hello gerry
this is how you do it
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
THE CULT-DRINK THE KOOLAID
The Cult of Obama
2/11/08
Barack Obama’s presidential effort more closely resembles a religious movement than a presidential campaign. An underwhelming lightweight when it comes to issues of substance, issues, and policy, Obama has managed to garner mass popular support through his mastery of rhetoric and oratory. With gatherings that are closer to cult religious services than political rallies, Barack Obama speaks in messianic language, as if he is the Second Coming of Christ rather than a candidate for president of the United States.
At least Hillary Clinton doles out regular doses of specific policy proposals, she can be given credit for that much. On the other hand, Barack Obama doles out vague, indefinite yet somehow inspiring and mesmerizing messages of “change” and “hope”. “We are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again,” says Obama. Cast a look at his followers, and you’d think the man could feed thousands with two loaves and five fishes, turn water into wine. To see the way some of the people behind him grasp and cling to every word he says, one might expect him to turn around, place his hand upon her head like a healing Evangelical pastor, and cast the cancer right out her body.
He occasionally, fleetingly speaks of the issues faced by ordinary Americans, such as the mortgage that can’t be paid, crumbling schools, and so on. But the only real proposal that he’s made is that tax breaks will be taken away from companies like Maytag that “ship jobs overseas.” So how do we fix the problems of foreclosures and crumbling schools, Barack? Any ideas? I’ve yet to hear one.
Obama sounds an awful lot like Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King used a similar style of oratory to inspire the masses to march toward a worthy goal – civil rights for blacks. At least he had an end goal that was concretely defined. Obama steals a page from Dr. King’s playbook, yet there are no defined end goals to accompany his message.
With lines such as “our time has come” and “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” perhaps Barack Obama is actually the Messiah returned in the flesh to establish the Kingdom of God. If he isn’t, he needs to drop the vagaries and start talking some substance. Perhaps all we need is for Walter Mondale to pop his head around the corner and ask, “Where’s the beef?”
2/11/08
Barack Obama’s presidential effort more closely resembles a religious movement than a presidential campaign. An underwhelming lightweight when it comes to issues of substance, issues, and policy, Obama has managed to garner mass popular support through his mastery of rhetoric and oratory. With gatherings that are closer to cult religious services than political rallies, Barack Obama speaks in messianic language, as if he is the Second Coming of Christ rather than a candidate for president of the United States.
At least Hillary Clinton doles out regular doses of specific policy proposals, she can be given credit for that much. On the other hand, Barack Obama doles out vague, indefinite yet somehow inspiring and mesmerizing messages of “change” and “hope”. “We are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again,” says Obama. Cast a look at his followers, and you’d think the man could feed thousands with two loaves and five fishes, turn water into wine. To see the way some of the people behind him grasp and cling to every word he says, one might expect him to turn around, place his hand upon her head like a healing Evangelical pastor, and cast the cancer right out her body.
He occasionally, fleetingly speaks of the issues faced by ordinary Americans, such as the mortgage that can’t be paid, crumbling schools, and so on. But the only real proposal that he’s made is that tax breaks will be taken away from companies like Maytag that “ship jobs overseas.” So how do we fix the problems of foreclosures and crumbling schools, Barack? Any ideas? I’ve yet to hear one.
Obama sounds an awful lot like Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King used a similar style of oratory to inspire the masses to march toward a worthy goal – civil rights for blacks. At least he had an end goal that was concretely defined. Obama steals a page from Dr. King’s playbook, yet there are no defined end goals to accompany his message.
With lines such as “our time has come” and “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” perhaps Barack Obama is actually the Messiah returned in the flesh to establish the Kingdom of God. If he isn’t, he needs to drop the vagaries and start talking some substance. Perhaps all we need is for Walter Mondale to pop his head around the corner and ask, “Where’s the beef?”
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
OBAMA-RAMA the MEDIA the TRUTH
OBAMA-RAMA
The TRUTH and MEDIA HYPE
I believe the media are trying to manipulate this election. I have come to this conclusion after months of watching the developing “stories” or lack of “stories” More so that lack of factual reporting and total bias of reporting I have seen daily. The drumbeat never stops. I am outraged at how stupid some people are at not being able to
A. see this
B recognize this
C be angered at this and most of all
D be worried about this
Maybe the Clintons are not the most perfect people; no politician really is, including Obama if you are being honest. This is what worries me the most and it should worry any real Democrats reading this. Why? Well I’ll tell you why. As a life long Democrat, I have waited, and waited for the Evil “Shrub” and his minions to vacate the Whitehouse and for someone intelligent to take over and start rebuilding America, both at home and abroad!
Needless to say I waited for my “Christmas” to come and the elections process to begin in earnest. Instead what I have seen compares to……..well, I don’t know what it compares to really. I’ve never seen anything like it. A bit of American Idol, a bit of cover up, a bit of head in the sand and a whole lot of daydreaming, and absolutely NO thinking, serious reporting, serious research, serious talking. No, instead we have a new “phenomenon” a “Rock Star” that is what one media station called it. Obama-rama………But really folks, this is an ALL IMPORTANT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO TAKE BACK THE WHITEHOUSE AND HELP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Not some stage show!!
Next we come to obamas 17 year relationship with Tony Rezko. How many “Sheeple” have actually gone online to the Chicago papers and checked the archives to find out about Obama? Never mind the national TV media who are supposed to do this for us and report the facts. Cook County politics is corrupt, and it has been for many years. Ask any one from Chicago! This was the breeding ground Obama came up in. Surrounded by corrupt politicians and corrupt dealings. Read the compilation of blog articles I have on this. Then tell me Obama has had enough scrutiny to survive a long Presidential campaign and win in the end. Oh and one more thing, Rezko goes on trial March 3rd, the day before Texas and Ohio primaries. Should the “sheeple” get him the nomination, then what happens when the media begin doing their job honestly and Obama has to defend what he calls “mistakes?” Right now he is having an easy time and yet already has made SEVERAL "mistakes" What about his comment on invading Pakistan. That created an international incident the USA had to deal with, and of course Obama said it was a mistake. Then another mistake, allowing Donnie McClurkin and anti-gay homophobic gospel singer to perform in his South Carolina event, disgraceful. This from a man claiming to be a "uniter"????
And just look at so called “Democrats” if they really ARE Democrats online, posting vile and nasty things about Hillary Clinton. The ads began early, by Obamas camp. Remember the you tube 1984 video? Remember they claimed they had nothing to do with it? Not true sadly. After this thing ran for ages in the TV media the truth finally came out, long after the damage had been done. For many young people this was their introduction to politics, Hillary Clinton and Obamas not so honest campaign…. This is disgraceful…. And, it is the first thing that actually made me WAKE UP and begin to look into Obama and his campaign. Before that I had no bad feelings towards the man. But did the media report fairly? Nope. They gave Obama free airtime and showed the video over and over for days. Much like the latest video from the Black Eyed Peas front man we have seen all week now. FREE PRESS FOR OBAMA once again. I would not mind so much, however this is not balanced as there are actually several EXCELLENT music videos about Hillary out there, but are they reported on? Nope! Are they played on TV? Nope!! Sophie B. Hawkins has a great one, so does a young African-American New York rapper called Madame Star, her song is called “Hillary” why are they not shown??? Because the media cannot give anything to Hillary. It’s all about getting the nomination for Obama.
