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Most economists say this will have little effect on the price of gas, as it will likely be passed on to the consumer. If it doesn't, it will save Americans about a half a tank of gas during the course of the summer.

McCain supports off-shore drilling, which could possibly reduce the price of gas after a ten year period of research and excavation. He suggests using all forms of alternative energy - including nuclear - to solve our energy crisis.

McCain also supports the suspension of filling up our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This, according to McCain, would reduce the demand for oil - lowering costs.

Barack Obama

Obama does not support s Gas Tax Holiday, but does support a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies who have carried record profits in the last several quarters. He wants to use that money to go towards alternative energy research and development as part of his economic stimulus plan.

Obama is against off-shore drilling, saying that we should focus our money and energy on renewable fuels. The reasoning is that since oil exploration would take 10 years - why not use those ten years and created a new, renewable form of energy.

Obama has also said he supports another economic stimulus payment on the heels of the spike in gas prices.


Mortgage Crisis

Both McCain and Obama support a crackdown on predatory lending and have called for plans to make it easier for homeowners to avoid foreclosure.

Both call for help form the Justice Department in ending this practice.

Obama's plan calls for a more proactive approach, requiring lenders to provide more information to lendees, and closes bankruptcy loopholes for mortgage companies.


Hope Part 1 is useful and objective... please note, the information I ma using is strictly from John McCain and Barack Obama's Websites (which there is a vast difference in the level of information on each site.... see for yourself) as well as press releases from both of the campaigns.

Please feel free to submit any questions!

Remembering Russert

It is with great sadness that I have to make this post: Tim Russert - host of NBC's "Meet The Press" - passed away due to heart failure on Friday.

I idolized Tim Russert - and like most American's - I saw him as a piller of political knowledge. If Tim said it - you knew it was legit.

Perhaps his most memorable moment came in the 2000 election between George Bush and Al Gore. The electoral vote was swaying back and forth between Gore and Bush, and the high tech graphics at NBC News couldn't keep up. That's where Tim came in: a throwback to a white board - breaking down the raw numbers with a marker so that everyone watching could understand. (The clip is at about 2:45):



We'll miss you Tim...

Obama on Fathers

The crux of the speech, in which Obama calls on fathers to be more responsible in our society:

"[If] we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing — missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.

You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled — doubled — since we were children. We know the statistics — that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it.

How many times in the last year has this city lost a child at the hands of another child? How many times have our hearts stopped in the middle of the night with the sound of a gunshot or a siren? How many teenagers have we seen hanging around on street corners when they should be sitting in a classroom? How many are sitting in prison when they should be working, or at least looking for a job? How many in this generation are we willing to lose to poverty or violence or addiction? How many?

Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more afterschool programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities.

But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it’s the courage to raise one.

We need to help all the mothers out there who are raising these kids by themselves; the mothers who drop them off at school, go to work, pick up them up in the afternoon, work another shift, get dinner, make lunches, pay the bills, fix the house, and all the other things it takes both parents to do. So many of these women are doing a heroic job, but they need support. They need another parent. Their children need another parent. That’s what keeps their foundation strong. It’s what keeps the foundation of our country strong."

John McCain

Someone challenged me to break down three positive things about John McCain. Apparently he thought I might be a bit biased... but without further adui:

1. I believe John McCain to be a genuine person who actually thinks through legislation. He's worried about how it effects the population as opposed to how it might affect his voting record.*

2. John McCain 'gets' that global warming is happening and that something needs to be done about it. He's not blind to the science out there and virtually every respected scientist who says global warming is real and that we need to do something about it. He also understands how this is coupled with getting off a dependency on foreign oil.

3. John McCain is a hero who loves his country. The man spent 6 years in a Vietnamese prison. How can you not respect that?



*This is obviously pre-2004. Since that year, he has voted in lock-step with the Bush administration, and has even changed some of his positions.

The Electoral Map

The Obama campaign sends out an e-mail to the press saying the Republicans won't be able to count on as many states this year, and that the entire electoral map will change. During the Bush/Gore and Bush/Kerry years, the map looked very similar to the one below. This year, however, states like Virginia, Indiana, Colorado and New Mexico are up for grabs.
This map gives you a glimpse into how the electroal math is shaping up for the 2008 election. It can be found at www.electoral-vote.com

The Nomination

On June 3rd, 2008, Barack Obama overcame tremendous odds to become the first minority to represent a major political party in a U.S. Presidential Election. I don't care what party you are in, who you support, or what your political beliefs are; but this nomination was of historic proportions.
I was in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN - and it was truly electric. There was something special that was happening as Barack Obama said, "I will be the Democratic nominee for the President of the United States of America" - you felt something.

