Smyre Supporting Clinton

Smyre

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton received another boost from a prominent black leader today when the head of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators threw his support
behind her presidential campaign.

Georgia state Representative Calvin Smyre says Clinton has "the strength and experience" to bring about needed change.

Clinton is locked in a battle for the black vote with U.S. Senator Barack Obama, who is trying to become the nation's first black president.

That fight is heated in Georgia where blacks have made up nearly half the vote in the state's recent Democratic primaries. Georgia's presidential primary is February 5.

Clinton has already been endorsed by Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta, a hero of the civil rights struggle.

Attorney General Thurbert Baker and Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, the state's only two black statewide elected officials, are also supporting Clinton.

Obama has the support of another pair of black U.S. congressmen from Georgia, Sanford Bishop of Albany and Hank Johnson of Lithonia.

Smyre has served for nearly 30 years in Georgia's legislature, where he has held a number of leadership roles.

He' s a past Chairman of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and a past President of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials. He is an executive vice president for corporate affairs at Synovus Financial Corporation.

(The Associated Press)

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Bill Clinton coming to stump for Martin

Chambliss and Martin squared off, along with Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley, at a Georgia Public Television debate on the Sunday before the Nov. 4th elections. (Dave Bender)

Former President Bill Clinton will headline a rally for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin in Georgia.

Clinton is the first big name Democrat to stump for Martin in his Dec. 2 runoff battle with Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss at a recent press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender)

Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain lent his star power to a Chambliss rally Thursday and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will stump with Chambliss Sunday.

McCain claimed Georgia's electoral votes on Election Day and Huckabee won the state's Feb. 5 presidential primary.

Clinton won Georgia in his 1992 presidential bid, the last Democrat to carry the state in the race for the White House.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin during a recent press conference at his headquarters in Atlanta. (Dave Bender/file)

Martin said Saturday that Clinton - who balanced the budget - would underscore the failures of Republican leadership in Washington when it came to the economy.

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(AP)

Andrew Young: Obama's Too Young

Young. (Ric Field/Associated Press)

Civil rights icon Andrew Young says Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is too young and lacks the support network to ascend to the White House.

In a media interview posted online, Young also quipped that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has her husband behind her, and that "Bill is every bit as black as Barack."

Sen. Barack Obama. (AP /J. Scott Applewhite)

"He's probably gone with more black women than Barack," Young said of former President Clinton, drawing laughter from a live television audience. Young, 75, was quick to follow his comment on Bill Clinton with the disclaimer, "I'm clowning."

Young, a former United Nations ambassador and lieutenant of Martin Luther King, Jr., made the comments at an appearance at "Newsmakers Live," an urban media forum that interviews prominent Atlanta personalities and political figures.

Excerpts of the interview were posted on Newsmakers Journal, the Newsmakers' Web site, though the date of the appearance was not included with the video posting. Young was scheduled to appear on "Newsmakers Live" on Sept. 5, according to a press release.

Repeated efforts by The Associated Press to reach Young were unsuccessful.
Young's comments were prompted by a member of the audience who inquired about his opinion on Obama's candidacy.

"I want Barack Obama to be president," Young said, pausing for effect, "in 2016."

"It's not a matter of being inexperienced. It's a matter of being young," Young said. "There's a certain level of maturity ... you've got to learn to take a certain amount of (expletive)."

Young went on to say that Obama needs a protective network that he currently lacks - a quality that could hurt him if he were to be elected. He said Hillary Clinton already has that kind of network, including her husband to back her up.

"There are more black people that Bill and Hillary lean on," Young said. "You cannot be president alone. ... To put a brother in there by himself is to set him up for crucifixion. His time will come and the world will be ready for a visionary leadership."

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(The Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton to appear in Savannah area

Democrats in the Savannah area will get a chance to see one of their choices in the 2008 presidential race on Saturday.

Party officials in Beaufort County, South Carolina say, Hillary Clinton will become the first 2008 Democratic presidential candidate to appear in the area with a visit to Beaufort.

Details on the event format haven't been worked out yet, but event organizer Linda Tarr-Whelan says, it will be open to the public and she expects there to be a question-and-answer period.

"I'm a supporter of Hillary Clinton's," she says. "And I think there'll be a lot of people there who are supporters but also a number of people who would like to see all of the candidates and haven't made up their minds as yet."

Star candidate appearances in the Low Country tend to attract supporters from both Georgia and South Carolina.

Clinton is in the Palmetto State on the heals of this week's CNN-You Tube debate in Charleston. Her appearance is scheduled for 1-P-M on Saturday at the University of South Carolina Performing Arts Center.

Dem presidential candidate Clinton in Georgia

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be in Georgia today.