Then we have the comment from Obama’s wife about Hillary Clinton's family. Really, as a woman this hit me all wrong. Michelle Obama said of Clinton, "role modeling what good families should look like" is important....Basically, if you read between the lines, the meaning is clear and it is an insult to many women. She somehow places the blame on Hillary Clinton for her husband’s affair AND for staying with him and saving her marriage. As such Hillary's family is "no good" because it does not look the same as hers. If this is her belief then enyone elses family not exactly like hers is also bad. Her comment basically is a slap in the face to any women who has suffered through a marital affair, any woman who decided to then stay with her husband and save her marriage. I believe that women like this should be praised, far too much divorce in America! And, she gets no praise for toughing it out with dignity as she did!! I think it is also an insult to say that if your family is not exactly like Michelle Obamas family then it is somehow the woman’s fault, and your family is less then hers. The glee with which she said this was almost ecstatic. It really bothered me and still does. You can see this video if you search you tube and I do have this in a blog. Did anyone report this? Did anyone call her on such a comment? Nope! You have to look online newspapers for the truth. The TV media have made up their mind and they are making up the minds of the “sheeple” as well.
Then we have all of these ads supporting Obama magically showing up on Anti-Hillary websites. Which I might add also began springing up on the internet early on in the campaign. I have also read hundreds, if not thousands of online blogs and posts on message boards, all parroting the same things on the Smear Hillary websites. The vile posts and rage at Hillary supporters online borders on manic. Are these really Democrats, or are the bulk of them Obama campaigners, Republicans or students working for Obama. Because Democrats can debate and talk and have issues with Candidates, but this is not what I am seeing. There are never any “real” facts, just smears. Any democrat seeing this would believe it was coming from a Republican. And perhaps some are closet Republicans afraid of Hillary winning the nomination. Any of the Obama ads on anti-Hillary sites investigated or forever reported by the TV media? Not really, only the press online and in print and not many of them either.
And of course there are the snide remarks Obama made to Clinton in the debate. I notice when he is pressed on his record he gets rather testy and defensive, but rather than come back with facts, he attempts to smear Hillary for being on the board of Wal-Mart. However, he forgot to mention how much money his own wife makes from wal-mart and how Michelle Obama’s relation ship with Treehouse foods, who, by the way, has wal-mart as their biggest supplier. So why was this not reported by the media? Too stupid to find the info? Or are they just trying to manipulate this election!! In addition his 2nd comment at the end bothered me as well. He has no decorum, when Wolf Blitzer was asking Hillary how she felt about people saying she was not-likable and Obama was? Well Obama leans over and says very smugly “Hillary you’re liked enough” that was telling to me. The more I began to listen to Obama the more I began to worry about how well he can actually handle a tough race with Republicans. John McCain can rip him a new A**hole when they debate about the Military, Homeland Security and all those issues. Regardless how you feel about Clinton, she has a history and an experience there that Obama does not. And she can take attacks without getting defensive or falling apart, or worse whining. Will Obama use the race card when McCain attacks him on his politics and record? Will we then see a country divided along racial lines? These are all valid points to consider.
And there is the other thing in Michelle Obama’s closet, her dealings with a Hospital that charges poor people more!!! Michelle Obama is on the board. Again you can read it here in my other blogs or google it yourself, the truth is out there. Trouble is that Obama has so far a very short political career. And unless you look into Chicago politics you won’t find it. Because as a low level politician, and the bulk of the corrupt dealing taking place in poor Chicago communities, you would not have seen the national media covering local politics of one state.
Lastly, let’s go ahead and talk about the thing Hillary haters and Republicans like to smear her on the most. Unfortunately for these “sheeple”, the very thing that they attempt to smear the Clintons with, is the very same thing that can win her the election against the Republicans. However, “sheeple” are too stupid to think outside the box and without media help. More importantly, Obama has not had ANY scrutiny like this, now has he??. You see, the Clintons certainly are the most investigated politicians on Capitol Hill and we can thank the Republicans for this. And we can thank the Republicans for actually proving they could not be charged with anything!! Because after $70 million of YOUR money, Ken Starr, the Media and the Republicans still couldn't get to the so-called "truth"? Why? Because it was a Republican Witch Hunt and any real Democrat should know this!! So the “sheeple” out there pretending to be Democrats supporting Obama and who use this Republican garbage, if they are Democrats, then they are no better than the worst right wing Republican that watches FOX news!! The reality of the Clinton years are all fact, but only if you actually research the figures that is. These years were known as the Golden Years and for a very good reason. Clinton left moronic BUSH with a SURPLUS of money, a balance budget, a safe world and safe America and Republicans screwed it into the ground and created two wars, one of which was illegal. I, for one, remember the Golden Years, too bad the American youth don't read about this, or anything else regarding Obama, before jumping on the media band wagon for "Rock Star" obama-rama……….
Notice how FOX news, the Reich wing republicans news station are having a “love fest” with Obama? Even Satan O’Rielly sings his praise…. Day after day FOX and their talking heads report how the Republicans want Hillary to win because they can beat her. McCain himself was on yesterday saying the same mantra.... HELLO???? Anyone with a brain out there???? If FOX news are saying this, you have to wonder WHY, if you have a brain that is!! And should the “sheeple” and the Republicans get their wish of Obama winning the Nomination, I cannot wait to say to the “sheeple” when the glow is off Obama and the media begin reporting what they are ignoring now. When McCain brings up all of this and Obama is subjected to the SAME scrutiny as Hillary Clinton, then what??? When the Republicans win the Whitehouse again we can all thank the “sheeple”
HEY “SHEEPLE” WHEN THE GOVERNMENT HAS SPENT 70 MILLION INVESTIGATING OBAMA THEN COME AND TALK TO ME
Baaaaa Baaaa
The TRUTH and MEDIA HYPE
I believe the media are trying to manipulate this election. I have come to this conclusion after months of watching the developing “stories” or lack of “stories” More so that lack of factual reporting and total bias of reporting I have seen daily. The drumbeat never stops. I am outraged at how stupid some people are at not being able to
A. see this
B recognize this
C be angered at this and most of all
D be worried about this
Maybe the Clintons are not the most perfect people; no politician really is, including Obama if you are being honest. This is what worries me the most and it should worry any real Democrats reading this. Why? Well I’ll tell you why. As a life long Democrat, I have waited, and waited for the Evil “Shrub” and his minions to vacate the Whitehouse and for someone intelligent to take over and start rebuilding America, both at home and abroad!
Needless to say I waited for my “Christmas” to come and the elections process to begin in earnest. Instead what I have seen compares to……..well, I don’t know what it compares to really. I’ve never seen anything like it. A bit of American Idol, a bit of cover up, a bit of head in the sand and a whole lot of daydreaming, and absolutely NO thinking, serious reporting, serious research, serious talking. No, instead we have a new “phenomenon” a “Rock Star” that is what one media station called it. Obama-rama………But really folks, this is an ALL IMPORTANT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO TAKE BACK THE WHITEHOUSE AND HELP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Not some stage show!!
