Obama evokes MLK , seeks 'mandate for change' in Georgia

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Monday he doesn't just want to win the White House -- he wants a mandate. And that includes competing in Georgia, a state that hasn't awarded its delegates to a Democrat in 16 years.

"I intend to win right here in the great state of Georgia," Obama told some 300 donors.

They had paid a minimum of $2,300 apiece and crowded into the upscale Atlanta restaurant 103 West to hear him speak. It was the first of two Atlanta fundraisers the Illinois senator headlined Monday night to stock his campaign warchest for the coming general election battle with Republican John McCain.

Obama evoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his hometown, warning Democrats not to forget "the fierce urgency of now."

"We want a mandate for change and we're not just going to run in the same old states and have just everything hinge on Florida," Obama said.

"We're going to try and transform this political map."

He will host a town hall meeting today on the economy in the GOP stronghold of Cobb County.

Georgia Republicans went on the attack against Obama before he'd even arrived in the state. In a conference call with reporters, Georgia's two U.S. senators -- both Republicans -- blasted the Illinois senator on taxes, gas prices and the war in Iraq.

Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson said Georgians need to know about Obama's voting record, which they allege is out of step with many of the state's conservative voters. The Georgia Republican Party also issued a blistering press release taking aim at Obama's decision to forgo public financing for his campaign, among other things.

There's been talk that Georgia could be up for grabs in the November general election. And in South Carolina, two of Obama's top supporters said Monday he would put paid staff on the ground there, in another break with the recent Democratic strategy of bypassing a GOP-dominated state in the general election.

Isakson predicted Monday that Republican candidate John McCain would carry Georgia. He said the Obama camp is touching down in the state in what will be a futile attempt to engineer a win in Dixie.

"I think they would like nothing better than to crack a Southern state," Isakson said.

Chambliss, who's running for re-election this year, praised Obama for bringing new voters into the process.

"I have to commend him for that," Chambliss said. "But we want to make sure that people understand really how this guy has voted and what he stands for."

A spokesman for the Georgia Democratic Party said it was telling that Republicans launched such a coordinated offensive against Obama.

"Don't let our senators fool you -- Georgia is not as red as they would have you believe," Martin Matheny said.

Obama on Monday also received a plug from Georgia Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Vernon Jones on Monday who praised him for battling in the state unlike some previous Democratic presidential candidates "who wrote the South off."

The last Democrat to carry Georgia in a presidential contest was Bill Clinton in 1992.

Jones' comments came a few days after a mailer from his campaign made waves with the Obama camp. The flier featured a composite picture of Jones and Obama under Obama's signature slogan: "Yes We Can!

The Obama campaign issued a statement which said "despite what this mailer inaccurately suggests, Sen. Obama will not endorse a candidate in the U.S. Senate primary in Georgia." Jones brushed aside such criticism on Monday and said the flier merely shows that he's supporting Obama.

Jones volunteered that he can help Obama.

"For Sen. Obama to win Georgia he's going to need conservative Democrats like myself, obviously that's the great need," Jones said.

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: Jones mailer not an endorsement

Barack Obama's presidential campaign distanced itself Thursday from a mailer by Georgia Democratic Senate hopeful Vernon Jones that shows them together under Obama's signature slogan: "Yes we can."

Jones defended the mailer, saying it shows he supports the Illinois senator, not the other way around.

"It shows that I am the best person to work with Barack Obama to turn this country around,"Jones told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday.

Two of his four Democratic opponents pounced, saying the mailer suggests Jones — who twice voted for Republican George W. Bush — has Obama's backing.

"This last-ditch attempt to drape himself in the Barack Obama aura is not going to work," said challenger Dale Cardwell.

"A gross abuse and misuse of Barack Obama's wonderful success in Georgia," added candidate Rand Knight.

The five are facing off in a July 15 primary for the right to take on Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss in November.

Obama's campaign denied involvement with the flier Jones said was mailed statewide.