Clinton will be in Atlanta to speak at the National Baptist Convention. Following that event, she will attend the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner.

It is unclear if Democratic Senator John Edwards, who dropped out of the Presidential race today, will also appear at the dinner.

Clinton is making the appearances in Georgia, ahead of next week's Super Tuesday primary for Georgia and several other states across the country.

Lewis confirms switch to Obama

Saying "something is happening in America", and that "people are pressing for a new day in American politics", state Representative John Lewis confirmed Wednesday he is switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Lewis says he will cast his superdelegate vote for Obama at the party's convention in Denver this summer.

Lewis says this was a difficult decision. "I have a deep and abiding love for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton. Senator Clinton is a brilliant and capable candidate...(but)the people of my district have spoken...I should represent their wishes at the convention".

Lewis' 5th Congressional District constituents supported Obama nearly 3-to-1 in Georgia's presidential primary. His endorsement is coveted given his standing as one of the last major civil rights leaders of the 1960's.

Clinton, Obama in Georgia yesterday

Hillary Clinton addresses the Wednesday meeting of the North American Baptist Convention. (Katy Pando)

The remaining Democratic presidential candidates were in Georgia yesterday, appearing six days before the state's participation in Super Tuesday.

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spoke about their campaigns to a meeting of black Baptist groups in Atlanta.

Later, Clinton addressed Democratic party leaders at their annual Jefferson/Jackson fundraising dinner, pushing her run for president.

Several state officials endorse Clinton

Today presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton picked up endorsements from the state's only two black statewide elected officials. Attorney General Thurbert Baker and Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond threw their support behind the New York senator. Baker referred to Clinton as "a tested leader," while Thurmond called her "the change agent Georgians are looking for." Also endorsing Clinton today was Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, the nation's longest serving agriculture Commissioner.

Lewis supporting Clinton for prez

One of the nation’s most powerful black politicians has thrown his weight behind Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.

Longtime Georgia (D) Congressman John Lewis issued a statement Friday describing the former first lady as:

"The person best prepared to lead the country."

Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986. The son of sharecroppers, Lewis rose to fame in the 60s as one of the so-called "Freedom Riders" promoting civil rights in the South.

His endorsement of Clinton comes a blow to the campaign of Illinois senator Barack Obama, who had counted on the support of black leaders in his race for the White House.

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Obama Calls For Unity at Atlanta Church

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during the Sunday morning church service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Barack Obama on Sunday called for unity to overcome the country's problems as he acknowledged that "none of our hands are clean" when it comes to healing divisions.

Heading into the most racially diverse contest yet in the presidential campaign, Obama took to the pulpit at Martin Luther King Jr.'s Ebenezer Baptist Church on the eve of the federal holiday celebrating the civil rights hero's birth 79 years ago. His speech was based on King's quote that "Unity is the great need of the hour."

"The divisions, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others, all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty; inequality and injustice," Obama said. "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late."

Obama has called for a new kind of politics that he says should appeal to people's hopes, not their fears.

South Carolina, which holds its Democratic primary Saturday, is the first state where a large number of black voters will participate, and Obama needs a win to remain a front-runner in the race for the party's presidential nomination.

He is counting on blacks to stick with him despite losing to Hillary Rodham Clinton in two consecutive contests. He lost Nevada despite winning 83 percent of blacks, who made up 15 percent of the total vote. In South Carolina, they are expected to make up at least half the turnout.

Obama's campaign has worked to overcome a concern among black voters that he wouldn't be able to win an election in white America. After his victory in practically all-white Iowa, his poll numbers leaped among blacks.

"I understand that many of you are still a little skeptical," Obama said Friday night at a King banquet in Las Vegas. "But not as skeptical as you were before Iowa. Sometimes it takes other folks before we believe ourselves."

At Ebenezer, where King launched the civil rights movement, Obama spoke in front of a tightly packed crowd; hundreds more who had lined up outside in subfreezing temperatures couldn't get in. It was unclear whether the crowd was for Obama, the King holiday or caused by the unusual blast of ice and snow that closed other area churches.

"We had to fight, bleed and die just to be able to vote," the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock said in introducing Obama. "Now we can select presidents, and now with credibility and intelligence and power, we can run for president."

He teased worshippers who cheered at the sight of the most viable black presidential candidate in history. "I understand, but don't get it twisted," Warnock said.

Obama said blacks often have been the victims of injustice, but he said they also have perpetrated divisions with gays, Jews and immigrants.

"If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community," he said to applause.

Obama suggested he's allowed divisions to creep into his campaign in recent days. "Last week, it crept into the campaign for president, with charges and countercharges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.
“None of our hands are clean," he said.

Obama's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns engaged in several days of back and forth after Clinton's comments about King that some interpreted as minimizing his role in the passage of landmark civil rights legislation. The two candidates called a truce on that issue last week.