Next we come to obamas 17 year relationship with Tony Rezko. How many “Sheeple” have actually gone online to the Chicago papers and checked the archives to find out about Obama? Never mind the national TV media who are supposed to do this for us and report the facts. Cook County politics is corrupt, and it has been for many years. Ask any one from Chicago! This was the breeding ground Obama came up in. Surrounded by corrupt politicians and corrupt dealings. Read the compilation of blog articles I have on this. Then tell me Obama has had enough scrutiny to survive a long Presidential campaign and win in the end. Oh and one more thing, Rezko goes on trial March 3rd, the day before Texas and Ohio primaries. Should the “sheeple” get him the nomination, then what happens when the media begin doing their job honestly and Obama has to defend what he calls “mistakes?” Right now he is having an easy time and yet already has made SEVERAL "mistakes" What about his comment on invading Pakistan. That created an international incident the USA had to deal with, and of course Obama said it was a mistake. Then another mistake, allowing Donnie McClurkin and anti-gay homophobic gospel singer to perform in his South Carolina event, disgraceful. This from a man claiming to be a "uniter"????
And just look at so called “Democrats” if they really ARE Democrats online, posting vile and nasty things about Hillary Clinton. The ads began early, by Obamas camp. Remember the you tube 1984 video? Remember they claimed they had nothing to do with it? Not true sadly. After this thing ran for ages in the TV media the truth finally came out, long after the damage had been done. For many young people this was their introduction to politics, Hillary Clinton and Obamas not so honest campaign…. This is disgraceful…. And, it is the first thing that actually made me WAKE UP and begin to look into Obama and his campaign. Before that I had no bad feelings towards the man. But did the media report fairly? Nope. They gave Obama free airtime and showed the video over and over for days. Much like the latest video from the Black Eyed Peas front man we have seen all week now. FREE PRESS FOR OBAMA once again. I would not mind so much, however this is not balanced as there are actually several EXCELLENT music videos about Hillary out there, but are they reported on? Nope! Are they played on TV? Nope!! Sophie B. Hawkins has a great one, so does a young African-American New York rapper called Madame Star, her song is called “Hillary” why are they not shown??? Because the media cannot give anything to Hillary. It’s all about getting the nomination for Obama.
Then we have the comment from Obama’s wife about Hillary Clinton's family. Really, as a woman this hit me all wrong. Michelle Obama said of Clinton, "role modeling what good families should look like" is important....Basically, if you read between the lines, the meaning is clear and it is an insult to many women. She somehow places the blame on Hillary Clinton for her husband’s affair AND for staying with him and saving her marriage. As such Hillary's family is "no good" because it does not look the same as hers. If this is her belief then enyone elses family not exactly like hers is also bad. Her comment basically is a slap in the face to any women who has suffered through a marital affair, any woman who decided to then stay with her husband and save her marriage. I believe that women like this should be praised, far too much divorce in America! And, she gets no praise for toughing it out with dignity as she did!! I think it is also an insult to say that if your family is not exactly like Michelle Obamas family then it is somehow the woman’s fault, and your family is less then hers. The glee with which she said this was almost ecstatic. It really bothered me and still does. You can see this video if you search you tube and I do have this in a blog. Did anyone report this? Did anyone call her on such a comment? Nope! You have to look online newspapers for the truth. The TV media have made up their mind and they are making up the minds of the “sheeple” as well.
Then we have all of these ads supporting Obama magically showing up on Anti-Hillary websites. Which I might add also began springing up on the internet early on in the campaign. I have also read hundreds, if not thousands of online blogs and posts on message boards, all parroting the same things on the Smear Hillary websites. The vile posts and rage at Hillary supporters online borders on manic. Are these really Democrats, or are the bulk of them Obama campaigners, Republicans or students working for Obama. Because Democrats can debate and talk and have issues with Candidates, but this is not what I am seeing. There are never any “real” facts, just smears. Any democrat seeing this would believe it was coming from a Republican. And perhaps some are closet Republicans afraid of Hillary winning the nomination. Any of the Obama ads on anti-Hillary sites investigated or forever reported by the TV media? Not really, only the press online and in print and not many of them either.
And of course there are the snide remarks Obama made to Clinton in the debate. I notice when he is pressed on his record he gets rather testy and defensive, but rather than come back with facts, he attempts to smear Hillary for being on the board of Wal-Mart. However, he forgot to mention how much money his own wife makes from wal-mart and how Michelle Obama’s relation ship with Treehouse foods, who, by the way, has wal-mart as their biggest supplier. So why was this not reported by the media? Too stupid to find the info? Or are they just trying to manipulate this election!! In addition his 2nd comment at the end bothered me as well. He has no decorum, when Wolf Blitzer was asking Hillary how she felt about people saying she was not-likable and Obama was? Well Obama leans over and says very smugly “Hillary you’re liked enough” that was telling to me. The more I began to listen to Obama the more I began to worry about how well he can actually handle a tough race with Republicans. John McCain can rip him a new A**hole when they debate about the Military, Homeland Security and all those issues. Regardless how you feel about Clinton, she has a history and an experience there that Obama does not. And she can take attacks without getting defensive or falling apart, or worse whining. Will Obama use the race card when McCain attacks him on his politics and record? Will we then see a country divided along racial lines? These are all valid points to consider.
And there is the other thing in Michelle Obama’s closet, her dealings with a Hospital that charges poor people more!!! Michelle Obama is on the board. Again you can read it here in my other blogs or google it yourself, the truth is out there. Trouble is that Obama has so far a very short political career. And unless you look into Chicago politics you won’t find it. Because as a low level politician, and the bulk of the corrupt dealing taking place in poor Chicago communities, you would not have seen the national media covering local politics of one state.
Lastly, let’s go ahead and talk about the thing Hillary haters and Republicans like to smear her on the most. Unfortunately for these “sheeple”, the very thing that they attempt to smear the Clintons with, is the very same thing that can win her the election against the Republicans. However, “sheeple” are too stupid to think outside the box and without media help. More importantly, Obama has not had ANY scrutiny like this, now has he??. You see, the Clintons certainly are the most investigated politicians on Capitol Hill and we can thank the Republicans for this. And we can thank the Republicans for actually proving they could not be charged with anything!! Because after $70 million of YOUR money, Ken Starr, the Media and the Republicans still couldn't get to the so-called "truth"? Why? Because it was a Republican Witch Hunt and any real Democrat should know this!! So the “sheeple” out there pretending to be Democrats supporting Obama and who use this Republican garbage, if they are Democrats, then they are no better than the worst right wing Republican that watches FOX news!! The reality of the Clinton years are all fact, but only if you actually research the figures that is. These years were known as the Golden Years and for a very good reason. Clinton left moronic BUSH with a SURPLUS of money, a balance budget, a safe world and safe America and Republicans screwed it into the ground and created two wars, one of which was illegal. I, for one, remember the Golden Years, too bad the American youth don't read about this, or anything else regarding Obama, before jumping on the media band wagon for "Rock Star" obama-rama……….
