Posts filed under 'Barack Obama'
April 18th, 2008
Wouldn’t life be easier if we could pick our president by comparing our grocery shopping lists?
Well, the New York Times asked two national market research experts to help them do just that.
If you like the crunch of Kashi GoLean cereal, the grease of Church’s Fried Chicken and the energy from a Luna Bar, you might be a Hillary Clinton supporter.
Obama followers would likely prefer to eat at the trendy Panera Bread bakery/restaurant, sweeten their beverages with Sugar in the Raw and shop at the local farmer’s market.
And those of you who prefer the monstrous Hardee’s burgers, DiGiorno’s Stuffed Crust pizza and SoBe Energy drinks are most likely to vote for McCain.
Here’s how the Times cooked up the politicians’ preferences:
Larry Finkel at MarketResearch.com used information on 25,000 people assembled by Simmons Market Research to develop a voter preference index based on store-bought cookies and restaurants. […]
(Obama’s) strength among latte drinkers was confirmed by the software developers and restaurant geeks who created Urbanspoon.com. Last year, they developed a steak-sushi index showing that cities with more steak restaurants also have more Republican victories. […]
Harvey Hartman of the Hartman Group applied the data he uses to help food companies understand consumer issues and came up with a grid that predicts voting patterns based on preferences for health and wellness products.
Of course, I am a big fan of DiGiorno’s pizza, Kashi GoLean cereal and Panera Bread, so I suppose that makes me a moderate.
March 24th, 2008
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The decision won’t have to be made for almost a year, if at all. But speculation already is rampant in Springfield about who Gov. Rod Blagojevich would appoint to fill Sen. Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat if Obama leaves it for the presidency (or vice-presidency) in January 2009.
Possibilities include U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Chicago, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, or state Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville, any of whom would maintain Illinois’ position as home to the nation’s only black senator.
Or he could turn to state Attorney General Lisa Madigan or state Comptroller Dan Hynes, on the premise that these are people Blagojevich wouldn’t mind sending to another time zone.
Blagojevich could even appoint himself.
If more influential Democrats continue to line up behind Obama and his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton to step aside, speculation like this will only increase and will move further from political bar banter and into the public domain.
Talk Back: If Obama’s seat is open after the November election, who would you like to see appointed to the U.S. Senate? Is it important for another African-American fill the seat?
March 18th, 2008
David Axelrod is the Chicago-based mastermind behind U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The political consultant has long been well known to Illinois political insiders, with clients like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, and insiders of national politics too, with a slew of congressional races and other high-profile races behind him.
Now the behind-the-scenes campaign guru is gaining a celebrity of his own.
In the most recent in a series of Axelrod profiles, Business Week looks at Axelrod’s other consulting firm, ASK Public Strategies. The firm has worked mostly in secret, though its clients have included ComEd and AT&T. Just as Axelrod’s well-known firm, AKP&D Message and Media, is focused on aiding the campaigns of Democratic candidates, ASK is geared toward the (super-secret) interests of corporations.
ASK’s predilection for operating in the shadows shows up in its work. On behalf of ComEd and Comcast, the firm helped set up front organizations that were listed as sponsors of public-issue ads. Industry insiders call such practices “Astroturfing,” a reference to manufacturing grassroots support. Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward, who has been battling the Children’s Museum’s relocation plans, describes ASK as “the gold standard in Astroturf organizing. This is an emerging industry, and ASK has made a name for itself in shaping public opinion and manufacturing public support.”
ASK’s Web site says little about the firm’s activities. AKP&D’s Web site, on the other hand, is loaded with info, including the firm’s impressive client list.
Perhaps the more comprehensive profile of Axelrod appeared last spring in the New York Times Magazine. It walks through the evolution of Axelrod’s career, from his days as a Chicago Tribune reporter to campaign aide for the late U.S. Paul Simon of Illinois to chief strategist for Obama’s presidential race.
When the first major profile of Axelrod appeared in Chicago magazine in 1987, three years after he left a high-profile job as the lead political reporter for The Chicago Tribune to work as a political operative, the article (“Hatchet Man: The Rise of David Axelrod”) began by comparing him to an “exotic rodent.”