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Obama gains Georgia superdelegate

Barack Obama now leads the race for Georgia’s 13 superdelegates.

Superdelegate Mary Long, a veteran Democratic Party activist, announced she’s supporting Obama in his run for the presidency against Hillary Clinton.

Long said yesterday she was swayed by Obama’s strong showing in Georgia on Super Tuesday when he received 66 percent of the vote.

Obama now has six of Georgia’s superdelegates, Clinton has three. Four remain publicly uncommitted. Among them former President Jimmy Carter.

Super delegates are party insiders and elected officials who may vote as they like regardless of election results. If neither Obama or Clinton get enough delegates to claim the nomination, the superdelegates will end up selecting the winner.

Clinton, Obama at SCLC gathering

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference continues its six-day event in Atlanta today, as the group marks its 50th anniversary.

This afternoon, former President Bill Clinton will be on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new headquarters for the SCLC. Also expected this week is his wife Hilary. Mrs. Clinton will address delegates as her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination continues. Over the weekend, Illinois senator Barack Obama spoke to the SCLC gathering.

Clinton to fundraise for King memorial

Organizers of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial say former President Bill Clinton will help raise funds to complete the project planned for the National Mall. The group announced Wednesday that Clinton will receive the foundation's "Humanitarian Award" and will serve as the keynote speaker of a Jan. 8 dinner in Miami to help raise funds for the memorial. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will sponsor the dinner. The memorial foundation has raised $100 million of the $120 million needed to complete the project. The project is slated for the banks of the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. It would be the first major tribute to a black leader on the National Mall.

(Associated Press)

Clinton for Martin, gun lobby for Chambliss on Wednesday

Georgia’s runoff election is ahead in 12 days, and for the candidates, little time to lose on the campaign trail. From Atlanta on the campus of Clark-Atlanta University, a few thousand Democratic supporters braved chilly temperatures in the 40’s to rally for U.S. Senate challenger Jim Martin. Supporters heard from a former president.

"His opponent was elected on a false premise six years ago, and is running on a false premise today"

Bill Clinton fired-up the crowd and looked to make the case of Martin’s ‘campaign for change’ against Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss. As Democrats have drawn to within two seats of a filibuster-proof U.S. Senate, high focus has fallen on the Georgia race. Clinton made that a recurring theme in his 20-minute address.

"We don't need a firewall, we need a bridge. Martin's the bridge, Chambliss is the firewall...this is not rocket science. ...will you put Georgia back on the right path and send a message to the rest of the country about what kind of state this is and what kind of people you are?"

Meanwhile, Chambliss was on the trail Wednesday with stops in Atlanta and Perry. He was alongside the executive VP of the National Rifle Association getting their support. Chambliss says in the wake of the GOP losing the Alaska Senate seat, he’s ready to handle the pressure of this race in Georgia.

"The pressure is always there in campaigns. Certainly it has become much more important with the situation in Alaska developing like it has. It's imperative we win this seat."

Ahead for Chambliss Friday, he’ll get a visit from Mitt Romney, former presidential candidate. Martin on Sunday gets former vice president Al Gore coming to Georgia.

Romney ties Martin, Democrats to socialism

Senate candidate Jim Martin with former President Bill Clinton at Clark Atlanta University on Thursday; former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss at a rally in Atlanta on Friday. (Photos: John Bazemore /AP)

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lent his support to Sen. Saxby Chambliss on Friday, warning that a victory by the Democratic challenger in next month’s hotly contested runoff could be the first step toward a European brand of socialism.

Romney is the latest in a parade of GOP bigwigs who have flocked to the state in the weeks before the Dec. 2 runoff between Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin. Romney’s criticism is not unlike the line of attack Sen. John McCain used unsuccessfully against Democrat Barack Obama in the campaign for president.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, told a crowd of about 200 cheering supporters that the general election showed that people wanted change in Washington. But the Georgia runoff, he said, could alter the very nature of the country.

"This election is about whether we want to change America. And I want to keep America America," he said to applause.

"I think in this race you have two different men who have two different views. One would take America down the course of becoming like Europe, big taxes and big government," said Romney. Chambliss, he said, "fundamentally believes in keeping America strong and safe and free."

In a brief news conference after the speech, Romney added: "I want to make sure we don’t take a left turn toward Europe."

Martin, a former state legislator, dismissed the ideological labels and stressed his record of bipartisan cooperation.

"I was one of the most effective members of the state House. I worked across party lines, and I’m going to continue to do that in Washington," he said after appearing at a campaign office in Decatur. "I’ve been a person who has always worked to try to solve the problems people face."

