Supporting Respect For Gay and Straight Rights: Philadelphia Front Page News Announcement Of New Business Name To Stop Bullying by Van Stone

As of Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Philadelphia Front Page News' online blog and Van Stone

has changed its name to

FPNNEWS

to reflect the addition of news...


We'll continue to serve you with all kinds of news, and as always, we're happy to post news for credible reporting




Come see us

Although we're are no longer HERE AT THIS WEBSITE publishing just news. We are here at this website speaking out about respect for all colors and gender partnerships - Includes news and opinion about straight and gay issues such as marriage, the military, and equal opportunities.

WE'RE ALSO AT THE NEW WEB ADDRESS:

www.fpnnews.us




Roger Robbie, the Hip Hop Raccoon (character by Herb Rogers, Jr. and Van Stone) helping to prevent both kid and adult bullying! And Roger Robbie supports recycling education too.

ACTUAL WVSR1360.COM CONTENT OR MANAGEMENT OF WVSR1360.COM TEAM CONTACT DIANE WHITE AT DIANE@DLIGHTEN.COM FOR WVSR1360.COM AND

LETS THANK HER FOR GREAT CONTENT!

ENJOY WVSR1360.COM!

Van Stone Jr.

Give us an e-mail at frontpagenews1@yahoo.com if you have interest in a credible story or news maker about gay or straight news for the online paper

Thank you to all of our readers at FPN for following us for over 12 years

Stick with us

We are your community -not for profit- newspaper

Philadelphia area Greens use IRV to Caucus for their 2008 National Presidential Candidate

by Diane White (diane@dlighten.com)

Registered Greens from Philadelphia and surrounding counties are encouraged to participate in their 2008 Presidential Caucus. Refreshments will be served. A brief General Membership Meeting will follow the caucus on Tuesday April 29, 2008 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm at the Philadelphia Ethical Society Building, 1st floor, 1906 South Rittenhouse Square.

Instant runoff voting (irv)<http://www.fairvote.org/?page=2153>, tallied at the state level, to bind Green delegates to their national Presidential Nominating Convention to be held in Chicago July 10 - 14. The presidential candidates include:

Jesse Johnson – http://www.jesse08.org

Born 1959, in West Virginia. Attended North Carolina School for the Arts, and Marshall University. Worked on a seismographic ship, as an actor, stage producer, stand-up comic and country line dance instructor. Ran for Governor of WV in 2002, and US Senate in 2006.

“Our world is filled with exploiters illegally preying upon our most valuable resources. Coalmining companies value short-term gain, limiting profits. Lending institutions don't care who loses their homes…They care about usurious interest rates. Health Insurance companies care that their bottom line is healthy… Every citizen must become a steward of our democratic ideal. We must put ourselves forward to become leaders in the fight to save our nation, environment and each other… let's build a movement.“

Cynthia McKinney – http://www.runcynthiarun.org

Born 1955, in Atlanta, GA. B.A. in International Relations from the U. of Southern California, M.A in Law and Diplomacy from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Former six-term Democratic Member of Congress from GA, 1993-2003; 2005-2007.

A courageous voice for the voiceless, unafraid to speak truth to power:

* Consistently opposed funding for bloated military and secret intelligence budgets;

* Introduced Articles of Impeachment for George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice;

* Authored a living wage bill in Congress

* Cosponsor of every bill to create a national, single-payer system for universal access to health care.

* Sponsored legislation for ranked choice voting and to restore auditability to Federal elections.

Kat Swift – http://www.bexargreens.org/katforprez

Born 1973 in Shreveport, LA. Attended Mount Holyoke College; Studies in: anatomy, biology, computer science, aromatherapy, herbalism, spirituality, comparative religion, peer counseling, energy & body therapy techniques. Worked in food service, business administration; as substitute teacher; security dispatcher & guard; and technology support person.

Active Green since 1999. Co-Chair GP of TX SEC 2005-7; Co-Spokesperson for National GP Women's Caucus. Ran for San Antonio city council 2007 and received 30% of the vote. Key issues include Education, Capital Punishment, Global Warming, Legalization of Marijuana, proportional representation; affordable single-payer healthcare.

Kent Mesplay – http://www.mesplay.org

Born 1962, in Papua New Guinea. Undergraduate engineering degree from Harvey Mudd College and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. Informally studied energy methods of healing. Worked at VA Medical Center, Long Beach, CA; taught High School math; currently works as Air Quality Inspector in San Diego.

Registered Green since 1995. California delegate to the Green National Committee; On County Council of the Green Party, San Diego County; Green Party Presidential candidate, 2004; member of Environment California and a strong advocate of alternative energy legislation. His campaign focus on environmental and health care issues, political reform, and US-Mexico relations.