"The Obama campaign was not involved with the use of Sen. Obama's picture in this mailer," spokeswoman Amy Brundage said. "And despite what this mailer inaccurately suggests, Sen. Obama will not endorse a candidate in the U.S. Senate primary in Georgia."

The flier blends photos of Obama and Jones to make it appear they were at the same event, when they were not. It lists a variety of issues, from job creation to home foreclosure, on which the two share an agenda. "Like Barack Obama Vernon Jones Wants to ..." the list begins.

Jones said his opponents are attacking him because they are worried about his strength in the July 15 primary. He said they have been proclaiming their support for Obama for weeks.

Obama won Georgia handily in the state's Feb. 5 presidential contest, drawing 66 percent of the vote against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, including strong support from the state's large black population. Jones, the only black Senate candidate in Georgia, also is courting black voters.

Click here for more GPB News local coverage of the presidential election race.

McCain: Lewis' remarks 'shocking, beyond the pale'

Lewis addressing the audience at a rally held at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville, on September 23, 2008. (file/Dave Bender)

Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement, says the negative tone of the Republican presidential campaign reminds him of the hateful atmosphere that segregationist Gov. George Wallace fostered in Alabama in the 1960s.

Republican candidate John McCain on Saturday called Lewis' remarks "shocking and beyond the pale."

The Obama campaign said the Illinois senator doesn't believe McCain or his policy criticism is at all comparable to Wallace and his segregationist policies.

In a statement issued Saturday, Lewis said McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were "sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse." He noted that Wallace also ran for president.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights," said Lewis, who is black. "Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

One of the seminal events of the civil rights movement was the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963. Four black girls died in the blast, which was linked to a Ku Klux Klan group.

Late Saturday, Lewis released another statement saying it was not his "intention or desire" to directly compare McCain or Palin to Wallace.

"My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior," he said. "I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation."

Lewis' comments follow widely reported examples of anger at McCain rallies that has been aimed at Obama, the first black man to be a major party's nominee for president. During some rallies featuring McCain and Palin, supporters have shouted "traitor," "terrorist," "treason," "liar" and even "off with his head."

The outbursts came amid a harshly personal line of attack against Obama by the GOP campaign. McCain and Palin have said Obama failed to tell the truth about his ties to 1960s radical William Ayers, had a radical agenda on abortion, and wasn't really known to voters. Last weekend, Palin signaled the uptick in the criticism when she charged that Obama was "palling around with terrorists," a reference to Ayers, and that he didn't see the U.S. as others did.

McCain drew boos at a town-hall meeting Friday in Minnesota when he defended Obama after a supporter said he feared what would happen if Obama were elected president. He also cut short a woman who said Obama was an Arab, and he called his rival "a decent, family man."

On Saturday, McCain called on Obama to repudiate Lewis' remarks. While dismissing the comparison to Wallace, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said Lewis was on target in other ways.

"John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for president of the United States 'pals around with terrorists,'" Burton said in a statement.

In his remarks, Lewis also said: "As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

McCain rejected any comparison to Wallace.

"I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track," McCain said.

In August, while appearing at a forum on faith, McCain was asked to name three "wise people" he would listen to. He cited Lewis as well as Gen. David Petreaus, head of U.S. troops in Iraq, and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a top adviser to his campaign.

(The Associated Press)

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Lewis Links McCain to Alabama Segregationist

For the past week, rallies for GOP Presidential hopeful John McCain have gotten heated, as a small vocal minority have yelled racial slurs, along with shouting other vulgarities aimed at Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama and other African Americans.

The behavior began in earnest after GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin said Obama has been “palling around with terrorists.” The remark was a reference to Obama’s relationship with former Weatherman, Bill Ayers, now a Chicago school reformer.

Several major news organizations called Palin’s remarks false and misleading.

After several prominent moderate Republicans began criticizing the campaign for encouraging the ugly behavior, McCain began pushing back on some of the comments. Most notably, McCain corrected one woman who called Obama “an Arab.”

Still, the campaign has openly raised questions about Obama’s faith and commitment to America. And some in the GOP crowds have grown increasingly hostile. As GPB’s Melissa Stiers reported earlier this week, a debate in Macon between Congressional candidates also produced some ugly comments between partisans. One woman shouted out “Bomb Obama.”

