Barack Obama Running in Oregon to Change Washington

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - “Team Obama. Yeah — that’s what I’m talking about,” said Barack Obama, clapping his hands rapidly. (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/05/09/the-competitor-in-obama-comes-out-even-at-play/)

No, he wasn’t standing in front of a crowded rally full of chanting supporters or cheering after hearing results of the tight battle with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

This was the Illinois senator on a plane from Washington to Oregon after playing — and winning — a guessing game called “Taboo” that pitted Obama and his staff against reporters.







Though slow to catch on to the game, in which one player has to get his team to guess a word without saying certain “taboo” words as clues, Obama reveled in the competition.

“Team Obama’s looking solid. Looking solid,” he cheered his team on after a few rounds.

But he clearly wanted to know the parameters, and ensure he had an exit strategy.

“At what point is this game over?” he asked. When told it was when someone wins he said “that sounds familiar.”







Hours after defeating reporters in a vicious game of Taboo, Barack Obama swung into Oregon for two days of stumping—and started his visit at a Beaverton tech-sector office park, where he took questions from software-designer employees.

The immediate lessons? Unlike other people he could name, Barack Obama believes in science. And he's already started campaigning against John McCain.

Though Hillary Clinton was just up Highway 26 hosting a private meeting of her own at OHSU, Obama didn't seem much interested in discussing her. Instead he dedicated his prepared remarks to contrasting himself against McCain, who "is running for President to double down on George Bush's failed policies. I am running to change them, and that will be the fundamental difference in this election when I am the Democratic nominee for President."







Obama spoke in the conference room of Vernier Software & Technology, which designs hand-held computers and lab equipment for use in high schools, and in his answers to questions from chemists and accountants, he portrayed himself as an Enlightenment candidate, dedicated to education and innovative business.

"They really don't believe in science, do they?" he chuckled after a question from biologist Robin Johnson about Bush administration policies. Obama, on the other hand, believes in sciency things, promising to budget "$150 billion in 10 years into green technologies." These projects include "developing a replacement for the internal combustion engine, which could be useful." Barack Obama: Not only will he not reprieve your gas tax, he wants to make your whole damn car obsolete!

But if that's just the sort of rhetoric that gets people in West Virginia and Kentucky feeling all God-clingy, Obama isn't worried: Perhaps the most intriguing hint of the morning's chat is that he expects to lose in both states anyway. Asked whether he would want Hillary as a running mate ("Did one of the reporters put you up to this?" he cracked), he noted that he did not consider the race over, and added as an aside that he expected Clinton to win West Virginia and Kentucky, "and win by significant margins."







Though his campaign claims to be ready to declare victory within two weeks and speculation is swirling that Clinton could be positioning herself for a shot at Obama’s No. 2 spot, Obama gave the standard line, saying he hasn’t won “yet” and that he wouldn’t speculate “until I am the nominee.” (http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/09/obama-says-clinton-would-be-on-anyones-vp-short-list/)

“It would be presumptuous of me to suggest that she is going to be my running mate while we are still actively running,” he said at a campaign stop in Beaverton, Ore. “We do not have this nomination locked up, so we are still competing.”

Obama teased the individual who asked about his running mate possibilities, joking that the press must have put him up to the question.

But he elaborated a bit, saying: “I will say that she has shown herself to be an extraordinary candidate. … She is hard-working, she is tough. She is very smart, and so I think she would be on anyone’s list — short list of vice presidential candidates. But beyond that, you know, I don’t want to offer an opinion.”







Sen. Barack Obama told workers at a Beaverton educational software company that he shares America's concerns about the economy.

He said while pundits may make the country out to be divided, the concerns of Oregonians are shared across the nation. At Vernier, he talked about his plans to tackle key economic issues such as health care costs, the cost of college, taxes and gas prices.

He said "Americans are working harder for less" and vowed to eliminate the current administration's tax cuts for the wealthy and would work to reduce the national deficit.

Obama also discussed his plans for developing the country's investment in education and science, commending Vernier for supporting education and producing the types of workers needed to fuel the U.S. economy.

"Companies like this will be at the cutting edge," Obama told the crowd at the small company.







In a clear break from taking on two opponents to just one, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Friday launched a point by point breakdown of his differences with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in his first public campaign event since the full results of Tuesday’s primaries. (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/obama-focuses-o.html)

“Senator McCain is running for President to double down on George Bush’s failed policies. I am running to change them, and that will be the fundamental difference in this election when I am the Democratic nominee for President," Obama said at a campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon.

"There will be real differences on the ballot in November."







Obama said that McCain was “dead wrong” when he said the economy had made “great process” under President Bush, and focused on McCain’s stance on tax cuts, which he paints as a flip flop.

“I admired Senator McCain when he said he could not 'in good conscience' support the Bush tax cuts. But now, as the Republican nominee, he’s fully embraced them," Obama said.

On health care, Obama continued connecting McCain to Bush, “John McCain wants to continue a George Bush approach that only takes care of the healthy and the wealthy; that allows insurance companies to discriminate and deny coverage to those Americans who need it most. This is exactly the kind of approach that has left out tens of millions of Americans.”







His remarks were notable not because he debuted any fresh proposals (he didn't) but for the explicit pains the Senator from Illinois took to distinguish his economic platform from John McCain's -- as opposed to that other candidate still running for President, whose name escapes my memory, possibly because Obama did not mention it a single time during his speech.