This was Martin Luther King's Dream. This was why Rosa Parks stayed on the bus. This was why thousands marched the streets in Selma, and why others died at Gettysburg.

So much in our history is riddled with remorse and regret for how we've treated our own. And so much work has been down to overcome those past failures. But tonight - in one shinning moment - there was an accomplishment that made all the struggle, the tears, and the strife seem somewhat worthwhile.

There is an African-American running as the nominee for President. Sure, there is a long way to go - but it certainly has given us a new hope in seeing just how far we have come.

The moment:

The Math: Popular Vote

You've heard Hillary Clinton say "We have won the popular vote". That will be her campaign's arguement for why she deserves the nomination in Denver this August.

But there is a lot Clinton is not telling you with that statement.

In one sense, yes, Clinton has the popular vote. If you add up all the votes in the primary states - including Florida and Michigan - and all the caucus states that release their popular vote numbers, Hillary has a slight lead - about 164 thousand votes.

But there are three problems here: 1. Barack Obama was not on the Michigan ballot because according to the DNC rules, any state that moved it's primary ahead of Super Tuesday would be striped of it's delegates - rendering it's vote meaningless. So, Hillary technically won Michigan - but Obama wasn't on the ballot due to the rules. So counting Michigan in the popular vote is a bit of a stretch.
2. Both Florida and Michigan are not supposed to count. Like we stated above - these two states moved their primaries ahead of Super Tuesday, and therefore - according to the rules- neither votes should count. In fact all the candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida, and all but Hillary took their name off the Michigan ballot.
3. The Clinton ocunt of hte Popular Vote does not include the popular vote for caucus states that don't release official popular vote totals. For instance, Obama had more voters in Iowa - but all Iowa counts is the number of delegates the candidate gets at the end of the day (which is essentially a percentage of the number of votes that candidate got).

So, if you include Michiagn and Florida, and NOT include states like Iowa and Washington (another caucus state) - Clinton has the 164,000 vote lead.

However, if you take away Michigan, and include the Caucus state estimates, Obama leads by 274,000 votes.

If you simply give Obama the 'Unidecided' vote from the Michigan election - according to Clinton's Math - Obama still wins by 174,000 votes.

State of the Race: May 31st

It all comes down to May 31st.

Okay - so I think there have been about 18 "It all comes down to ... [insert date here]" moments in the 2008 Democratic campaign for the presidential nomination, but ultimately, May 31st will hold some very important answers.

On this particular Saturday, the Democratic Rules and Bylaws committee will meet to decide what they will do with the votes in Michigan and Florida. Why not just count the votes? The problem is these two states broke the Democratic primary rules and moved their primaries ahead of super tuesday without permission from the DNC.

All the candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida, and all but Hillary took their name off the Michigan ballot. The states still held their votes, but the results arguably don't represent the will of the people.

In Michigan, Hillary got about 60% of the vote as the only democrat on the ticket - and "uncommitted" came in at about 40%. The argument Hillary is making is that those votes should be counted - and she should get 60% of the delegates in Michgan. The Obama people say "Wait a minute, we didn't even have our name on the ballot because the rules stated that if Michigan moved their primary - their delegates wouldn't count." So if Obama didn't run in Michigan, and the delegates are counted - it would be an unfair advantage to Hillary. So that's headache number 1.

In Florida, Hillary won as well. There seems to be less concern over what to do with these delegates - as both Hillary and Obama had their names on the ballot. Hillary won by about half a million votes, and would likely get a large portion of the Florida Delegates.

Either way - how the rules and by-law committee handles these two states and their delegates could be crucial in how the 2008 Deomcratic nomination ends up.

Jefferson Jackson Dinner

Obama Inspires at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner in North Carolina:

Why Indiana Matters

You could call it a tie-breaker.

After Hillary won PA, she has a new - though small - lease on life. She's proven that she has a good hold on the white, working class voters, and dominated in rural Pennsylvania.