Ralph Nader – http://www.votenader.org

Born 1934, in Connecticut. Consumer advocate, lawyer, author. Named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Americans in the Twentieth Century, his efforts have helped to create a framework of laws, regulatory agencies, and federal standards that have improved the quality of life for two generations of Americans. AB magna cum laude from Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs, Princeton University; LLB from Harvard Law School. Presidential candidate of the Green Party in 2000 and independent Presidential candidate in 2004.

Nader is not seeking the Green Party nomination in 2008. He has chosen to seek ballot access in Pennsylvania with the “Populist Party” slogan. Iincluded as a candidate here because many Greens support his candidacy despite his not running as a Green.

No Candidate

Caucus attendees may vote ‘No Candidate’ as one of their preferences, supporting the idea that GPUS (or GPPA) ought not to run any Presidential candidate.

Uncommitted

Caucus attendees may vote ‘Uncommitted’ as one of their preferences, supporting the idea that the GPPA delegation to GPUS should be allowed flexibility to vote in whatever way they deem best at the nomination convention in Chicago in July.

Greens can also write-in another choice or vote for "no candidate".

The caucus will start with a short period of socializing and interpersonal lobbying, followed by an introduction, explanation of the process and then by speakers from each candidate's (and "no candidate's") cluster of supporters. Following the brief presentations, participants will be asked to cast their votes, including their second, third and fourth choices to be tallied using an instant runoff voting (irv) process. Participants must have registered "Green" by the close of registration before the primary election (March 24th) in order to vote.

A question will be put to participants asking if they choose for the state to participate in the national Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention and to support the national Green Party nominee; or if they choose for the state to bypass the national convention and to place the winner of the state caucus tally on the November, general election ballot.

A brief Green Party of Philadelphia General Meeting will follow the caucus. The Agenda includes election of 7 members to the City Committee, approval of the GPoP annual budget, and election of 12 representatives to the GPPA State Committee.

Ballot access petitions and materials to support petitioning will be available. Instruction on petitioning and signature verification will also be available along with the opportunity for Greens and their supporters to sign-up to help with petitioning at upcoming events.

The Ethical Society Building is on the Southwest corner of Rittenhouse Square and is a just a few blocks South of the 19th Street stop on the Green Line trolleys. It is about 7 blocks from SEPTA's Suburban Regional Rail Station.

There will be a Montgomery County Presidential Caucus <http://pa.greens.org/montgomery/events.html> on Saturday, May 3rd, 10 am, at the Lansdale Public Library, 301 Vine Street, Lansdale. There will be a Delaware County Presidential Caucus <http://www.delcogreens.org/events.html> on Saturday, May 10th, 1:30 pm, at the Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore (wheelchair accessible). Area Greens may participate in whichever is most convenient, but may only vote at one caucus.

See the Green Party of PA website

<http://www.gpofpa.org/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=14>

for additional information or for caucuses in other parts of the state.

Who Died and Made Tavis King?

By Melissa Harris-Lacewell | TheRoot.com

Does Tavis realize that Obama is trying to win an election?

Views

Who put Tavis Smiley in charge?

Over the past two months African Americans have emerged as equal partners in a multi-racial, intergenerational, bipartisan, national coalition led by the most exciting political candidate of the past four decades, who also happens to be the first viable African-American presidential possibility in our history. So why is Tavis Smiley throwing a temper tantrum? He is mad because Obama has not promised to attend Smiley's "State of the BlackUnion" next week in New Orleans. At last year's SOTBU Al Sharpton, Cornel West and others joined Tavis in roundly criticizing Obama for not attending. Where was Barack that weekend? Oh yeah, he was announcing his bid for the U.S. presidency.

This year, Obama is busy trying to win Texas, which has emerged as the firewall state for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Obama wins Texas; Hillary goes home. But Tavis & Co. think Obama should spend precious hours chatting with them about their agenda?

(Jimi Izrael wondered the same thing about him and the other Popes of Blackness.) Let me be clear: I respect the importance of the SOTBU. Tavis performs an essential public service by creating and reproducing a critical black counter-public through this event. The event is decidedly democratic because it is open to a true variety of black voices. Every year it showcases black intellect, commitment and ideological diversity. All this is great, but it doesn't make Tavis the gatekeeper. It certainly doesn't give him the right to act as King-Maker, or in this case Queen-Maker.

Tavis and his guests have every right to criticize Obama if they have substantive disagreements with his policy, his approach to politics or his viability as a general election candidate. They do not have a right to create a false, racial litmus test. All these black leaders who spent the year telling us that Obama is not old enough, not black enough and not angry enough to earn African American votes must have noticed that Obama can deliver the black vote to himself, by himself, with little help from these self-proclaimed racial power brokers.

