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Fresh off his RAGBRAI ride, John Edwards has big plans to view Iowa in a different -- and perhaps -- more comfortable manner.

The Democratic presidential candidate and former North Carolina senator will make a 30-stop sweep of the state at mid-month that includes visits to Burlington and surrounding communities.

The "Fighting for One America" bus tour will roll out Aug. 13 and won't slow down until Aug. 19, when Edwards arrives at Drake University to participate in a Democratic debate with fellow presidential hopefuls.

On Friday, Aug. 17, the former senator's big rig will pass through Keokuk, Burlington and Wapello, just three of six stops on the day. Times and locations have not been announced.

"I'm looking forward to this trip and talking with Iowans about our fight to build one America -- an America where everyone has a chance to get ahead and where the needs of regular Americans come before the needs of powerful special interests," Edwards said. "This will be a great opportunity to meet with Iowans from across the state and share with them my vision for bold change in America."

Recent polls show Edwards, Sen. John Kerry's running mate in the 2004 presidential election, has a slim lead over his rivals in Iowa, where the party caucuses in January begin the nomination process.

Last week, he pushed past New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in a poll of 600 likely voters sponsored by a Des Moines television station, drawing 27 percent to Clinton's 22 percent. Clinton had led a poll by the same station in May.

Also last week, Edwards rode a leg of RAGBRAI, the wildly popular annual bike ride across the state, with seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.

In other news from the Democratic race, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has confirmed his final stop in the area Friday.

Richardson will be in Fort Madison at 2 p.m. for a "job interview" with the public at Alpha's on the Riverfront, 709 Avenue H.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will unveil new get-out-the-vote signs around Iowa today.

With Obama running third in most polls in the state, the signs will emphasize his decision not to accept donations from lobbyists or political action committees.

"We have to break the stranglehold that the lobbyists and special interests have on our democracy," the candidate said in a press release Monday.

A local press conference is planned at 11 a.m. at the Burlington Obama for America Office, 1000 N. Roosevelt Ave., Ste. 8.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is surging in a new poll, while U.S. Sen. John McCain, Ariz., has virtually collapsed. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Ill., shows surprising crossover support.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani also saw a significant drop in the poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers, which was conducted by University of Iowa political science professor David Redlawsk.

"Both McCain and Giuliani appear to have been punished for not competing in the [Ames] Straw Poll," Redlawsk said.

Romney topped the poll with 26.9 percent of respondents saying they intend to support him at the January caucus. He is up 10 points since the last University of Iowa poll in late March. Giuliani was well behind at 11.3 percent, down 9 points, while McCain fell an astonishing 17.7 points to 3.2 percent, putting him in sixth place.

Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, Tenn., was at 6.5 percent, while U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, Kans., and U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, Col., each got 4.2 percent.

The McCain numbers are striking. As recently as May, he led the pack in some Iowa polls. Just three months later, his support has dipped into the low single-digits. "We knew McCain was falling rapidly and other polls have showed him falling into the single digits, but we could not find Republican caucus-goers who said they were going to support McCain," said Redlawsk. "It was pretty shocking just how far down he was."

Perhaps most surprising of all, Obama actually finished third as the preferred general election candidate of registered Republicans, at 6.7 percent, behind Romney (21.8 percent), and Giuliani (10 percent), but ahead of Thompson (5.2 percent) and McCain (1.8 percent).

Obama's Iowa Communications Director Josh Earnest was pleased, and said the numbers reflect that Obama, "is the one [candidate] articulating a clear vision of standing up to special interests and uniting the country across party lines, across ideological lines," and that many of Obama's major accomplishments, "were done by uniting Republicans and Democrats around shared values."

"Of the Democratic candidates, Obama shows the most crossover support in this poll," said Redlawsk, although he emphasized that Obama's number doesn't hold any meaning for the caucuses. "What we're seeing at this early stage, among people looking forward to the November 2008 election, is that Obama is the Democrat Republicans are most likely to vote for."

The poll also asked how electable respondents believed each candidate to be in the general election. Romney again rose significantly to 79.4 percent, up almost 17 percent since March. Giuliani dropped from 82.4 percent to 73.9 percent, while McCain plummeted from 61.5 percent to 31.5 percent. Fred Thompson came in at 57.7 percent.

Since national polls still tend to show McCain as faring reasonably well against theoretical Democratic opponents, Redlawsk thought perhaps that drop was due to Iowa Republicans wanting to punish McCain. "[T]hat's how we read it... Despite the fact he's been in the state, I think [Iowa voters are] taking the national trends and amplifying them. He's all but said to [Iowa] Republicans, I don't care about your Straw Poll, and in effect said to likely caucus-goers, I don't care about you."

In a sign that Iowa Republicans are not happy with their field of presidential candidates, 31.1 percent declared themselves undecided, topping even Romney's total. "I think it isn't that it's unexpected, but we certainly believe that the Republicans are considerably more discontented than the Democrats," Redlawsk said. "And it's harder to find people who say they're planning to attend the Republican caucuses ... Republicans seem much less mobilized and more discontented."