Notice how FOX news, the Reich wing republicans news station are having a “love fest” with Obama? Even Satan O’Rielly sings his praise…. Day after day FOX and their talking heads report how the Republicans want Hillary to win because they can beat her. McCain himself was on yesterday saying the same mantra.... HELLO???? Anyone with a brain out there???? If FOX news are saying this, you have to wonder WHY, if you have a brain that is!! And should the “sheeple” and the Republicans get their wish of Obama winning the Nomination, I cannot wait to say to the “sheeple” when the glow is off Obama and the media begin reporting what they are ignoring now. When McCain brings up all of this and Obama is subjected to the SAME scrutiny as Hillary Clinton, then what??? When the Republicans win the Whitehouse again we can all thank the “sheeple”
HEY “SHEEPLE” WHEN THE GOVERNMENT HAS SPENT 70 MILLION INVESTIGATING OBAMA THEN COME AND TALK TO ME
Baaaaa Baaaa
DIRTY POLITICS-KNOWS WAY AROUND A BALLOT 1996
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070403obama-ballot,0,1843097.story
chicagotribune.com
MAKING OF A CANDIDATE
Obama knows his way around a ballot
Some say his ability to play political hardball goes back to his first campaign
By David Jackson and Ray Long
Tribune staff reporters
6:48 PM CDT, April 3, 2007
The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city's South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama's four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.
Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.
But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.
A close examination of Obama's first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career: The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it
.One of the candidates he eliminated, long-shot contender Gha-is Askia, now says that Obama's petition challenges belied his image as a champion of the little guy and crusader for voter rights.
"Why say you're for a new tomorrow, then do old-style Chicago politics to remove legitimate candidates?" Askia said. "He talks about honor and democracy, but what honor is there in getting rid of every other candidate so you can run scot-free? Why not let the people decide?"
In a recent interview, Obama granted that "there's a legitimate argument to be made that you shouldn't create barriers to people getting on the ballot."But the unsparing legal tactics were justified, he said, by obvious flaws in his opponents' signature sheets. "To my mind, we were just abiding by the rules that had been set up," Obama recalled."I gave some thought to … should people be on the ballot even if they didn't meet the requirements," he said.
"My conclusion was that if you couldn't run a successful petition drive, then that raised questions in terms of how effective a representative you were going to be."Asked whether the district's primary voters were well-served by having only one candidate, Obama smiled and said: "I think they ended up with a very good state senator."
Obama behind challenges
America has been defined in part by civil rights and good government battles fought out in Chicago's 13th District, which in 1996 spanned Hyde Park mansions, South Shore bungalows and poverty-bitten precincts of Englewood.
It was in this part of the city that an eager reform Democrat by the name of Abner Mikva first entered elected office in the 1950s. And here a young, brash minister named Jesse Jackson ran Operation Breadbasket, leading marchers who sought to pressure grocery chains to hire minorities.
Palmer served the district in the Illinois Senate for much of the 1990s. Decades earlier, she was working as a community organizer in the area when Obama was growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia. She risked her safe seat to run for Congress and touted Obama as a suitable successor, according to news accounts and interviews.
But when Palmer got clobbered in that November 1995 special congressional race, her supporters asked Obama to fold his campaign so she could easily retain her state Senate seat.
Obama not only refused to step aside, he filed challenges that nullified Palmer's hastily gathered nominating petitions, forcing her to withdraw.
"I liked Alice Palmer a lot. I thought she was a good public servant," Obama said. "It was very awkward. That part of it I wish had played out entirely differently."
His choice divided veteran Chicago political activists.
"There was friction about the decision he made," said City Colleges of Chicago professor emeritus Timuel Black, who tried to negotiate with Obama on Palmer's behalf. "There were deep disagreements.
"Had Palmer survived the petition challenge, Obama would have faced the daunting task of taking on an incumbent senator.
Palmer's elimination marked the first of several fortuitous political moments in Obama's electoral success: He won the 2004 primary and general elections for U.S. Senate after tough challengers imploded when their messy divorce files were unsealed.
Obama contended that in the case of the 1996 race, in which he routed token opposition in the general election, he was ready to compete in the primary if necessary."We actually ran a terrific campaign up until the point we knew that we weren't going to have to appear on the ballot with anybody," Obama said. "I mean, we had prepared for it. We had raised money. We had tons of volunteers.
There was enormous enthusiasm."And he defended his use of ballot maneuvers: "If you can win, you should win and get to work doing the people's business."
At the time, though, Obama seemed less at ease with the decision, according to aides. They said the first-time candidate initially expressed reservations about using challenges to eliminate all his fellow Democrats."He wondered if we should knock everybody off the ballot. How would that look?" said Ronald Davis, the paid Obama campaign consultant whom Obama referred to as his "guru of petitions."
In the end, Davis filed objections to all four of Obama's Democratic rivals at the candidate's behest.
While Obama didn't attend the hearings, "he wanted us to call him every night and let him know what we were doing," Davis said, noting that Palmer and the others seemed unprepared for the challenges.
But Obama didn't gloat over the victories. "I don't think he thought it was, you know, sporting," said Will Burns, a 1996 Obama campaign volunteer who assisted with the petition challenges.
"He wasn't very proud of it."
Endorsement or informal nod?
By the summer of 1995, Obama, 34, had completed his globe-trotting education and settled deep into Chicago's South Side.He had gone to Harvard Law School with private ambitions of someday following Harold Washington as mayor of Chicago.
At Harvard, where Obama was celebrated as the first black president of the Law Review, classmate Gina Torielli remembers him "saying that governor of Illinois would be his dream job."
Back in Chicago after graduation, Obama won respect for running Project Vote, which registered tens of thousands of black Chicagoans. "It's a power thing," the volunteers' T-shirts said.Community organizers packed his wedding to Michelle Robinson, a South Shore resident and fellow Harvard Law graduate.
The newlyweds bought a Hyde Park condo.His memoir, "Dreams from My Father," was published that summer to warm reviews. He was working at a small but influential legal firm, teaching constitutional law as a University of Chicago adjunct professor and sitting on the boards of charities.
At the same time, the South Side's political map was thrown up for grabs when then-U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds was convicted of sex crimes and a special election was called to fill his congressional seat.
Palmer joined the race and, according to multiple accounts, introduced Obama as the successor for her Illinois Senate seat."She said, 'I found this wonderful person, this fine young man, so we needn't worry that we'd have a good state senator,' " said former 5th Ward Democratic committeeman Alan Dobry, who volunteered to help both Palmer and Obama that year.
In recent interviews, Obama and Palmer agreed that he asked her whether she wanted to keep her options open and file to run for her state Senate seat as a fallback in case her congressional bid failed.
Obama says he told her: "We haven't started the campaign yet.""I hadn't publicly announced," he said. "But what I said was that once I announce, and I have started to raise money, and gather supporters, hire staff and opened up an office, signed a lease, then it's going to be very difficult for me to step down. And she gave me repeated assurances that she was in [the congressional race] to stay.
"Obama "did say that to me," Palmer says now. "And I certainly did say that I wasn't going to run. There's no question about that."But beyond that, the private discussions they held in 1995 are shrouded today in disputed and hazy memories.Obama said Palmer gave him her formal endorsement.