I can't quite figure out what motivates Tavis. At least I understand the old guard Civil Rights leaders. They are genuinely unwilling to cede power, believing that they have an authenticity claim based on their proximity to Martin Luther King, Jr. I also understand the frightened Democratic insiders who rely on the remnants of the Clinton machine for their bread and butter. But Tavis is not in either category. He is a part of a new generation of journalists who have carved out their own constituency. I am actually surprised to see Smiley join a pile-on led by his former boss Bob Johnson, who tried to silence him with such an ungracious termination a decade ago.

Maybe Tavis legitimately worries that the policy issues of black America will be lost in the excitement of the multiracial coalition. That is fair. But I wonder why Tavis does not trust us to vote in our own interests. Obama won the votes of the people of Louisiana last week. He stood at Katrina's ground-zero while Hillary blew off the state, assuming she couldn't win it. Now Tavis wants to act as a racial super-delegate by claiming he knows what the people need better than the voters.

Maybe Tavis is just jealous. Maybe it isn't deep at all, just a replay of the old adage about crabs in a barrel.

I do think that an Obama should attend the State of the Black Union. I agree with CNN's Roland Martin (which is rare) that Michelle should go. She should listen to concerns, answer questions from the audience and take seriously the substantive concerns raised there. Barack should be in Texas. I don't think anybody in the room will claim that Michelle is not a good enough surrogate for Barack. If Hillary can claim Bill's presidency as her experience, I am pretty sure Michelle can talk to Tavis on the campaign's behalf.

I usually watch this event every year. It is fun, enlightening and inspiring. This year I will have to TiVo it. Why? Because I will be phoningTexas voters to remind them to head out to the polls on March 4.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell is is associate professor of politics and African American studies at Princeton University.

http://essence. typepad.com/ news/2008/ 02/copy-of- sen-bar.html

Copy of Sen. Barack Obama letter to Tavis Smiley

February 13, 2008

Mr. Tavis Smiley
President and CEO
The Smiley Group
3870 Crenshaw Boulevard
Suite 391
Los Angeles, CA 90008

Dear Tavis,

Thank you for the invitation to participate in the 2008 State of the Black Union forum in New Orleans, Louisiana February 21-23. The exchange of ideas raised at this annual symposium are invaluable as our nation strives to address the critical issues facing not just African Americans, but Americans of every race, background and political party.

I especially commend you for hosting this dialogue in New Orleans. On the eve of the Louisiana primary, I visited this great city for the fifth time since declaring my candidacy to share policy proposals for rebuilding the Gulf Coast so that we never experience another Hurricane Katrina. On February 9, I was deeply humbled to win the Louisiana primary with 86 percent of the African American vote and a 14 point lead among all voters who said they were adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Uniting our country and creating a national constituency for fundamental change is why I am running for President of the United States. We have come a long way in this race, but we still have a long road ahead. In the final stretch, I will be on the campaign trail everyday in states like Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin talking directly with voters about the causes that are at the heart of my campaign and the State of the Black Union forum such as affordable healthcare, housing, economic opportunity, civil rights and foreign policy. I am committed to touching every voter, and working to earn their vote. That is why with regret, I am not able to attend the forum.

I understand that you have declined the campaign’s request to have Michelle Obama speak on my behalf. I ask that you reconsider. Michelle is a powerful voice for the type of real change America is hungry for. No one knows my record or my passion for leading America in a new direction more than Michelle Obama.

Tavis, this is our movement and our time. I look forward to working closely with you throughout this election. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

Clinton: Obama 'Change You Can Xerox'

Clinton: Obama 'Change You Can Xerox'

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night and said he represented "change you can Xerox." Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, adding in a campaign debate, "What we shouldn't be doing is tearing each other down, we should be lifting the country up." The exchange marked an unusually pointed moment in an otherwise civil encounter in the days before March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio - contests that even some of Clinton's supporters say she must win to sustain her campaign for the White House.

The former first lady has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and trails her rival in convention delegates. Obama has won a pair of big union endorsements in the past two days.

In a university auditorium in the heart of Texas, the two rivals agreed that high-tech surveillance measures are preferable to construction of a fence to curtail illegal immigration.

They disagreed on the proper response to a change in government in Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro's resignation. Clinton said she would refuse to sit down with incoming President Raul Castro until he implements political and economic reforms. Obama said he would meet "without preconditions," but added the U.S. agenda for such a session would include human rights in the Communist island nation.

They also sparred frequently about health care, a core issue of the campaign.

Clinton said repeatedly that Obama's plan would leave 15 million Americans uncovered.

But he, in turn, accused the former first lady of mishandling the issue by working in secrecy when her husband was in the White House.

"I'm going to do things differently," he said. "We can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen."

Clinton was combative and complimentary by turns, and reflected on her well-known personal struggles in the debate's final moments.