Now the campaigns move on to Indiana, where it is a must win for Clinton. Clinton has moved closer to Obama's lead, but remains a long way off - in fact it's almost impossible for her to catch up (see The Math, below).

But Indiana will be a test. If Clinton performs well, she has more ammunition to attract the super delegates to her camp. If Obama wins, he has the better hand, and will likely force Hillary to drop out (however, my guess is Hillary will run until 2012 without stopping - regardless of the numbers).

Both Indiana and North Carolina will vote on May 6th. Obama is expected to win NC - and a landslide win could be a deal breaker. However, if Clinton is able to keep it close in NC AND win Indiana, she'll hold onto that life-vest a little bit longer.

So - Indiana - of all places - could potentially decide who will be the democratic nominee.

Cross your fingers this thing will finally end... but don't hold your breath.

The Math

Here is how the delegate math breaks down post Pennsylvania:

With a net gain of approximately 12 pledged delegates from PA (after winning by 9%),
Clinton has pulled within 154.

Clinton 1335
Obama 1489

There are 9 contests with 408 pledged delegates remaining. In order to have a majority of the pledged delegates, either candidate must get 1627.

Leaving Obama with 138 delegates needed, and Clinton with 273 delegates needed.

Since Democratic delegates are given out proportionally, Obama only needs to win about 34% of the remaining votes. Clinton, on the other hand, needs to about 67% of the vote.

That is virtually statistically impossible.

So, what's the next measure: Total delegates.

Including Super Delegates, either candidate needs to get 2025 total delegates to win the nomination. Clinton currently leads among supers, 256-234. That 22 point margin was much larger a few weeks ago, but Obama has closed the gap.
So Obama leads in total delegates 1723 to 1591.

Assuming neither candidate gets a swell of Super delegate endorsements in the next few weeks, Clinton again would need about 65% of the vote in the remaining contests to pull close to Obama in the total delegate count.

Finally, we have the overall popular vote:

Obama 14,417,619 (49.2%)
Clinton 13,917,009 (47.5%)

But if you count Florida, where none of the candidates campaigned (b/c FL broke the rules, moved their primary up, and were punished by the Democratic Party - and consequently, all teh candidates SAID they would not campaign there) but Hillary attended for a victory party:

Obama 14,993,833 (48.3%)
Clinton 14,787,995 (47.6%)

This makes Indiana extremely vital.

"IF-YOU to the process"

Now that Clinton has won Pennsylvania, she's going to stay in the race, and continues to make an arguement as to why she should win and Superdelegates should support here.

Jon Steewart had a fairly humorous take on Hillary's changing arguements for why she should win:

Back From Phoenix

I recently got a little R and R in Phoenix... caught some sun, a little spring training baseball, a little golf, and got engaged!

Anway - I came back to find one of my stories being used in a political race for office:

Worlds Collide

It's March - and for anyone that knows me - that means Basketball. But this year, it also means Politics. So - for the next couple of weeks, this blog will be a Hybrid: Basketball and Politics.

And without further ado... what's on Tap for Basketball this week:

3 Conferences start their conference tournaments Tuesday the 4th:

Ohio Valley:
#1 Austin Peay
vs.
#8 Eastern Kentucky

#4 UT Martin
vs.
#5 Samford

#2 Murray State
vs.
#7 Tennessee Tech

#3 Morehead State
vs.
#6 Tennessee State


Big South
#1 UNC Ashville
vs.
#8 Charleston Southern

#4 Liberty
vs.
#5 VMI

#2 Winthrop
vs.
#7 Radford

#3 High Point
vs.
#6 Coastal Carolina

Horizon League
#3 Wright State
vs.
#10 Detroit

#6 Valpo
vs.
#7 Green Bay

#4 UIC
vs.
#9 Youngstown State

#5 Milwaukee
vs.
#8 Loyola

(#1 Butler and #2 Cleveland State have byes)

Obama's Response

Obama's campaign responded to Hillary's campaign attacks today, after Clinton Campaign press person Howard Wolfson said that Obama was insulting the American public by calling Clinton's Ad (see below) "fearmongering". (In the ad, the voice over says that it's 3 am and there's a phone in the white house ringing - who do you want to answer it?).