The Georgia race, one of two unresolved Senate races, has taken on national significance. The other is in Minnesota, where a re-count will help determine whether Republican Sen. Norm Coleman or Democrat Al Franken is the winner.

Victories in both races would give Democrats the 60 seats needed to fend off Republican filibusters.

The stakes are high, and both parties have rolled out their political heavyweights. McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee both stumped for Chambliss last week, and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to appear next week.

Former President Bill Clinton led a rally for Martin on Thursday and Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore, is set to appear Sunday. About 100 Obama field operatives have been helping boost turnout, and the president-elect recently recorded a radio ad supporting Martin’s campaign.

The national focus has helped the candidates fill their campaign coffers.

Chambliss raised about $1.9 million between Oct. 16 and Nov. 12, and has $1.4 million cash on hand remaining. Martin raised $2.4 million over the same time period, and has more than $600,000 left in the campaign bank.

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(AP)

Clinton stumps for Obama in Georgia

Former President Bill Clinton was in Georgia Thursday afternoon to lend a boost to Barack Obama’s campaign for the White House. The $1,000-a-head fundraiser was held at an Atlanta art gallery. A spokeswoman says as Clinton won Georgia in the 1992 election, the former president wanted to return here to do what he could to help Obama down the stretch in this election.

Carter: either Obama or Clinton by June 3rd

Former President Jimmy Carter is calling for deciding the Democratic Party presidential nominee by June 3rd:

"I don’t see any reason at all to continue after June 3rd when we know who got the most [pledged] delegates, who got the most popular votes, who won the most states and so forth,” Carter said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

Carter has not endorsed either Illinois Senator Barak Obama, or New York Senator Hillary Clinton, but made his sentiments clear:

“overseas there is an intense infatuation with Obama, perhaps more than there ever has been in previous history with any candidate," adding, “A lot of them see Obama as kind of a diametrical opposite from George W. Bush and they think that he will bring to the presidency a brand new picture of what the White House and Washington and the United States ought to be.”

Carter pondered about the content of the inaugural address, were Obama to win the presidency:

"If the first statement he made was while I’m president of the United States we will never torture another prisoner and while I’m President of the United States we will never go to war unless our own security is directly threatened...it would transform the image of the United States in the minds of many people around the world."

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Obama! Palin! Clinton! Romney!

With Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss headed to a run-off with Democratic opponent Jim Martin, and as that seat could end up being the filibuster-buster for Senate Democrats, rumors are flying around about just how much will be invested in the race.

As GPB reported earlier, Martin is hoping President-Elect Barack Obama will campaign in the state for him. Bill Clinton is also on Martin's short [wish] list. And now, this from Time Magazine's Swampland blog:

"Am told by a Dem operative working on the Georgia congressional race recount that the GOP is so serious about trying to preserve Chambliss's seat they're bringing in Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney. Because that worked out so well last time."

Actually, for Northwest Georgia, Romney might be a good choice. Many Republicans in the Rome area were itching for Romney to be on the Presidential ticket. Chambliss needs those voters to show up in December like they did on Tuesday.

And, while opponents of Palin are laughing as she is having to defend her position on Africa, those "Sarah!" bumper stickers outnumber the McCain stickers at least two to one on the side of town I live on.

Meanwhile, progressive and liberal netroots activists are raising money for Martin to get more of those "Saxby Economics"ads on the air. Maybe all the press and high profiles will generate more interest in the race. According to the vote tallies, about two hundred thousand people who voted for President, didn't cast a vote for Senator.

Cathy, Clinton honored for "greatness"

Chick-fil-A founder and Georgia native Truett Cathy is set to get the King Center's annual "Salute to Greatness" award. New York Senator Hillary Clinton will also be honored with an award during the January 17th event. The King Center in Atlanta grants the awards to thank recipients for "their humanitarian contributions toward fulfilling the dream of Martin Luther King Jr."

(Associated Press)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Endorses Obama

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia's largest newspaper, is endorsing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic race for the White House.

The newspaper said in an editorial published on its Web site Saturday and to be printed Sunday that it believes Obama has demonstrated an appeal across many of the lines that have divided America.

"That is a critically important attribute, because the scale of changes that must be made to correct America's course cannot be accomplished with majorities of 50 percent plus one," the newspaper said.

Of Obama's chief rival in the Democratic race, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the newspaper said she has too often chosen to play within the Washington system rather than dare to challenge its assumptions.

"Different moments in history require different types of leaders, and part of the art of picking a president is matching the person to the challenge and to the time," the newspaper said. "So while both Clinton and Obama would make very good presidents, Obama is the person; this is his time."

The newspaper plans to endorse a candidate in the Republican presidential race next Sunday.

Georgia's presidential primary is Feb. 5.

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(The Associated Press)