The Times Magazine story continues:
Two decades later, there remains the matter of the comb-over and the damp mustache, but his looks seem less important now. In the last four years, Axelrod has helped steer campaigns for fully four of the Democrats now running for president — Obama, Clinton, John Edwards and Chris Dodd — and one who dropped out (Tom Vilsack); framed the messages for the new young governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick; and served as the chief political adviser for Representative Rahm Emanuel when the congressman helped orchestrate the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives last fall.
The Washington Post also profiled Axelrod last February.
A measure of his status in the top tier of Democratic spinners, scripters and fixers is that when his peers detect something subtle and good, they presume Axelrod must have had a hand in it.
Of course Axelrod won’t take credit for specific lines. Consultants are supposed to stay in the background. “One thing I came to realize early in the process of working with Barack was, he was always going to be the best writer in the room,” Axelrod says. “If you appreciate words and the power of them, he’s a wonderful person to work with. . . . I’d say 80 percent of what he did on that platform on Saturday was in that initial draft,” which Obama had e-mailed to Axelrod at about 4 a.m. Thursday.
The liberal Nation weekly also weighed in last February. And if you’re looking for video, here is PBS’s Charlie Rose’s interview with Axelrod. A Tribune profile, complete with video, is here.
From the Trib:
By 1984, while still in his 20s, David Axelrod had already built an impressive career as a star political reporter, columnist and City Hall bureau chief for the Tribune, the largest and most influential newspaper in Illinois.
It was his dream job. But he was unhappy.
Always awash with doubts and anxieties, Axelrod would agonize over the nuances of the stories he was writing, putting in long hours in the city’s wards doing research and then spending hours more at the computer keyboard. But that was who he was.
March 15th, 2008
In today’s paper, I told you about the six local people who will get to attend the lavish Democratic and Republican national conventions.
These multi-million dollar parties are technically where the Republican and Democratic nominees for president get the official nod. In recent history, the country and the parties have known well before the conventions who will be the presumptive nominee.
This is because of one single word — delegates. These delegates are one part of the complex primary process we use to decide on one candidate for each party to advance to the general election in November. And no one has probably paid more attention to delegates like the country has this year.
In January, it became more and more clear that delegates were going to be an issue in the primary season, so I attempted to give you a lot of background information, including the delegates’ role at the conventions. Also Bernie Schoenberg, who also works for GateHouse newspapers, did a good job explaining what happens at the conventions.
Now after Illinois voters chose their Republican and Democratic delegates during the Feb. 5 primary, only some of those delegates could celebrate when the unofficial results came in. Those were the Republican delegates, because in Illinois, the top four vote-getting Republican delegates go to the convention.
On the Democrat side, however, the selection process is much more difficult. The votes people cast on Feb. 5 was only one part of the equation. In fact, the four people chosen from the 16th Congressional District (which includes Rockford) were ranked first, second, fourth and seventh in order of most votes received.
This is why Clinton delegate Barbara Giolitto was so surprised when I called her about being a delegate. Giolitto, who was a state representative for one term, took seventh place after Feb. 5. Rockford City Councilman Victory Bell and state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, actually received more votes than Giolitto.
So why did this happen?
Well, the national Democratic Party sets rules for the delegate process but allows the state Democratic Party to choose from a few options to ultimately decide how the Illinois delegates are chosen. Not only are the delegates doled out based on the proportional vote in a Congressional District, but other factors, such as gender equality, may play a role. Because of the proportional vote, Obama received three delegates from our district, and Clinton received one.
The gender equality factor is what allowed Giolitto to get the nod, and it is also the reason that Eleanor “Bobbie” Colbert did not. Colbert placed third, but Sunil Puri was able to leap frog her because Mary Tuite placed second and thus was the first woman to be selected.
And before you start thinking all these technicalities is a way for the Democratic Machine to control the delegates, these same rules prevented party chairman Michael Madigan’s wife, Shirely, from getting to join her fellow Democrats in Denver for the convention.
