Yes He Can: Barack Obama Gets the Presumptive Democratic Nod for President

Obama is the presumptive winner of the Democratic ticket. He will be the first black American to ever run as a major party candidate for President.

(ST. PAUL, Minn.) - Barack Obama has grabbed another gear in the race for President. Hillary Clinton it is now unofficially revealed, may likely be his running mate.

Obama's speech on MSNBC, included below, carries strong words against Republican opponent John McCain. He isn't letting him off the hook for his support of fellow Republican George W. Bush.

"There are many words to describe McCain's attempts to brush off his embracing of George W. Bush's policies, but 'change' is not one of them."

He did not hesitate to say that McCain's vision of staying in Iraq for the next 100 years is not good American policy.

"Our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated and almost every other threat against America is being ignored."

Obama said Iraq should never have been authorized and the war should have not been waged; he also talked about the root causes of what brought the country to this point.

"What you won't see from this campaign is religion used as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon."

He also promises a middle class tax break and more money and attention in science, innovation and alternative energy, and he talked about the importance of balancing the budget. saying that, "Fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand in hand as it did when Bill Clinton was President."

"This is our moment, this is our time to turn the page on the policies of the past; our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face, our time to offer a new direction for this county we love."

He admits that the journey will be difficult and the road will be long. But Obama says he faces this moment with profound humility and faith.

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Henry Ruark June 5, 2008 2:21 pm (Pacific time)

To all: The Morrison mish-mash is partially right, but far from insightful nor prescient. What's stated there assumes (and presumes !) on his view of public opinion, and public voting actions, then; some of which is correct but most is far from either factual or insightful. Like it or not, this is new day --21st Century day-- with new light on many longtime painful issues, myths such as racism, and misunderstandings of political role and strength played by WDs (Woefully Deprived) acting on that guff and gunk which passed for political insights until the past 8-year desperate demonstration of deeply damaging attack on American principles, Constitution and even Congressional actions --as in "signing statements" negating actual law set into place by Constitutional means and elected representation. For such lack of solid fact thank your failing-dailies and distorted, perverting pundits via tv !! IF we are in such deprived, dangerous, damaged and surely principle-denying status as indicated in reliance on racism to shape our vote, then little hope is left for any possible remediation of the Reagan/Bush I and Cheney-Bush II cabal and its intentional denial,damage and degradation of our American heritage as well as our way of life. That was initiated, planned, supported and paid for in cold (and sometimes "hot"! )cash by Far Right billionaires, and others of even less common acceptability if IDs fully known, both corporate and personal. How, then, ever move on into the new, demanding, worldwide competitive 21st Century ? (Space here prevents usual "see with own eyes" documentation, available via request to Editor with ID)

Jason Morrison June 5, 2008 12:22 pm (Pacific time)

