James Njoroge Gitau's Blog

Jesse Jackson Explains His Tears For Obama

James Njoroge Gitau — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:23:23 GMT

Standing with more than 200,000 Obama supporters in Grant Park Tuesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson cried as learned that Barack Obama would become America's first African-American president.

The veteran civil rights leader, who ran for president in 1984 and 1988, explained his tears in an interview with National Public Radio (as transcribed by the Tribune's Mark Silva):

"Well, on the one hand, I saw President Barack Obama standing there looking so majestic. And I knew that people in the villages of Kenya and Haiti, and mansions and palaces in Europe and China, were all watching this young African-American male assume the leadership to take our nation out of a pit to a higher place.

"And then, I thought of who was not there,'' Jackson said on NPR News' Tell Me More. "As mentioned, Medgar Evers, the husband of Sister Myrlie. ...So the martyrs and murdered whose blood made last night possible. I could not help think that this was their night.

"And if I had one wish: if Medgar, or if Dr. King could have just been there for a second in time, would have made my heart rejoice. And so it was kind of duo-fold - his ascension into leadership and the price that was paid to get him there."

Credits: Photo Getty, Hunnington Post

OBAMA ELECTED 44TH PRESIDENT

James Njoroge Gitau — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:53:31 GMT

Barack Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, shattered more than 200 years of history Tuesday night by winning election as the first African-American president in the history of the United States, according to projections by NBC News.

Obama reached the 270 electoral votes he needed for election at 11 p.m. ET, when NBC News projected that he would win California, Washington and Oregon.

Campaigning as a technocratic agent of change in Washington, not as a pathbreaking civil rights figure, Obama swept to victory over Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whose running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was seeking to become the nation’s first female vice president.

Credits: MSNBC, Photo Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

Experts, polls predict major Obama win

James Njoroge Gitau — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 07:08:05 GMT

In the days remaining before Nov. 4, Obama was enjoying an average lead of about six or seven percentage points over Republican presidential nominee John McCain in national polls.

Obama also leads in battleground states that were seen as crucial for winning the election. In five polls published Monday for Virginia, Obama enjoyed an average lead of 7.8 points.

No Democratic presidential candidate has won Virginia since Lyndon Johnson took the state in 1964.

Polls also gave Obama a small lead in Florida and Ohio — which last went to a Democratic presidential candidate when President Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996. Obama also enjoyed a small lead in North Carolina, where no Democratic presidential candidate has won since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Clyde Wilcox, a heterosexual Georgetown University professor and author of “The Politics of Gay Rights,” said the 2008 election “looks like a good Democratic year” based on the polls and early voting trends.

“Obama is amazingly well organized, and he is really nailing big endorsements here at the end,” Wilcox said.

Winnie Stachelberg, senior vice president for external affairs for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, said, “Obama is running strong” and “is poised to win a significant victory.”

Stachelberg, a lesbian, predicted that Election Day would be “a mandate for progressive change” and provide a new direction in policy “that is absolutely essential for the country” and the gay community.

Hastings Wyman, editor of the Southern Political Report, said he expected Obama to take about 54 percent of the vote.

Credits: (Photo by AP)

Update: Jennifer Hudsons Nephew Found Dead, Your Prayers Are Needed!

James Njoroge Gitau — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:29:07 GMT

CHICAGO - A body found in an SUV is that of Jennifer Hudson's missing 7-year-old nephew, the focus of a desperate search since the Oscar winner's mother and brother were found shot to death in their home three days earlier, police said Monday.

Chicago police said the body of a black male child was found shortly after 7 a.m. in the rear seat of an SUV. It was later confirmed to be that of Julian King.

The SUV was found parked on the street in a neighborhood of brownstone homes and apartment buildings, and matched the one sought in an Amber Alert issued after Hudson's mother and brother were found slain Friday, police Cmdr. Wayne Gulliford said.

Credits: MSNBC

JENNIFER HUSTON OUR CONDOENCES, LISTEN TO HER SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

James Njoroge Gitau — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:29:07 GMT

We at African Ascension extend our deepest condolences, to you Ms. Jennifer Huston. We wish you well. Through your god given voice, he will guide you on a prosperous journey. For all of those who have not been enlighten on her many talents take a moment and listen to here sing the United States of America National Anthem.

A Loving American, Obama to leave campaign trail to visit ailing grandmother

James Njoroge Gitau — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:06:02 GMT

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning Thursday so he can visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, an Obama spokesman said Monday.
Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning so he can visit his ailing grandmother.

"Sen. Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has always been one of the most important people in his life," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"In the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her," Gibbs said.