Other people have written about this process recently as well (including the even more confusing Michigan and Florida delegates):
March 10th, 2008
As soon as Sen. Hillary Clinton’s “3 a.m. Phone Call” ad invaded televisions across America, I could hardly wait for the weekend because I knew a scare-tactics ad like this nearly begged for a Saturday Night Live parody. And I was right.
Here is another edition of the Monday morning funnies:
(I can’t get the NBC video to embed properly on the blog, but you can watch it here. Warning: This skit does involve censored profanity.)
Here is Clinton’s controversial ad that started it all and that some say helped her snag Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island away from Sen. Barack Obama:
And of course, the Obama camp quickly came out with a rebuttal:
And now for the ironic twist:
February 26th, 2008
The wide-ranging federal probe of public corruption in state government creeped closer to Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday. Officially, that is, though not technically.
It’s been clear for months the feds were eyeing Blagojevich as a central character in their probe. But Blagojevich had previously been identified only by the pseudonym “Public Official A.” The feds did not identify him by name. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve removed any doubt about the official’s identity. She identified the governor by name.
In a nine-page order pertaining to evidence the feds plan to offer in the upcoming corruption trial of Tony Rezko, a former top fundraiser and adviser for Blagojevich, St. Eve revealed that Blagojevich is one in the same as ”Public Official A.” News coverage is here, here, here, and here.
What exactly did the governor do wrong? First things first, the feds have not charged Blagojevich with a crime.
However, they have charged and/or are investigating a number of Blagojevich insiders. Next week, Rezko begins trial on charges that he used his insider clout to attempt to extort kickbacks from firms seeking business with the state. Blagojevich — previously as “Public Official A” and now by name — has repeatedly surfaced in pre-trial exchanges between the feds and Rezko’s defense team. The charges against Rezko are here and here.
In one instance detailed by the feds, Blagojevich’s campaign fund stood to gain a $1.5 million donation that Rezko and Stuart Levine, another insider cooperating with the feds, allegedly tried to extort from an investment firm. Thomas Rosenberg, also a Hollywood producer, represented that firm, which sought to invest assets held by the Illinois Teachers Retirement System. Rezko and Levine allegedly claimed they could steer investments in exchange for kickbacks.
From Judge St. Eve’s order:
In early 2004, the staff of the TRS Board had recommended that the Board allocate available funds for real estate investments among the existing TRS real estate managers, including a $220 million investment with Capri Capital. Through Levine’s arrangement, the TRS Board postponed the allocation to Capri Capital. Levine and Rezko allegedly then agreed to approach Rosenberg through an intermediary to either make a $1.5 million donation to Governor Blagojevich or pay Levine an approximate $2 million fee in order to obtain the $220 allocation. In approximately May 2004, that intermediary approached Rosenberg and informed him of Levine and Rezko’s demand. Rosenberg responded that he would not be extorted, and he thereafter threatened to inform law enforcement. Given the threat, Levine and others agreed that Capri Capital would receive the $220 million without any fees or political donations, but it would not receive any further business from the State of Illinois, including TRS. The TRS Board subsequently approved the $220 allocation to Capri Capital.
The feds alleged the same scheme in December, when they filed a document called a proffer setting forth their evidence against Rezko. The proffer used pseudonyms to describe Blagojevich and other officials:
Investment Firm 7 was a real estate investment management firm that had a long-standing relationship with TRS. In February 2004, Investment Firm 7 was supposed to receive $220 million from TRS to manage. Levine acted to stall the allocation, and planned with Rezko to approach Individual J, a principal of Investment Firm 7, with a choice: if Individual J wanted to get the $220 million for Investment Firm 7, he was either going to have to make a $1.5 million donation to Public Official A or pay Levine a 1 % fee (which would be shared with Rezko). Rezko and Levine enlisted Co-Schemer A’s help to demonstrate to Individual J that he needed Levine’s help to get the $220 million. In the course of Co-Schemer A’s efforts to prepare Individual J for Levine’s approach, Individual J realized that he was going to be extorted and threatened to expose the scheme. In light of this threat, Levine, Rezko, Co-Schemer B, and Co-Schemer A spoke on May 10 and decided that Individual J would get his $220 million without being asked for any contribution, but that Individual J would never again get any money from the state of Illinois. Investment Firm 7 did in fact receive a $220 million allocation at the May 2004 TRS Board meeting.