"I'm absolutely certain she … publicly spoke and sort of designated me," he recalled.Palmer disputes that. "I don't know that I like the word 'endorsement,' " she said. "An endorsement to me, having been in legislative politics … that's a very formal kind of thing. I don't think that describes this. An 'informal nod' is how to characterize it."
In July 1995, Obama announced he was planning to run for Palmer's seat. He filed papers creating his fundraising committee a month later and officially announced his candidacy in September.
He emerged that winter as a gifted campaigner who after finishing hectic workdays would layer on thermal underwear to knock on South Side doors.In impromptu street-corner conversations and media interviews, he disparaged local pols for putting self-preservation ahead of public service.
At the last house on a dark block, "he would start a discussion that should have taken five minutes and pretty soon someone was cooking him dinner," said paid campaign consultant Carol Anne Harwell.
Then Palmer's congressional bid collapsed. On Nov. 28, 1995, she placed a distant third behind political powerhouses Jesse Jackson Jr., who holds that congressional seat today, and current state Senate President Emil Jones Jr.Palmer didn't fade quietly away.
Citing an "outpouring" of support, she upended the political landscape by switching gears and deciding to run in the March 1996 primary for her state Senate seat.But she had two big problems. To get on the ballot, Palmer needed to file nominating petitions signed by at least 757 district voters—and the Dec. 18 deadline was just days away.And then there was Obama, the bright up-and-comer she had all but anointed.
Obama's aides said he seemed anguished over the prospect of defying Palmer. "I really saw turmoil in his face," Harwell said.Obama sought advice from political veterans such as 4th Ward Ald. Toni Preckwinkle and then-15th Ward Ald. Virgil Jones, who say they urged him to hold his course."I thought the world of Alice Palmer," said state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), now the House majority leader. But "at that point she had pulled her own plug."According to Palmer, it was without her knowledge that her supporters initiated discussions to persuade Obama to step aside.
They invited him to the home of state Rep. Lovana "Lou" Jones, now deceased. Obama arrived alone."It was a brief meeting," said Black, a Palmer friend who had advised Obama when he was a young community organizer in the mid-1980s.Obama didn't try to justify his decision to reject Palmer's plea, Black said."He did not put it in inflammatory terms, he just did not back away. It was not arguments, it was stubbornness," Black said. "Barack had by then gone ahead in putting together his own campaign, and he just didn't want to stop."
'If you can get 'em, get 'em'
Just in time for the Dec. 18, 1995, filing deadline, Palmer submitted 1,580 signatures—about twice the minimum required.
That day, Obama lashed out at her, telling the Tribune she had pressured him to withdraw."I am disappointed that she's decided to go back on her word to me," he said.
Obama campaign aides also responded that day—but quietly, and out of the limelight.
Davis and Dobry marshaled volunteers and began poring through the nominating petitions of Palmer and the three lesser-known Democrats, according to interviews."We looked at those petitions and found that none of them met the requirements of the law," Dobry said.
"Alice's people, they'd done it in a great hurry. Almost all her petitions were signed a day or so before the deadline."According to Davis, Palmer "had kids gathering the names. I remember two of her circulators, Pookie and Squirt."Davis and others urged Obama to file legal challenges.
Such tactics are legal and frequently used in Chicago. Ballot challenges eliminated 67 of the 245 declared aldermanic candidates in Chicago before this past February's elections, an election board spokesman said.
Davis recalled telling Obama: "If you can get 'em, get 'em. Why give 'em a break?"I said, 'Barack, I'm going to knock them all off.'"He said, 'What do you need?'"I said, 'I need an attorney.'"He said, 'Who is the best?'"I said, 'Tom Johnson.' "
Obama already knew civil rights attorney and fellow Harvard Law graduate Thomas Johnson, who had waged election cases for the late Mayor Washington and had offered Obama informal legal advice since the days of Project Vote.With Johnson's legal help, Obama's team was confident.
They piled binders of polling sheets in the election board office on the second floor of City Hall, and on Jan. 2, 1996, began the days-long hearings that would eliminate the other Democrats.
Little-known candidate Marc Ewell filed 1,286 names, but Obama's objections left him 86 short of the minimum, and election officials struck him from the ballot, records show.
Ewell filed a federal lawsuit contesting the board's decision, but Johnson intervened on Obama's behalf and prevailed when Ewell's case was dismissed days later.Ewell could not be reached for comment, but the federal judge's decision showed how he was tripped up by complexities in the election procedures.
City authorities had just completed a massive, routine purge of unqualified names that eliminated 15,871 people from the 13th District rolls, court records show.Ewell and other Obama rivals had relied on early 1995 polling sheets to verify the signatures of registered voters—but Obama's challenges were decided at least in part using the most recent, accurate list, records show.
Askia filed 1,899 signatures, but the Obama team sustained objections to 1,211, leaving him 69 short, records show.
Leafing through scrapbooks in his South Shore apartment, Askia, a perennially unsuccessful candidate, acknowledges that he paid Democratic Party precinct workers $5 a sheet for some of the petitions, and now suspects they used a classic Chicago ruse of passing the papers among themselves to forge the signatures.
"They round-tabled me," Askia said.Palmer to this day does not concede the flaws that Obama's team found in her signatures.
She maintains that she could have overcome the Obama team's objections and stayed on the ballot if she had more time and resources.It was wrenching to withdraw, she said. "But sit for a moment, catch your breath, get up and keep going. I'm a very practical person. Politics is not the only vehicle for accomplishing things."
She became a special assistant to the president of the University of Illinois and is now retired.
Obama said he has not been in touch with Palmer since 1996. "No, not really, no," he said.
Though she hasn't determined whom to support in the presidential race, Palmer, 67, said her dispute with Obama doesn't affect her assessment of his fitness to hold office.Saying that jobless high school dropouts "are sitting on the steps next to my house," Palmer added: "There is a savage economy going on out here, and we've got collateral damage. I am looking closely to see who has the courage, the smarts."dyjackson@tribune.comrlong@tribune.com
chicagotribune.com
MAKING OF A CANDIDATE
Obama knows his way around a ballot
Some say his ability to play political hardball goes back to his first campaign
By David Jackson and Ray Long
Tribune staff reporters
6:48 PM CDT, April 3, 2007
The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city's South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama's four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.
Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.
But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.
A close examination of Obama's first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career: The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it
.One of the candidates he eliminated, long-shot contender Gha-is Askia, now says that Obama's petition challenges belied his image as a champion of the little guy and crusader for voter rights.
"Why say you're for a new tomorrow, then do old-style Chicago politics to remove legitimate candidates?" Askia said. "He talks about honor and democracy, but what honor is there in getting rid of every other candidate so you can run scot-free? Why not let the people decide?"
In a recent interview, Obama granted that "there's a legitimate argument to be made that you shouldn't create barriers to people getting on the ballot."But the unsparing legal tactics were justified, he said, by obvious flaws in his opponents' signature sheets. "To my mind, we were just abiding by the rules that had been set up," Obama recalled."I gave some thought to … should people be on the ballot even if they didn't meet the requirements," he said.