When asked if Clinton should drop out of the race after the Texas and Ohio Primaries, an Obama spokesperson said "I would encourage you on March 5 to call Sen. Clinton at 3 a.m. and ask that question"

For Obama's Part, he's released this ad:

Clinton's New Ad

Clinton has a new ad out that is similar to a "Who's going to pick up the Red Phone" ad used by Walter Mondale in 1984 when a surging Gary Hart almost knocked off Mondale's 'inevitable" campaign... hmmm... gee, I don't see any similarities to the current campaign...

Missing His Time

John Edwards missed the mark.

The former presidential candidate has waited to endorse either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, leaving his endorsement effectively null and void.

Here's my reasoning:

Had Edwards made a committment to one candidate or the other prior to Super Tuesday - or even last week - he would've had time to get out and rally his supporters for the candidate of his choice. Now, it's too late to campaign, and if Obama wins either Texas or Ohio, the race is effectively over. If Hillary wins both, and then Edwards endorses Hillary, it's likely too little too late baring a miracle.

He may have strong feelings towards the war or poverty - but I believe this is a man who's more interested in hedging his bets than helping the poor - much less a candidate win the nomination.

"Change you can Xerox"...

In the debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on Thursday - there were a couple of telling moments:

1. Obama responds to allegations that he is all style- and no substance:

"OBAMA: Senator Clinton of late has said: Let's get real. The implication is that the people who've been voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional.
(LAUGHTER)
And that, you know, the 20 million people who've been paying attention to 19 debates and the editorial boards all across the country at newspapers who have given me endorsements, including every major newspaper here in the state of Texas.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, the thinking is that somehow, they're being duped, and eventually they're going to see the reality of things.
Well, I think they perceive reality of what's going on in Washington very clearly. What they see is that if we don't bring the country together, stop the endless bickering, actually focus on solutions and reduce the special interests that have dominated Washington, then we will not get anything done. And the reason that this campaign has done so well...
(APPLAUSE)
The reason that this campaign has done so well is because people understand that it is not just a matter of putting forward policy positions.
Senator Clinton and I share a lot of policy positions. But if we can't inspire the American people to get involved in their government and if we can't inspire them to go beyond the racial divisions and the religious divisions and the regional divisions that have plagued our politics for so long, then we will continue to see the kind of gridlock and nonperformance in Washington that is resulting in families suffering in very real ways.
I'm running for president to start doing something about that suffering, and so are the people who are behind my campaign."

2. Obama responds to charges that he "plagiarized"

OBAMA: Well, look, the -- first of all, it's not a lot of speeches. There are two lines in speeches that I've been giving over the last couple of weeks.
I've been campaigning now for the last two years. Deval is a national co-chairman of my campaign, and suggested an argument that I share, that words are important. Words matter. And the implication that they don't I think diminishes how important it is to speak to the American people directly about making America as good as its promise. Barbara Jordan understood this as well as anybody.
OBAMA: And the notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who was one of my national co-chairs...
(APPLAUSE)
... who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think, is silly, and...
(APPLAUSE)
... you know, this is where we start getting into silly season, in politics, and I think people start getting discouraged about it...
(LAUGHTER)
... and they don't want...
(APPLAUSE)
What they want is, how are we going to create good jobs and good wages?
How are we going to provide health care to the American people?
How are we going to make sure that college is affordable?
So what I've been talking about, in this speeches -- and I've got to admit, some of them are pretty good.
(APPLAUSE)
What I've been talking about is not just hope and not just inspiration. It's a $4,000 tuition credit for every student, every year, in exchange for national service...
(APPLAUSE)
... so that college becomes more affordable.
OBAMA: I've been talking about making sure that we change our tax code so that working families actually get relief. I have been talking about making sure that we bring an end to this war in Iraq so that we can start bringing our troops home and invest money here in the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
So just to finish up, these are very specific, concrete, detailed proposals, many of them which I have been working on for years now. Senator Clinton has a fine record. So do I. I'm happy to have a debate on the issues, but what we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up.
(APPLAUSE)
BROWN: Senator Clinton, is it the silly season?
CLINTON: Well, I think that if your candidacy is going to be about words, then they should be your own words. That's, I think, a very simple proposition.
(APPLAUSE)
And, you know, lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox. And I just don't think...
OBAMA: Come on.