Rezko masterfully ingratiated himself with powerful Chicago pols. As you probably heard from national news coverage, Rezko also was a longtime supporter of Barack Obama, the community organizer turned state lawmaker turned U.S. senator turned presidential contender. More background on Rezko/Obama is here. For the identities of nearly all the characters in the upcoming Rezko trial, go here. (Separately, the feds have indicted Chris Kelly, another former top fundraiser and adviser for the governor.)
Blagojevich and his aides have steadfastly denied he is “Public Official A.” In December, when the feds described their evidence against Rezko in a document called a proffer, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff had this to say to the Associated Press:
“No such conversation ever occurred. This administration does not do business that way.”
Ottenhoff added:
“Based on the description in the filing, it is not the governor.”
Only, as the AP noted in its story at the time, the “description” in the proffer pointed directly at the governor — not away from him. In one scene, the proffer describes a plane ride to New York after “Public Official A” reappointed Levine to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board in the fall of 2003.
After Levine was reappointed, he shared a private plane ride from New York to Chicago with Public Official A and Co-Schemer B. Levine, Public Official A, and Co-Schemer B were the only passengers on the flight. At the beginning of the flight, Levine thanked Public Official A for reappointing him to the Planning Board. Public Official A responded that Levine should only talk with “Tony” [Rezko] or [Co-Schemer B] about the board, “but you stick with us and you will do very well for yourself.”
The fact is that Blagojevich reappointed Levine to the board. If you accept this fact, then “Public Official A” can’t be anybody other than Blagojevich.
Again, the feds have not charged Blagojevich with a crime. Moreover, the feds generally proceed upward in public corruption cases from lower-ranking players to the powers that be. They grab the little guys and squeeze until the little guys give up the big guys. Therefore, the direction of the probe likely will be affected by whether the feds win at trial against Rezko. The outcome of the case against Chris Kelly also may help determine whether the feds charge the governor.
Nonetheless, there is plenty of speculation about whether the governor’s indictment is imminent. Charlie Wheeler, a retired Chicago Sun-Times reporter who heads the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield, recently analyzed the proffer and concluded that Blagojevich’s indictment “seems a certainty, based on what prosecutors say they will prove in the Rezko trial.”
That, Wheeler said, is the proffer’s “logical conclusion.”
UPDATE 1
The Cap Fax Blog notes the feds don’t have an open and shut case against Rezko. There may well be some holes.
February 25th, 2008
Hillary Clinton is beginning to look desperate.If she isn’t desperate, she is doing a good job of fooling us.
Over the weekend, Clinton made a few campaign stops through Rhode Island and Ohio. Now I’m sure she said many newsworthy things during her time there, but her decision to “go negative” is what made it on the newscasts.
Here are the two clips.
After a rally at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in Ohio:
In Providence, R.I. (and try not to laugh at CNN’s new label for the presidential campaign — Ballot Bowl ‘08):
The line, “Go hard or go home,” comes to mind after watching the videos. In campaigns, the rule of thumb is if a candidate decides to go negative in a campaign, go very negative. Well, in one respect, she’s successfully become very negative.
Clinton has consistently used some of these tactics throughout the campaign, and Obama responded to this in the last debate.
But how much will this strategy help her as the Democratic nomination lurches toward Texas and Ohio? These states have a lot of delegates, and overwhelming wins would help Obama pull further away or allow Clinton gain some much needed ground. According to CNN, Obama leads the pledged delegate race 1,166 to Clinton’s 1,026.
Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont will hold the next primaries on March 4.
February 18th, 2008
OK, so this probably isn’t the most important endorsement that U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has earned or will earn in his race for the White House. But it certainly is the creamiest.
That’s right, Obama won the endorsement of none other than Ben and Jerry, the co-founders of Ben and Jerry’s. So grab a spoon, people! If Obama wins, maybe they’ll spread some ice cream love.
From an Obama press release:
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders of Ben and Jerry’s, publically announced their endorsement of Barack Obama for President today. Joined by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, the former John Edwards supporters said they believe Barack Obama is the best candidate to unite America and finally tackle the challenges facing our nation.