"My conclusion was that if you couldn't run a successful petition drive, then that raised questions in terms of how effective a representative you were going to be."Asked whether the district's primary voters were well-served by having only one candidate, Obama smiled and said: "I think they ended up with a very good state senator."
Obama behind challenges
America has been defined in part by civil rights and good government battles fought out in Chicago's 13th District, which in 1996 spanned Hyde Park mansions, South Shore bungalows and poverty-bitten precincts of Englewood.
It was in this part of the city that an eager reform Democrat by the name of Abner Mikva first entered elected office in the 1950s. And here a young, brash minister named Jesse Jackson ran Operation Breadbasket, leading marchers who sought to pressure grocery chains to hire minorities.
Palmer served the district in the Illinois Senate for much of the 1990s. Decades earlier, she was working as a community organizer in the area when Obama was growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia. She risked her safe seat to run for Congress and touted Obama as a suitable successor, according to news accounts and interviews.
But when Palmer got clobbered in that November 1995 special congressional race, her supporters asked Obama to fold his campaign so she could easily retain her state Senate seat.
Obama not only refused to step aside, he filed challenges that nullified Palmer's hastily gathered nominating petitions, forcing her to withdraw.
"I liked Alice Palmer a lot. I thought she was a good public servant," Obama said. "It was very awkward. That part of it I wish had played out entirely differently."
His choice divided veteran Chicago political activists.
"There was friction about the decision he made," said City Colleges of Chicago professor emeritus Timuel Black, who tried to negotiate with Obama on Palmer's behalf. "There were deep disagreements.
"Had Palmer survived the petition challenge, Obama would have faced the daunting task of taking on an incumbent senator.
Palmer's elimination marked the first of several fortuitous political moments in Obama's electoral success: He won the 2004 primary and general elections for U.S. Senate after tough challengers imploded when their messy divorce files were unsealed.
Obama contended that in the case of the 1996 race, in which he routed token opposition in the general election, he was ready to compete in the primary if necessary."We actually ran a terrific campaign up until the point we knew that we weren't going to have to appear on the ballot with anybody," Obama said. "I mean, we had prepared for it. We had raised money. We had tons of volunteers.
There was enormous enthusiasm."And he defended his use of ballot maneuvers: "If you can win, you should win and get to work doing the people's business."
At the time, though, Obama seemed less at ease with the decision, according to aides. They said the first-time candidate initially expressed reservations about using challenges to eliminate all his fellow Democrats."He wondered if we should knock everybody off the ballot. How would that look?" said Ronald Davis, the paid Obama campaign consultant whom Obama referred to as his "guru of petitions."
In the end, Davis filed objections to all four of Obama's Democratic rivals at the candidate's behest.
While Obama didn't attend the hearings, "he wanted us to call him every night and let him know what we were doing," Davis said, noting that Palmer and the others seemed unprepared for the challenges.
But Obama didn't gloat over the victories. "I don't think he thought it was, you know, sporting," said Will Burns, a 1996 Obama campaign volunteer who assisted with the petition challenges.
"He wasn't very proud of it."
Endorsement or informal nod?
By the summer of 1995, Obama, 34, had completed his globe-trotting education and settled deep into Chicago's South Side.He had gone to Harvard Law School with private ambitions of someday following Harold Washington as mayor of Chicago.
At Harvard, where Obama was celebrated as the first black president of the Law Review, classmate Gina Torielli remembers him "saying that governor of Illinois would be his dream job."
Back in Chicago after graduation, Obama won respect for running Project Vote, which registered tens of thousands of black Chicagoans. "It's a power thing," the volunteers' T-shirts said.Community organizers packed his wedding to Michelle Robinson, a South Shore resident and fellow Harvard Law graduate.
The newlyweds bought a Hyde Park condo.His memoir, "Dreams from My Father," was published that summer to warm reviews. He was working at a small but influential legal firm, teaching constitutional law as a University of Chicago adjunct professor and sitting on the boards of charities.
At the same time, the South Side's political map was thrown up for grabs when then-U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds was convicted of sex crimes and a special election was called to fill his congressional seat.
Palmer joined the race and, according to multiple accounts, introduced Obama as the successor for her Illinois Senate seat."She said, 'I found this wonderful person, this fine young man, so we needn't worry that we'd have a good state senator,' " said former 5th Ward Democratic committeeman Alan Dobry, who volunteered to help both Palmer and Obama that year.
In recent interviews, Obama and Palmer agreed that he asked her whether she wanted to keep her options open and file to run for her state Senate seat as a fallback in case her congressional bid failed.
Obama says he told her: "We haven't started the campaign yet.""I hadn't publicly announced," he said. "But what I said was that once I announce, and I have started to raise money, and gather supporters, hire staff and opened up an office, signed a lease, then it's going to be very difficult for me to step down. And she gave me repeated assurances that she was in [the congressional race] to stay.
"Obama "did say that to me," Palmer says now. "And I certainly did say that I wasn't going to run. There's no question about that."But beyond that, the private discussions they held in 1995 are shrouded today in disputed and hazy memories.Obama said Palmer gave him her formal endorsement.
"I'm absolutely certain she … publicly spoke and sort of designated me," he recalled.Palmer disputes that. "I don't know that I like the word 'endorsement,' " she said. "An endorsement to me, having been in legislative politics … that's a very formal kind of thing. I don't think that describes this. An 'informal nod' is how to characterize it."
In July 1995, Obama announced he was planning to run for Palmer's seat. He filed papers creating his fundraising committee a month later and officially announced his candidacy in September.
He emerged that winter as a gifted campaigner who after finishing hectic workdays would layer on thermal underwear to knock on South Side doors.In impromptu street-corner conversations and media interviews, he disparaged local pols for putting self-preservation ahead of public service.
At the last house on a dark block, "he would start a discussion that should have taken five minutes and pretty soon someone was cooking him dinner," said paid campaign consultant Carol Anne Harwell.
Then Palmer's congressional bid collapsed. On Nov. 28, 1995, she placed a distant third behind political powerhouses Jesse Jackson Jr., who holds that congressional seat today, and current state Senate President Emil Jones Jr.Palmer didn't fade quietly away.
Citing an "outpouring" of support, she upended the political landscape by switching gears and deciding to run in the March 1996 primary for her state Senate seat.But she had two big problems. To get on the ballot, Palmer needed to file nominating petitions signed by at least 757 district voters—and the Dec. 18 deadline was just days away.And then there was Obama, the bright up-and-comer she had all but anointed.
Obama's aides said he seemed anguished over the prospect of defying Palmer. "I really saw turmoil in his face," Harwell said.Obama sought advice from political veterans such as 4th Ward Ald. Toni Preckwinkle and then-15th Ward Ald. Virgil Jones, who say they urged him to hold his course."I thought the world of Alice Palmer," said state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), now the House majority leader. But "at that point she had pulled her own plug."According to Palmer, it was without her knowledge that her supporters initiated discussions to persuade Obama to step aside.