When Gore won the popular vote in the 2000 election by half a percentage point, but lost the Electoral College -- or, for short, "the constitutionally prescribed method for choosing presidents" -- anyone who denied the sacred importance of the popular vote was either an idiot or a dangerous partisan. But now Hillary has won the popular vote in a Democratic primary, while Obambi has won under the rules. In a spectacular turnabout, media commentators are heaping sarcasm on our plucky Hillary for imagining the "popular vote" has any relevance whatsoever. It's the exact same situation as in 2000, with Hillary in the position of Gore and Obama in the position of Bush. The only difference is: Hillary has a much stronger argument than Gore ever did (and Hillary's more of a man than Gore ever was). Unbeknownst to liberals, who seem to imagine the Constitution is a treatise on gay marriage, our Constitution sets forth rules for the election of a president. Under the Constitution that has led to the greatest individual liberty, prosperity and security ever known to mankind, Americans have no constitutional right to vote for president, at all. (Don't fret Democrats: According to five liberals on the Supreme Court, you do have a right to sodomy and abortion!) Americans certainly have no right to demand that their vote prevail over the electors' vote. The Constitution states that electors from each state are to choose the president, and it is up to state legislatures to determine how those electors are selected. It is only by happenstance that most states use a popular vote to choose their electors. When you vote for president this fall, you will not be voting for Barack Obama or John McCain; you will be voting for an elector who pledges to cast his vote for Obama or McCain. (For those new Obama voters who may be reading, it's like voting for Paula, Randy or Simon to represent you, instead of texting your vote directly.) Any state could abolish general elections for president tomorrow and have the legislature pick the electors. States could also abolish their winner-take-all method of choosing presidential electors -- as Nebraska and Maine have already done, allowing their electors to be allocated in proportion to the popular vote. And of course there's always the option of voting electors off the island one by one. If presidential elections were popular vote contests, Bush might have spent more than five minutes campaigning in big liberal states like California and New York. But under a winner-take-all regime, close doesn't count. If a Republican doesn't have a chance to actually win a state, he may as well lose in a landslide. Using the same logic, Gore didn't spend a lot of time campaigning in Texas (and Walter Mondale campaigned exclusively in Minnesota). Consequently, under both the law and common sense, the famed "popular vote" is utterly irrelevant to presidential elections. It would be like the winner of "Miss Congeniality" claiming that title also made her "Miss America." Obviously, Bush might well have won the popular vote, but he would have used a completely different campaign strategy. By contrast, there are no constitutional rules to follow with party primaries. Primaries are specifically designed by the parties to choose their strongest candidate for the general election. Hillary's argument that she won the popular vote is manifestly relevant to that determination. Our brave Hillary has every right to take her delegates to the Democratic National Convention and put her case to a vote. She is much closer to B. Hussein Obama than the sainted Teddy Kennedy was to Carter in 1980 when Teddy staged an obviously hopeless rules challenge at the convention. (I mean rules about choosing the candidate, not rules about crushed ice at after-parties.) And yet every time Hillary breathes a word about her victory in the popular vote, TV hosts respond with sneering contempt at her gaucherie for even mentioning it. (Of course, if popularity mattered, networks like MSNBC wouldn't exist. That's a station that depends entirely on "superviewers.") After nearly eight years of having to listen to liberals crow that Bush was "selected, not elected," this is a shocking about-face. Apparently unaware of the new party line that the popular vote amounts to nothing more than warm spit, just last week HBO ran its movie "Recount," about the 2000 Florida election, the premise of which is that sneaky Republicans stole the presidency from popular vote champion Al Gore. (Despite massive publicity, the movie bombed, with only about 1 million viewers, so now HBO is demanding a "recount.") So where is Kevin Spacey from HBO's "Recount," to defend Hillary, shouting: "WHO WON THIS PRIMARY?" In the Democrats' "1984" world, the popular vote is an unconcept, doubleplusungood verging crimethink. We have always been at war with Eastasia.

Change June 4, 2008 3:34 pm (Pacific time)

Here in rural NC farmland, there are quite a few bluedog dems that simply “will not vote for a black guy” We can expect blacks, latte liberals (read intellectuals trying to prove they are ‘enlightened’ and non-bigoted), and the MTV crowd to show up in droves. But the rural bluedogs...they will stay home. Hussein has the ‘enlightened’ liberal and the black vote. That ain’t enough.

Wally June 4, 2008 8:53 am (Pacific time)

Let the campaign begin. I am sure there will be many surprises in store for those of all stripes. But no matter how things conclude, we will be a divided nation, and that is a serious liability in this age of terrorism.

JB June 4, 2008 8:41 am (Pacific time)

I wouldn't put it past old Bill to pull some strings, he probaly has dirt on alot of the superdelegates

Joe B. June 3, 2008 10:08 pm (Pacific time)

Congrats! We knew for some time that the best man for the job is Barack Obama. Sorry to see that some people that don't like him feel the urge to strike out at his success by being flat out nasty, and spreading vicious lies & rumors. Aren't we adults? Enough! How does that behavior help anything? I mean it should be making you feel good Mr. Hardball, to know you'll be represented with equality when he takes office. Even morons deserve equal rights in this man's United States. How about yours? If you don't love America, please feel free to take the first boat back to wherever you would prefer to be. Perhaps a return to the iron curtain is what you crave- you won't find it here. In America, we value FREEDOM, and CIVIL RIGHTS. Even yours...

Booker T Washington June 3, 2008 9:40 pm (Pacific time)

Thank God for Barack Obama.

Hardball Coming June 3, 2008 9:29 pm (Pacific time)

Stupid, BS racist anti-Obama crap will not be posted here, Salem-News.com will not be a tool for any morons to spread hate propaganda or anything close to it. Congratulations Barack Obama.

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Yes He Can: Barack Obama Gets the Presumptive Democratic Nod for President

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