“Barack Obama believes that the special interests in Washington shouldn’t drown out the voices and basic needs of Americans,” Greenfield said. “When Barack Obama is President, we will finally have a president who is committed to ensuring all Americans have access to affordable health care and our children get the education they deserve.”
What? Nothing about ice cream for everybody?
February 18th, 2008
You probably already know about U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s concrete shoe, Tony Rezko.
Obama and Rezko engaged in a kinky real estate deal — Obama bought a mansion on Chicago’s South Side the same day that Rezko’s wife bought an adjacent lot — that is now all the talk on the presidential campaign trail. There’s even a blog dedicated to Rezko.
We may soon be hearing much more about Obama’s ties to Exelon, ComEd’s parent company, too.
A Baltimore Sun columnist reports:
A bigger question is how Obama’s Exelon links might influence his broader electricity policy at the most critical period for U.S. electricity since the 1930s. Exelon, the Illinois version of Baltimore’s Constellation Energy, is one of the country’s biggest megawatt producers, the largest nuclear plant operator and a huge Obama backer through its executives and employees.
Would a President Obama try to reform interstate electricity markets that have soaked consumers in Maryland and other deregulated states, inadequately invested in the future and unjustifiably enriched Exelon, Constellation and other companies? Or would he maintain the Bush administration’s blind eye toward evidence of wholesale-electricity market failure, irregularity and price gouging?
The columnist goes on to scrutinize Obama’s apparent ties to Exelon. Recommended reading, for sure.
UPDATE 1
Bloomberg and the Tribune have more on the Obama/Rezko land deal.
January 29th, 2008
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet got Gov. Blagojevich’s attention when she noted on Monday that Blagojevich was the sole Illinois constitutional officer not appearing at an event for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the presidential contender and this state’s favorite son.
She suggested the Obama campaign didn’t want the governor around because of the heat regarding his connections to indicted fundraiser Tony Rezko, who was arrested Monday. Rezko was a top fundraiser and adviser for Blagojevich. (Obama also enjoyed support from Rezko, as did many Chicago-area politicos.)
Later, Sweet reported that she received a quick response from Blagojevich’s press office, which she also posted on her blog.
Blagojevich spokesman Abby Ottenhoff called to say that the Obama campaign has given Blagojevich an assignment, to woo six Democratic governors for Obama.
She also said that a new poll from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shows the governor has better ratings than the legislature and asked that this be noted.
So much for Blagojevich’s taxpayer-funded staff not handling political matters. Isn’t there supposed to be some divide between politics and government.
But there was Ottenhoff, the governor’s taxpayer-funded spokeswoman, responding by noting two clearly political points — the governor’s “assignment” from the Obama campaign and the poll. Where was Blagojevich’s campaign spokesman, Doug Scofield?
Oh look, here’s Rebecca Rausch, the governor’s other taxpayer-funded spokeswoman, weighing in on the same matter.
Instead, they said Blagojevich was asked to call Democratic governors who’ve yet to endorse a presidential candidate and lobby them to back Obama. Blagojevich got that assignment because it’s something only he can do among the statewide officers, governor spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said.
Ottenhoff and Rausch did not respond to requests for comment.
UPDATED X1 :
Jay Stewart, of the watchdog group Better Government Association, returned my call last night, but I had already left the office. Here is his take on it:
Stewart said while spokespeople such as Rausch and Ottenhoff can respond to questions from the press about political topics, they should probably refer the question to the politician’s campaign.
“If they get a question about it, it doesn’t mean they can’t talk about it. It just means they should refer it to … the Friends of Blagojevich (campaign),” Stewart said.
But he said taxpayer-funded spokespeople who actively reach out to the press about political subjects have crossed a line.
“To the extent they start answering the questions about political activity and not referring to the Friends of Blagojevich, they are probably getting into some uncharted territory,” Stewart said. “To the extent that they are reaching out to reporters to spin them on it, that strikes me as you’ve crossed the line.”
Sweet mentioned in her blog that she received a call from Ottenhoff about her post, but it is unclear whether Rausch was simply responding to questions from the Chicago Tribune.
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