"We look also at how satisfied people are with their choice, and 16.1 percent of Republicans said they were very satisfied," Redlawsk said. In contrast, 40.1 percent of Democrats said they were very satisfied.

According to the poll press release, "more than 72 percent of Republican caucus-goers that expressed a current candidate preference say they are ‘very' or ‘somewhat' likely to change their caucus preference."

The poll, taken between July 29 and August 5, was released this morning, and was the second of four planned pre-caucus University of Iowa polls. The first, conducted over the last week-and-a-half of March, showed McCain leading at 20.9 percent, Giuliani close behind at 20.3 percent, and Romney at 16.9 percent.

The poll used a sample of 303 self-identified Republicans, and has a margin of error of 5.5 percent.

MASTER P TO PUSH VOTE WITH NAACP
Plus, mogul announces support for Obama; writes new book; preps new album with son.
(August 13, 2007)Email to a friend | Print Friendly *Hip Hop entrepreneur Master P and his son Romeo are pledging their support to the NAACP in its efforts to push the importance of voting among young African Americans, as well as ensuring them that their vote counts.

"We always think we're outnumbered and our vote doesn't matter, but truthfully, that's not the case," said P in a statement. "If we get out there and support the people we believe in, we can make a difference now.”

Master P, born Percy Miller, says he will lend his own support to the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama, joining such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry and Jamie Foxx who have publicly proclaimed that they are behind the Democrat.

In other P news, the mogul has signed a marketing/promotion deal with DMP Entertainment which calls for the Los Angeles-based company to guide all areas of the mogul’s marketing and promotion department.

Percy has also written a book titled, Guaranteed Success, which bills itself as “the first real African American self-help guide to true success to be released in decades.” The press release adds, “the book is designed to show you how to achieve your goals; make your money work for you; be your own boss and live a prosperous and purposeful life.”

Also, Master P and his son Romeo will release their first joint album, "Hip Hop History," this fall on P’s new Take a Stand Records, the first label committed to signing artists who make only music with responsible lyrics. Both the book and album will be available on Sept. 4.

Oprah Winfrey raises $3 million for Barack Obama

BY SOO YOUN in Montecito, Calif. and MICHAEL SAUL in New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Oprah calls Obama her "favorite guy" - and she's working hard to get him in the White House.

Winfrey, the queen of daytime TV and a powerhouse in show business, yesterday hosted her first presidential fund-raiser on the grounds of Promised Land, her spectacular 42-acre coastal estate in Montecito, Calif.

"I haven't been actively engaged before because there hasn't been anything to be actively engaged in. But I am engaged now to make Barack Obama the next President of the United States," Winfrey told a star-studded crowd of 1,500, according to a source at the event.

The outdoor party raked in a whopping $3 million for Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois who aspires to be the nation's first African-American President.

The soiree's high-profile celebrities included actors Sidney Poitier and Forest Whitaker, comedian Chris Rock, TV star Ellen Pompeo and tennis champion Jimmy Connors.

Stevie Wonder and gospel vocalist BeBe Winans performed. A mariachi band played. The menu included mini burgers, chips and guacamole, chicken tenders, corn-on-the-cob on a stick, iced tea, water, lemonade and wine.

Guests forked over $2,300 apiece to spend a few precious hours on a meadow at the sprawling property in Santa Barbara County, which the talk-show host bought for $50 million and recently described as "sacred spiritual grounds."

"Oprah was very passionate and very personal," a guest, who asked not to be named, told the Daily News. "She clearly, really loves this person."

Winfrey, who has the power to catapult unknown authors to the top of the best-seller list, will soon see whether her mighty influence in media and publishing can be transferred to the rocky waters of presidential politics.

"My money isn't going to make any difference to him," Winfrey told CNN's Larry King earlier this year. "I think that my value to him, my support of him, is probably worth more than any check."

Obama's aides refused to discuss what role Winfrey might play in the campaign beyond yesterday's fund-raiser, but speculation is mounting about possible TV ads and campaign appearances.

Winfrey recently said her decision to let Obama's supporters gather on her grass was "no small thing for me."

"I really do feel that this place is God's gift to me," Winfrey said. "It is a very, very special place. ... There are going to be some serious restrictions and requirements to get in there."

Guests were told in advance to bring government-issued photo IDs and to expect all purses and bags to be searched. Cameras and recording devices were strictly prohibited.

Attendees were required to park about 8 miles from Winfrey's estate, where they were taken by motor coach.

The guests were told to wear flat shoes because the event would be held in a meadow and most were not permitted inside Winfrey's mansion.

Congressional Black Caucus Split Between Clinton and Obama
by Hazel Trice Edney
NNPA Editor-in-Chief
Originally posted 12/23/2007

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – As America prepares for a string of primaries and caucuses to determine who will be its next Democratic and Republican nominees for president, the majority of the 42-member Congressional Black Caucus who have chosen to endorse in the race is split 15-15 between CBC member Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. In interviews this week, CBC members pointed mainly to the candidates’ stances on specific issues as the reasons for their endorsements.