Now Atlanta Democratic Congressman and long time civil rights activist John Lewis is calling on the McCain campaign to tone down their rhetoric. In a statement, Lewis warned, “As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy.”

Lewis also linked the McCain tactics to the late Alabama Governor George Wallace, a prominent segregationist and one time Presidential candidate.

“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.”

The statement throws Lewis in the middle of what is becoming an increasingly ugly, and in some instances racially tinged campaign.

McCain responded personally, issuing a statement that reads “I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I’ve always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track.”

McCain also called on Senator Obama to “immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America.”

Earlier this week, the McCain campaign also responded publicly to similar criticisms by attacking Obama.

Obama’s campaign responded by saying the Senator doesn’t believe McCain and Wallace are comparable, but added “Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists.’ "

McCain and Lewis have worked together on major legislation in the past, and McCain has called the Georgia Congressman one of the “wisest men” he knows.

Most of the actions appear to be coming from a minority of supporters. However, reports from the rallies suggest the anger has gotten more intense. Privately, McCain is blaming the ugly turn on Palin, according to a Times Online report.

The rage is concerning for many non-partisan observers. Former Presidential adviser, Harvard educator and CNN contributor David Gergen said last night, “There is free-floating anger that could lead to some violence. I really worry, when you get that kind of rhetoric that you’re getting now, I think it’s imperative that you calm people down.”

Ebenezer Church Sermon Focuses on Obama, MLK (Photo Essay)

Ebenezer Baptist Church Sr. Pastor, Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, making a point to the audience on Sunday, January 18, on the eve of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day, and Tuesday's inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)


Worshipers link arms, singing "We Shall Overcome," at Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta, on Sunday, January 18, on the eve of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day, and Tuesday's inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Several thousand worshippers filled the historic Ebenezer Church in downtown Atlanta.

Adults at prayer, children and infants attended Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday, Jan., 18, 2009, on the eve of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day, and Tuesday's inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)

They came to hear an impassioned sermon on the eve of Martin Luther King Day, and Tuesday’s inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

A television news cameraman watches Rev. Warnock through his viewscreen at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., on Sunday, January 18, 2009. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)


Earnest Adams of Atlanta, in rapt prayer during services at Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Senior Pastor Raphael Warnock, told some 2,000 churchgoers that many historic figures made Obama’s election possible.

Ebenezer Baptist Church Sr. Pastor, Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, exhorting the audience on Sunday, January 18, on the eve of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day, and Tuesday's inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Warnock's examples ranged from the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt to the Land of Israel, African-America slaves, slain civil rights workers and King himself:

”…HE SITS ON THE KNEES AND STANDS ON THE SHOULDERS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., WHO SAID, ‘I MAY NOT GET THERE WITH YOU, BUT WE AS A PEOPLE WILL GET TO THE PROMISED LAND,’ SO KEEP ON MOVING – FREEDOM LOOMS!”

Warnock said the Obama inauguration was but another step on the road to freedom, and urged the audience to have faith in the face of domestic and international adversity.

A woman in rapt prayer during services at Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)

King would have been 80-years-old today.


Pastors and choir at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday, January 18, on the eve of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day, and Tuesday's inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. Click on the photo for a full-sized image. (Photo: Dave Bender)

GPB Radio News will air a segment of Pastor Warnock's sermon on Monday.

Sam Nunn says Georgia an uphill battle for Obama

Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, says the Obama Biden Ticket has an uphill battle in Georgia. Susanna Capelouto reports.

In a phone conference with Georgia reporters former Senator Sam Nunn praised Joe Biden’s foreign policy record and called him an excellent choice. He said Biden will help Obama win in November. But for Obama to carry Georgia, Nunn says work has to be done. He says it’s not enough to get the young people and African Americans to the polls in record numbers…

“Senator Obama has to identify and have a great deal of support from blue collar and white collar worker.” Nunn says. “Young people and the minority vote will not carry the state.”