Obama also slagged McCain's gas tax holiday proposal, health care position, and support of the war in Iraq -- noting he would use the money saved from ending the war to invest "in our roads and bridges and ports. And I want to invest in millions of green jobs, so that we finally develop renewable energy, end our addiction to oil, bring those gas prices down, and save our planet in the bargain."

Good luck on getting those gas prices, down, Senator, because, if we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times -- if we want to save the planet, we need higher gas prices, not lower.

. . . when he concluded with the observation, "there will be real differences on the ballot in November," you could almost feel a fresh breeze wafting through the campaign. After a long winter and spring of mostly imaginary differences blown up into all-consuming conflagrations, the battle-decks appear to finally be clearing, in preparation for a struggle in which it really won't be that hard to choose sides, however bitter you might be about who is emerging as the most likely person to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America.







more from his prepared remarks: http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=11859


We have a difference on taxes. John McCain wants to continue George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans; I want to give a tax cut to working people. I admired Senator McCain when he said he could not "in good conscience" support the Bush tax cuts. But now, as the Republican nominee, he's fully embraced them. He wants to give a permanent tax cut to the wealthiest Americans who don't need them and didn't ask for them while working people are struggling. And for all his talk about fiscal responsibility, he's proposed $400 billion in tax cuts without any word about how he'll pay for him. That's exactly the kind of attitude that has shifted the burden on to the middle class, and mortgaged our children's future on a mountain of debt.

I think it's time to restore fairness and responsibility to our tax code. We need to reward work—not just wealth. We need to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, and put a tax cut in the pockets of middle class Americans. That's why I've proposed a "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 for workers, and $1,000 for working families. This will cut taxes for 150 million Americans. It will help you deal with rising costs, and give our economy a boost by easing the burden on Main Street.

We have a difference on gas prices. John McCain has embraced a gas tax gimmick that—when it's said and done—will save you less than thirty dollars this summer. This is a classic Washington fix that's more about getting John McCain through an election than solving your problems. It will put more money in the pockets of the oil companies. It's bad for our environment. And it won't bring down gas prices over the long term—most economists think it will send those prices up.

I believe we owe the American people the truth. That's why my plan to lower gas prices raises fuel efficiency standards on cars; invests in alternative energy to end our addiction to oil; and creates millions of new Green Jobs while saving our planet in the bargain. That's the kind of change we need in Washington.

:kick:

that you can make up the clues yourself. I can go on, but I sense that my audience would drift pretty quickly.

The game is called celebrity. So you and your band of merry men/women should be thinking of well known figures in the public eye. Good examples would be Saddam Hussein, Elmer Fudd, Indiana Jones, John Lennon, etc. Everyone writes 6 (or a number you chose) examples down on paper and throw them into a pile. There are three rounds.

The first round is you pick a name and can use whatever words you want to describe the person.

Second round is using the same clues, you use only one word to describe. For example, Saddam Hussein might be Iraq. John Lennon could be guitarist, but Beatle would be much better.

Third round is charades. No sounds.

The game is interesting because you have to keep some memory of what clues have already been played. My sister is obsessed with this game and is always trying to organize dinner parties so she can play.

... But to each their own!

He doesn't have much of a record for "change" there.

But yet another post on a busy day for you (and all your sockpuppets).

and he's pretty consistent in voting with the DLC agenda. He's even helped out the GOP quite a few times.

Can you say no caps on credit card interest rates?

Let's team up!

:hi:

... They used to just cry when one of us would say one word as clue, and then guess the answer correctly. Over and over.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/09/1003269.aspx



The sometimes-heated match led to quite a few funny exchanges, especially since the secret trick to the game is using common points of reference and shared experiences, of which there are many on the trail. Often reporters use lines from stump speeches, recent events and the names of candidates, their spouses or other political figures to get others to say the right answer.

At one point the key phrase was "White House" and the reporter giving the clue said, "Barack wants to live there." The team shouted the correct answer and Obama laughed.

During another turn, the key word was "California" and a reporter said, "This is where Sen. Obama said his "bitter" comments." The other reporters shouted San Francisco, then the Bay Area and a few other words before eventually guessing correctly, at which point Obama joked that he had come to the back of the plane get away from such issues, not to be reminded of them.

Early on, the senator managed to get his team to guess "Cockatoo" by talking about an animal that flies, can mimic human words and has fancy plumage.

Later, when Obama's word was "Revolution," his clue was that this was something Thomas Jefferson called for from time to time. As if sensing a collective "huh?" from his team, he quickly concluded the clue was "too obscure" and instead said the Beatles sang a song about it, which elicited the correct guess.

The game was not without frustration and even a few four-letter words at times of unforced errors, and there was an odd moment at one point when a staffer attempting to get teammates to say the word "gap" gave a clue to the effect that "gay people shop there." The team guessed a series of stores: Obama said, Abercrombie & Fitch; another person said H&M and eventually someone said The Gap.


http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/09/1003269.aspx

How can we vote for this guy? He doesn't even understand basic American geography!!!!

That's because he's not even American! He's a Muslim from Indonesia! Not to mention Iowa and Hawaii, wherever those are.

Thank you bigtree.

it's my pleasure, of course

:yourock:

people get a good education, they start believing in things like science.

More Wars! Less Jobs! Poorer schools! McCain '08

:kick:

:thumbsup:

my favorite drink.

is talking about the Washington back east and not the one to the north.;)

. . . more than D.C.

big trees