They invited him to the home of state Rep. Lovana "Lou" Jones, now deceased. Obama arrived alone."It was a brief meeting," said Black, a Palmer friend who had advised Obama when he was a young community organizer in the mid-1980s.Obama didn't try to justify his decision to reject Palmer's plea, Black said."He did not put it in inflammatory terms, he just did not back away. It was not arguments, it was stubbornness," Black said. "Barack had by then gone ahead in putting together his own campaign, and he just didn't want to stop."
'If you can get 'em, get 'em'
Just in time for the Dec. 18, 1995, filing deadline, Palmer submitted 1,580 signatures—about twice the minimum required.
That day, Obama lashed out at her, telling the Tribune she had pressured him to withdraw."I am disappointed that she's decided to go back on her word to me," he said.
Obama campaign aides also responded that day—but quietly, and out of the limelight.
Davis and Dobry marshaled volunteers and began poring through the nominating petitions of Palmer and the three lesser-known Democrats, according to interviews."We looked at those petitions and found that none of them met the requirements of the law," Dobry said.
"Alice's people, they'd done it in a great hurry. Almost all her petitions were signed a day or so before the deadline."According to Davis, Palmer "had kids gathering the names. I remember two of her circulators, Pookie and Squirt."Davis and others urged Obama to file legal challenges.
Such tactics are legal and frequently used in Chicago. Ballot challenges eliminated 67 of the 245 declared aldermanic candidates in Chicago before this past February's elections, an election board spokesman said.
Davis recalled telling Obama: "If you can get 'em, get 'em. Why give 'em a break?"I said, 'Barack, I'm going to knock them all off.'"He said, 'What do you need?'"I said, 'I need an attorney.'"He said, 'Who is the best?'"I said, 'Tom Johnson.' "
Obama already knew civil rights attorney and fellow Harvard Law graduate Thomas Johnson, who had waged election cases for the late Mayor Washington and had offered Obama informal legal advice since the days of Project Vote.With Johnson's legal help, Obama's team was confident.
They piled binders of polling sheets in the election board office on the second floor of City Hall, and on Jan. 2, 1996, began the days-long hearings that would eliminate the other Democrats.
Little-known candidate Marc Ewell filed 1,286 names, but Obama's objections left him 86 short of the minimum, and election officials struck him from the ballot, records show.
Ewell filed a federal lawsuit contesting the board's decision, but Johnson intervened on Obama's behalf and prevailed when Ewell's case was dismissed days later.Ewell could not be reached for comment, but the federal judge's decision showed how he was tripped up by complexities in the election procedures.
City authorities had just completed a massive, routine purge of unqualified names that eliminated 15,871 people from the 13th District rolls, court records show.Ewell and other Obama rivals had relied on early 1995 polling sheets to verify the signatures of registered voters—but Obama's challenges were decided at least in part using the most recent, accurate list, records show.
Askia filed 1,899 signatures, but the Obama team sustained objections to 1,211, leaving him 69 short, records show.
Leafing through scrapbooks in his South Shore apartment, Askia, a perennially unsuccessful candidate, acknowledges that he paid Democratic Party precinct workers $5 a sheet for some of the petitions, and now suspects they used a classic Chicago ruse of passing the papers among themselves to forge the signatures.
"They round-tabled me," Askia said.Palmer to this day does not concede the flaws that Obama's team found in her signatures.
She maintains that she could have overcome the Obama team's objections and stayed on the ballot if she had more time and resources.It was wrenching to withdraw, she said. "But sit for a moment, catch your breath, get up and keep going. I'm a very practical person. Politics is not the only vehicle for accomplishing things."
She became a special assistant to the president of the University of Illinois and is now retired.
Obama said he has not been in touch with Palmer since 1996. "No, not really, no," he said.
Though she hasn't determined whom to support in the presidential race, Palmer, 67, said her dispute with Obama doesn't affect her assessment of his fitness to hold office.Saying that jobless high school dropouts "are sitting on the steps next to my house," Palmer added: "There is a savage economy going on out here, and we've got collateral damage. I am looking closely to see who has the courage, the smarts."dyjackson@tribune.comrlong@tribune.com
OBAMAS WAL-MART LIE- ALSO see video
Obama called hypocrite for wife's Wal-Mart link
By Philip Sherwell in New York, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:37pm BST 12/05/2007
As a fluent public speaker, independent-minded wife, devoted mother and professional woman, Michelle Obama has been hailed as an invaluable asset to her husband Barack's mission to capture the Democratic 2008 presidential nomination.
Yet, while her style and performance are winning plaudits on the campaign trail, a little-reported business interest of Mrs Obama's has opened her husband up to one of the criticisms that politicians fear most - the taint of hypocrisy
She is taking a break from her main job, as a well-remunerated Chicago hospital executive, to campaign for her husband. But she has just been re-elected to the board of an Illinois food-processing company, a position she took up two years ago to gain experience of the private sector.
And the biggest customer for the pickles and peppers produced by Treehouse Foods is the retail giant Wal-Mart, the world's largest corporation and the bête noire of American liberals, including Sen Obama, for its employment practices, most notably its refusal to recognise trade unions.
As the Illinois senator prepared to join the presidential fray late last year, he threw his weight behind the union-backed campaign against Wal-Mart. He declared that there was a "moral responsibility to stand up and fight" the company and "force them to examine their own corporate values".
According to the couple's tax returns, Mrs Obama earned $51,200 (£25,700) for her work as a non-executive director on Treehouse's board last year, on top of the $271,618 salary she was paid as a vice-president of the University of Chicago Hospitals.
She also received 7,500 Treehouse stock options, worth a further $72,375, as she did the previous year, when she banked a $45,000 salary from the company.
The apparent contradiction between Sen Obama's political calculation to join the Wal-Mart-bashing lobby, and his wife's profitable role with a company that makes money from Wal-Mart, is being closely scrutinised by "opposition" research teams working for rival White House candidates, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.
They are collecting information about Mrs Obama's Treehouse ties, anticipating that - in a country where "going dirty" is a political way of life - the link may provide valuable ammunition in the election campaign.
Such attacks could be particularly damaging for Sen Obama, who has promised a change from politics as usual. Just last week, on her first foray to the crucial first primary state of New Hampshire, Mrs Obama praised her husband's "moral compass", reflecting a key message of his campaign.
Joe Novak, a Chicago political consultant who runs an anti-Obama website, said: "The Obamas would have us believe that, when it comes to money and ethics and compassion, he is a different kind of politician.
"What's different here is that they actually seem to believe it. That's the only way they can justify the contradictions between what they preach and what they practice. Defending Treehouse while attacking Wal-Mart is a blatant example of personal hypocrisy."
Sen Obama's campaign team and Mrs Obama's spokesman did not respond to requests by The Sunday Telegraph for comment. But the senator previously told Crain's Chicago Business magazine that, while his views on corporate reform and social justice remained the same regardless of what happens at Treehouse, "Michelle and I have to live in the world and pay taxes and pay for our kids and save for retirement".
Hillary Clinton, Sen Obama's main rival for the Democratic nomination, can testify to the political dangers in liberal America of being associated with Wal-Mart, even though the company's cost-cutting policy makes its goods more affordable for the low-paid. The New York senator and wife of the former President Bill Clinton still encounters flak for serving on the company's board from 1985 to 1992, before becoming First Lady.