Obama has set up over 25 offices throughout Georgia, a sign that he’s planning to fight for the state. As for his own chance at being named VP, Nunn said the Obama campaign never told him he was a contender for the job.

Obama TV ads return to GA airwaves

Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is returning ads to the Georgia airwaves. Shortly after the nomination of Republican Sarah Palin for Vice President, polls showed Obama twenty points behind John McCain. It was then Obama pulled out staffers and stopped ads in Georgia. However, recent polling has showed a tightening race between Obama and Republican Presidential nominee McCain. It’s unclear how big the latest ad buy is. Obama will also be airing ads in North Dakota and McCain’s home state of Arizona. Polls show Obama closing the gap in both of those historically Republican states.

Obama makes strong comments in Georgia

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama held a grass-roots rally in Atlanta last night. The event drew a little over two-thousand people, with tickets priced affordably at 25-dollars a person.

Obama explained to the crowd why he was not present for a U.S. Senate vote yesterday to condemn a MoveOn.org newspaper ad that criticized General David Petraeus. Obama said the debate was a waste of time, and that it was a distraction to attack Petraeus as opposed to President Bush. The Senate approved the Republican-sponsored resolution in a 72-25 vote.

Obama also had strong words about the nation's justice system, saying it often treats black suspects more harshly than white suspects. Obama's comments came on the day of a massive protest in Louisiana where six black teens are charged in the beating of a white classmate.

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."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Democratic Party, and here for political coverage.

(The Associated Press)

Obama satire gone wrong: a cartoonist's perspective

Award-winning editorial cartoonist, Mike Luckovich, commented on the controversial Barack Obama Satire. The New Yorker cover illustrates the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as an over-zealous Muslim and his wife, Michelle Obama, as a terrorist.

Luckovich tells GPB, “In order for this satire to work it has to be more absurd than what’s going on in reality… I don’t think it was over the top enough and that’s why the satire didn’t really work.”

Luckovich called it bad satire, because it needed too much explanation. The illustration hit stands on Monday sparking a huge uproar. Luckovich thinks people became angry because they saw it as a personal attack on the Obama's.

Despite the harsh response, Luckovich doesn’t believe “the artist or the New Yorker were trying to attack the Obama's… I think they were trying to show satirically the silliness of the attacks on the Obama's such as their terriositic motives. Both parties were trying to skewer the outlandish rumors and instead they skewered the Obamas.”

John Lewis on Obama's, Georgia's hopes

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made history on this day in 1963 delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington. Tonight, another African-American will make history. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Georgia Congressman John Lewis will also speak tonight. As a young civil rights leader, Lewis was one of 10 people who also spoke alongside Dr. King on this day 45 years ago. He is the only one of those men alive today. Lewis says it doesn’t bother him that Barack Obama is not a child of the movement he helped foster. In fact, he says, Obama is free of the battle scars left on he and those of his generation.

"He never saw the signs that said 'White Men,' 'Colored Men,' 'White Women,' 'Colored Women,' " Lewis adds. "He never tasted the fruits of segregation and racial discrimination, so he is a different human being. He should be free to liberate the rest of America, and maybe take a message to the rest of the world."

Still, Lewis says he would like to hear from Obama that this is not the end — or even a new beginning — but a continuation of a long struggle. Lewis says that all over his home state of Georgia, young people feel something is happening.

"And you hear people saying, 'I was not there with you to march across the bridge at Selma. I was not at the March on Washington. But I am in this struggle to make Barack Obama president."

Tonight Lewis will pay tribute to Dr. King.

(NPR)

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.

Click here to read more GPB News coverage of the presidential primaries.

(The Associated Press)

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.

Georgia GOP criticizes Obama VP mate

Georgia Republicans criticized Barack Obama's choice for vice president, saying he has effectively written off the South by picking U.S. Sen. Joe Biden as his runningmate. During a conference Saturday morning, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and U.S. Rep. Tom Price told reporters that Obama chose a vice presidential candidate with a record nearly as liberal as his own, which will not appeal to the conservative South. Obama has said he wants to compete in Georgia. He won easily in Georgia in the Feb. 5 president primary with overwhelming support of the state's large black population. The Obama campaign was running ads in Georgia on Thursday connecting his Republican rival John McCain with Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, but Republicans say the Obama campaign pulled the ads, a signal he has given up on Georgia.