“He is the most likely to actually produce change in areas that make a difference – home ownership, education, health care, crime policy,” says U. S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), explaining his endorsement of Obama.
Scott, who chairs the House Crime Subcommittee, says, “For years we’ve concentrated on and focused more on codifying… sound bites rather than seriously addressing crime.''

He adds that he is impressed with Obama’s record on health care and the war in Iraq.

“He led the charge to get more people health insurance in the Illinois legislature…He also had the strength of character and courage to stand up against the Iraqi war.”

U. S Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), who has announced her endorsement of Clinton, says she believes Clinton’s long record of service to children shows where her heart really is.

She says she is especially impressed that Clinton, as a young lawyer, served as a staff attorney for Marian Wright Edelman's Children's Defense Fund during her post graduate studies and that she served as a consultant to the Carnegie Council on Children.

“This is a very important election and I do think that as people begin to know Sen. Clinton and they know her personally and they know her story, she has an enormously convincing story of someone who has empathy and out of empathy, one can act upon the pain of others and the joy of others,” says Jackson-Lee.

While Scott says his endorsement of Obama has nothing to do with the fact that he is Black, Jackson-Lee made no bones about what she sees as an opportunity to raise the ceiling for women in America.

“I do think that as women, whether it is minority women or majority women, we have a long way to go. Now, it is frankly innovative and inspiring that America would find its way to possibly selecting someone who has both talent and experience who happens to be a woman, which would make us move to where countries around the world have already gone in selecting women as heads of state,” Jackson-Lee says.

John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, has three endorsements from CBC members.

''Too many women are not getting the health care they need,'' said U. S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) in a statement posted on the Edwards campaign website. ''John Edwards is the only candidate to outline a specific plan to provide universal coverage and I'm proud to be part of a campaign—the only campaign—with a detailed plan to cover all Americans.''

Eight CBC members had not made public endorsements by NNPA deadline.
The 15-15 Clinton-Obama split among the CBC members closely reflects the dividing lines among Black voters, according to polls.

A poll taken between Oct. 5 and Nov. 2 by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies showed Clinton with 83 percent of Black votes, compared to Obama, who then had 74 percent. About 10 percent of those surveyed viewed them both negatively.

Voters must decide between two Democratic front-runners in a heated race for the White House, which has been run by Republican President George Bush for eight years. Most Bush performance approval ratings are under 40 percent. Plus, about 160,000 troops are still stationed in Iraq in a war that more than half of Americans want ended, according to Pew Research opinion polls. Democrats are banking on these facts to win back the White House.

Leading Republican candidates are former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennesee Sen. Thompson, Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

In recent history, Blacks have overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates for president.

The split between the all-Democratic members of the CBC is as follows:
Endorsing Hillary Clinton are Lee, Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio; Kendrick Meek, Corrine Brown and Alcee Hastings of Florida; Yvette Clarke, Charles Rangel, Gregory Meeks and Edolphus Towns of New York; Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri; Dianne Watson and Laura Richardson of California; David Scott and John Lewis of Georgia; and Donna Christian-Christensen (V.I.).

Endorsing Barack Obama are Scott, Danny Davis, Bobby Rush and Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois; Barbara Lee of California; Artur Davis of Alabama; Gwen Moore of Wisconsin; Lacy Clay of Missouri; Elijah Cummings of Maryland; Sanford Bishop and Hank Johnson of Georgia; John Conyers of Michigan; Keith Ellison of Minnesota; Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania; and Al Green of Texas.

Endorsing John Edwards are: Johnson of Texas; Mel Watt and G. K. Butterfield of North Carolina.

Those who had not endorsed by NNPA deadline were: Eleanor Holmes Norton of D.C.; Jim Clyburn of South Carolina; Bennie Thompson of Mississippi; Al Wynn of Maryland; William Jefferson of Louisiana; Donald Payne of New Jersey, Maxine Waters of California and CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan.

The Clinton-Obama choice is complicated by questions over whether America will really elect Clinton as its first woman or Obama as its first African-American president while both race and gender – specifically the Black race and the female gender - have historically been excuses for prejudice and discrimination in America. However, poll readings show both Democratic front-runners as being well ahead of their Republican opponents.

The focus is currently on the state of Iowa and its early Democratic Presidential Primary Jan. 3 and the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8. Obama leads slightly in Iowa and Clinton in New Hampshire.

But, pundits predict that Super Tuesday, Feb. 5 will be the deciding factor for who will likely win enough delegates for the Democratic nomination in Denver, Colo. Aug. 25-28. Super Tuesday is when 22 states will hold primaries and caucuses.
Scott says he believes Obama could win a general election despite racial prejudices.

“If he wins Iowa, he would be favored in New Hampshire and if he wins New Hampshire, he’ll have a lock on South Carolina, which would put him well-postured to compete on Super Tuesday and he’ll have enough money,” Scott says.

It’ll be easier for Obama to win a national election than a Republican, Scott predicts.

“You have the worst job performance since Herbert Hoover. You’ve got the foreclosures at record highs. You’ve got the median income significantly lower,” he says. “By the time the year is out, if people have a chance to look at the Republican administration, I think any Republican candidate will be hard-pressed to do well.”

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Oprah Winfrey raises $3 million for Barack Obama