The interruption will cause Obama to cancel Thursday events in Madison, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa. He will do an event in Indianapolis, Indiana, Thursday morning before leaving and will return to the campaign Saturday, Gibbs said.

Michelle Obama will fill in for her husband on Friday at previously scheduled events in Columbus and Akron, Ohio, his campaign said.

Obama speaks about his grandmother often on the stump, describing her as an integral figure in his youth who struggled against the glass ceiling in to make a better life for him.

"She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life," he said in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. "She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well."

He and his family traveled to Hawaii in August to visit her.

Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, a bank vice president, and grandfather, Stanley Dunham, a salesman, lived in a two-bedroom apartment in downtown Honolulu and helped raise their grandson along with his white mother until he graduated from high school.

Credits: Getty/Images, CNN, (Washington Post)

Sarah Palin's $150,000 camp wardrobe

James Njoroge Gitau — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:06:01 GMT

Turning out the vote can be expensive. Turning out a candidate can be just as costly.

It's always worth digging into the spending side of the financial disclosures that candidates and parties file with the Federal Election Commission, as well as the contributions, as Politico.com has done with the reports of the Republican National Committee.

 $49,425.74 spent at Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York combined in early September.

 $75,062.63 spent at Nieman Marcus in Minneapolis in early September.

 $4,714.49 spent on hair and makeup through September, after reporting no such expenses in August.

("The only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom....'')

The clothing and accessorizing of Sarah Palin, it appears, has cost the party a pretty penny, as Politico has found. Politico also elicited a campaign promise after divulging the running mate's wardrobe and grooming costs: Spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt told Politico: "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

One red leather jacket.

Salvation Army, or CARE?
Sarah Palin, in a red leather jacket, waves to a crowd at a baseball field in Grand Junction, Colo., on Monday

Politico said the $150,000 spent on turning out the running mate who is supposed to turn out the party's base raises questions among campaign finance experts "about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.''

But hours after the story was posted on Politico's Web-site and legal issues were raised, the campaign issued a statement.

"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," Schmitt said, in addition the statement that the clothing will go to a good cause when this one is finished.

Credits: (Photo by AP),The Swanp

New vets scorecard gives Obama 'B', McCain 'D'

James Njoroge Gitau — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:34:39 GMT

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) released their 2008 congressional voting scorecard. Sens. Obama and Biden get "B" grades. Sen. McCain earns a "D" grade.

This is the second scorecard in a row from IAVA that has given McCain a "D" mark on supporting veterans. McCain's "D" grade this year places him in the bottom 8 percent of all senators.

IAVA isn't the only vets organization to point out that McCain's actions haven't matched his rhetoric on veterans issues. Disabled American Veterans concluded that Obama supported 80 percent of its legislative priorities in 2006, whereas McCain supported only 20 percent. Moreover, Obama voted for 15 legislative priorities of the Vietnam Veterans of America since 2005, while McCain only voted for 4.

Credits: Iraq Insider, Photo: The World Prout Assembly

'Rednecks for Obama' want to bridge yawning culture gap

James Njoroge Gitau — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:09:15 GMT

In backing the first African-American nominee of a major party for the US presidency, the pair are on a grassroots mission to bridge a cultural gap in the United States and help usher their preferred candidate into the White House.

Tony Viessman, 74, and Les Spencer, 60, got politically active last year when it occurred to them there must be other lower income, rural, beer-drinking, gun-loving, NASCAR race enthusiasts fed up with business as usual in Washington.

Viessman had a red, white and blue "Rednecks for Obama" banner made, and began causing a stir in Missouri, which has emerged as a key battleground in the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.

"I didn't expect it would get as much steam and attention as it's gotten," Spencer told AFP on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis, the state's biggest city and site of last week's vice-presidential debate.

"We believe in him. He's the best person for the job," Viessman, a former state trooper from Rolla, said of Obama, who met the pair briefly on that July day in Union, Missouri.

The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.

Watch the Video:

Credits: Yahoo News, Tony Viessman(L), founder of the grassroots campaign group 'Rednecks for Obama,' and friend Les … Photo: rednecks4obama.com

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may endorse Barack Obama.

James Njoroge Gitau — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:09:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, once considered a potential presidential candidate, now may endorse her political opponent, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), according to Republican sources.

Rice's national security credentials could sway voters who are vacillating about whether Obama is ready to be commander in chief, and her endorsement of the Illinois senator would make a national security emphasis by McCain in the election's closing days extremely difficult.

Credits: Photo Google, WASHINGTON (AFP), Godlike Productions