(Associated Press)

Carter Hints at Supporting Obama (Updated)

Former President Jimmy Carter has hinted that he may cast his superdelegate vote for Illinois Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential nominee, according to a report appearing in an African newspaper.

Carter is said to have made the statement on Wednesday at an award ceremony at the Carter Center in Abuja, Nigeria, according to a local news website.

“We are very interested in the primaries. Don’t forget that Obama won in my state of Georgia. My town which is home to 625 people is for Obama, my children and their spouses are pro-Obama.

"My grandchildren are also pro-Obama. As a superdelegate, I would not disclose who I am rooting for but I leave you to make that guess," the website quoted Carter as saying.

Carter's press secretary confirmed the comments Thursday and reiterated the President's intention to remain uncommitted to a specific presidential candidate until the Democratic Party Convention in August.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the race for the White House.

Obama visits Georgia

Barack Obama's campaign says he will visit Georgia on Tuesday to discuss the effects of the economy on families. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will attend a public town hall meeting at a High School in Powder Springs.

The Obama campaign says the senator's visit to Georgia is part of an effort to win over states that President Bush won in 2000 and 2004. One poll released last week showed Obama only 2 percentage points behind John McCain in Georgia. But other polls have been showing McCain with a lead of up to 10 point.

The fact that Obama is traveling to Georgia shows that his campaing believes he can win the state. Campaign officials say that during the next week, Obama will focus his message on economic security. He will also hold a private fund raising event.

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."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the presidential race, and here for more on Carter.

New poll shows Georgia might be toss up state

An insider advantage poll taken this week shows John McCain and Barak Obama only one percentage point apart. The poll of 637 likely voters has a margin of error o 3.8 percent.

Matt Towery, CEO of Insider Advantage says Obama could win Georgia easier than North Carolina or Virigina if he invested in TV ads in Metro Atlanta. That, Towery argues, would get some more white voters. But the Georgia Obama campaign says they are running a grassroots effort that is stronger than in other states. John McCain has not opened a campaign office in Georgia. “McCain's done nothing in this state,” says Caroline Adelman with the Obama Campaign, “so everything we do is icing.”

The same poll also shows the race for the U.S. Senate within the margin of error. Incumbent Saxby Chambliss leads challenger Jim Martin by only 2 percent. With a Libertarian in that race and Georgia’s 50+1 vote rule, there could be a runoff for the senate seat.

Insider Advantage poll results.

President
McCain, 48%
Obama, 47%
Barr, 1%
Other, 1%
Undecidced, 3%

U.S. Senate
Chambliss, 46%
Martin, 44%
Other, 2%
Undecided, 8%

Charity Battling Donor Fatigue, Obama Inauguration

A 38-year-old charity that supplies food to Atlanta's poorest residents has decided to go forward with an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day dinner despite lowered donations and many volunteers leaving town for the presidential inauguration.

Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless organizers told The Associated Press Wednesday that a lack of donations - including corporate gifts of hams and turkeys - meant the dinner wouldn't take place. Spokeswoman Dee Dee Cocheta later got word that a donation of hams would come through after all. Combined with a modest gift of 216 turkeys Tuesday, it's enough to let the dinner go on.

But the group still faces a struggle. Organizers say many of the staff who would have worked at the dinner will be in Washington for the inauguration.

In related news, President-elect Barack Obama says the inauguration is about more than him, and that it should be about getting all Americans involved in community service.

Obama said Wednesday that his Jan. 20 inauguration should bring the country together to volunteer. He says if everyone rolls up their sleeves, the county will improve. Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and their families will volunteer in the Washington area
Jan. 19.

Obama's aides have posted thousands of volunteer opportunities on a Web site, USAService.org.

(AP)

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