According to Treehouse's financial filings, Wal-Mart accounted for 16.1 per cent of its sales last year, up from 11.7 per cent in 2005 (a 37 per cent increase), comfortably making it the company's biggest customer. Treehouse's annual operating profits rose from $28 million two years ago to $84 million (up 200 per cent) in 2006.
Mrs Obama, 43, was re-elected to the board last month for a further three years, a period that would overlap with her husband's time in the White House if he becomes America's first black president.
Mrs Obama is Treehouse's senior non-executive director and sits on the company's audit and nominating and corporate governance committees. Her Treehouse connection is not the only awkward ethical question that has confronted Sen Obama as his past is dug over.
Earlier this year, in response to a newspaper investigation, he said he was unaware that his broker had bought $50,000 worth of stock in two speculative companies whose leading investors included some of his biggest political donors.
He has also apologised for his "boneheaded error" in striking a property deal with Tony Rezko, a Chicago Democrat operative facing a federal indictment.
By Philip Sherwell in New York, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:37pm BST 12/05/2007
As a fluent public speaker, independent-minded wife, devoted mother and professional woman, Michelle Obama has been hailed as an invaluable asset to her husband Barack's mission to capture the Democratic 2008 presidential nomination.
Yet, while her style and performance are winning plaudits on the campaign trail, a little-reported business interest of Mrs Obama's has opened her husband up to one of the criticisms that politicians fear most - the taint of hypocrisy
She is taking a break from her main job, as a well-remunerated Chicago hospital executive, to campaign for her husband. But she has just been re-elected to the board of an Illinois food-processing company, a position she took up two years ago to gain experience of the private sector.
And the biggest customer for the pickles and peppers produced by Treehouse Foods is the retail giant Wal-Mart, the world's largest corporation and the bête noire of American liberals, including Sen Obama, for its employment practices, most notably its refusal to recognise trade unions.
As the Illinois senator prepared to join the presidential fray late last year, he threw his weight behind the union-backed campaign against Wal-Mart. He declared that there was a "moral responsibility to stand up and fight" the company and "force them to examine their own corporate values".
According to the couple's tax returns, Mrs Obama earned $51,200 (£25,700) for her work as a non-executive director on Treehouse's board last year, on top of the $271,618 salary she was paid as a vice-president of the University of Chicago Hospitals.
She also received 7,500 Treehouse stock options, worth a further $72,375, as she did the previous year, when she banked a $45,000 salary from the company.
The apparent contradiction between Sen Obama's political calculation to join the Wal-Mart-bashing lobby, and his wife's profitable role with a company that makes money from Wal-Mart, is being closely scrutinised by "opposition" research teams working for rival White House candidates, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.
They are collecting information about Mrs Obama's Treehouse ties, anticipating that - in a country where "going dirty" is a political way of life - the link may provide valuable ammunition in the election campaign.
Such attacks could be particularly damaging for Sen Obama, who has promised a change from politics as usual. Just last week, on her first foray to the crucial first primary state of New Hampshire, Mrs Obama praised her husband's "moral compass", reflecting a key message of his campaign.
Joe Novak, a Chicago political consultant who runs an anti-Obama website, said: "The Obamas would have us believe that, when it comes to money and ethics and compassion, he is a different kind of politician.
"What's different here is that they actually seem to believe it. That's the only way they can justify the contradictions between what they preach and what they practice. Defending Treehouse while attacking Wal-Mart is a blatant example of personal hypocrisy."
Sen Obama's campaign team and Mrs Obama's spokesman did not respond to requests by The Sunday Telegraph for comment. But the senator previously told Crain's Chicago Business magazine that, while his views on corporate reform and social justice remained the same regardless of what happens at Treehouse, "Michelle and I have to live in the world and pay taxes and pay for our kids and save for retirement".
Hillary Clinton, Sen Obama's main rival for the Democratic nomination, can testify to the political dangers in liberal America of being associated with Wal-Mart, even though the company's cost-cutting policy makes its goods more affordable for the low-paid. The New York senator and wife of the former President Bill Clinton still encounters flak for serving on the company's board from 1985 to 1992, before becoming First Lady.
According to Treehouse's financial filings, Wal-Mart accounted for 16.1 per cent of its sales last year, up from 11.7 per cent in 2005 (a 37 per cent increase), comfortably making it the company's biggest customer. Treehouse's annual operating profits rose from $28 million two years ago to $84 million (up 200 per cent) in 2006.
Mrs Obama, 43, was re-elected to the board last month for a further three years, a period that would overlap with her husband's time in the White House if he becomes America's first black president.
Mrs Obama is Treehouse's senior non-executive director and sits on the company's audit and nominating and corporate governance committees. Her Treehouse connection is not the only awkward ethical question that has confronted Sen Obama as his past is dug over.
Earlier this year, in response to a newspaper investigation, he said he was unaware that his broker had bought $50,000 worth of stock in two speculative companies whose leading investors included some of his biggest political donors.
He has also apologised for his "boneheaded error" in striking a property deal with Tony Rezko, a Chicago Democrat operative facing a federal indictment.
THE EXELON LIE IN IOWA
Obama said " I will never lie to you"
EXELON LIE
It should be scrutiny time for Obama, even if only as a helpful exercise in vetting him, if he is the Democrat to face John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Right before Super Tuesday The New York Times reported that Obama took up the cause of residents in Illinois who were outraged that Exelon Corp. did not disclose radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants. Obama, who introduced a bill requiring all plant owners to notify state and local authorities of small leaks, told voters on the campaign trail it was "the only nuclear legislation that I've passed."
However, as the Times reported, the bill ultimately died in the full Senate after Obama rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Exelon, Senate Republicans, and nuclear regulators. Meanwhile, Exelon contributed at least $227,000 to Obama's campaign and two top Exelon executives are among his largest fund-raisers. According to the Times, Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, also worked as a consultant for Exelon.
But Obama is promising a new kind of politics, not a tamped-down version of the Clinton brand. The Times said the Obama campaign did not directly address the question of why Obama told Iowa voters that the legislation that died had, instead, passed. That should be worthy of follow-up. Obama is pledging to hold himself to a completely different standard of political behavior
EXELON LIE
It should be scrutiny time for Obama, even if only as a helpful exercise in vetting him, if he is the Democrat to face John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Right before Super Tuesday The New York Times reported that Obama took up the cause of residents in Illinois who were outraged that Exelon Corp. did not disclose radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants. Obama, who introduced a bill requiring all plant owners to notify state and local authorities of small leaks, told voters on the campaign trail it was "the only nuclear legislation that I've passed."
However, as the Times reported, the bill ultimately died in the full Senate after Obama rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Exelon, Senate Republicans, and nuclear regulators. Meanwhile, Exelon contributed at least $227,000 to Obama's campaign and two top Exelon executives are among his largest fund-raisers. According to the Times, Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, also worked as a consultant for Exelon.
But Obama is promising a new kind of politics, not a tamped-down version of the Clinton brand. The Times said the Obama campaign did not directly address the question of why Obama told Iowa voters that the legislation that died had, instead, passed. That should be worthy of follow-up. Obama is pledging to hold himself to a completely different standard of political behavior
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