"Everyone here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life," she said - a thinly veiled but clear reference to her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment. But she added that nothing she had been through matched the everyday struggles of voters.

Then, offering unprompted praise to her rival, the one-time front-runner said, "No matter what happens in this contest, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama."

Both candidates were plainly popular with the debate audience. During one break someone in the crowd shouted "Si, se puede," Spanish for Obama's trademark phrase, "Yes we can."

Clinton largely sidestepped a question about so-called superdelegates, members of Congress, governors and party leaders who were not picked in primaries and caucuses. She said the issue would sort itself out, and "we'll have a united Democratic party" for the fall campaign.

But Obama, who has won more primaries and caucuses said the contests must "count for something ... that the will of the voters ... is what ultimately will determine who our next nominee is going to be."

Clinton went into the debate needing a change in the course of the campaign, and waited patiently for an opening to try to diminish her rival, seated inches away on the stage. "I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes Senator Obama and I have a lot in common," she said.

Barely pausing for breath, she went on to say there were differences.

First, she said she had seen a supporter of Obama interviewed on television recently, and unable to name a single accomplishment the Illinois senator had on his record.

"Words are important and words matter but actions speak louder than words," she said.

Obama agreed with that, then noted that Clinton lately had been urging voters to turn against him by saying, "let's get real."

"And the implication is that the people who've been voting for me or are involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," Obama said.

Clinton also raised Obama's use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

"If your candidacy is going to be about words then they should be your own words," she said. "...Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox."

The debate audience booed.

Obama said the entire controversy was evidence of a "silly season" that the public finds dispiriting. Besides, he said of his speeches at one point, "I've got to admit, some of them are pretty good."

The two rivals sat next to one another in swivel chairs in a University of Texas auditorium for the 90-minute debate, one in a dwindling number of opportunities for the former first lady to chart a new course in the presidential race.

She has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses to Obama - including an overseas competition for support among Americans living aboard - and has fallen behind in the chase for the number of delegates needed to become the presidential nominee.

Obama's strong showing has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a black man and a white woman, and even former President Bill Clinton has said his wife must win both Ohio and Texas early next month to preserve her candidacy. New polls show Texas a dead heat, and give Clinton a lead in Ohio, but far smaller than the one she held in recent weeks.

Rhode Island and Vermont also vote on March 4, but offer far fewer delegates and have drawn less attention.

The encounter was the 19th in an episodic series of debates and forums, a run that has ranged from highly civilized to hotly confrontational.

The last time the two met, in Los Angeles, they sat side by side and disagreed politely. But in an earlier encounter last month, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each accused the other of repeatedly and deliberately distorting the truth for political gain in a highly personal, finger-wagging showdown.

In The Associated Press' delegate count Thursday, Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer's convention.

In a further sign of his growing strength, Obama won the endorsement during the day of the Change to Win labor federation, which claims 6 million members. The Teamsters union announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.

The debate was sponsored by CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party.

Cindy McCain, Like Others, Stands by Man

Cindy McCain, Like Others, Stands by Man

Republican presidential hopeful, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accompanied by his wife Cindy, speaks at a news conference in Toledo, Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 21,2008, to respond to allegations by the New York Times of impropriety with a female lobbyist in Toledo, Ohio. Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- Cindy McCain did not hesitate as she stepped toward the microphone, taking her place in the history of political wives who stood by their men in the face of rumored or alleged marital infidelity.

"Well, obviously, I'm disappointed," she said, her voice low but clear and self-assured. "More importantly, my children and I not only trust my husband, but know that he would never do anything to not only disappoint our family, but disappoint the people of America. He's a man of great character."

She and her husband, likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain, emphatically denied suggestions in published reports that he had an affair with a lobbyist.

A coterie of wives has confronted the public pain of such an accusation. Smaller still is the band who, like Cindy McCain, have spoken out.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady who is battling Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, memorably insisted to CBS's "60 Minutes" during the 1992 campaign, "I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette." She sat beside husband Bill.

And there was her cool demeanor, six years later, at the news conference where her husband declared of Monica Lewinsky: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

Mrs. Clinton made this barbed observation to the journalists who were present, "I'm pleased to see so many people in attendance who care about child care," a reference to the reason the news conference had been arranged.

Few political wives are considered strong women, said Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at City University of New York.

"Hillary Clinton would certainly fit. Michelle Obama would certainly fit. Cindy McCain would certainly fit, from all indications," Renshon said. "You don't expect them to feel either shell-shocked or look like a deer caught in the headlights. It's not in their nature, because they're strong women."

Cindy McCain is certainly no shrinking violet. Just this week, she tweaked the wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama for seeming to suggest she didn't have much pride in the United States until Obama's campaign gained steam.

"I'm proud of my country," she said in Wisconsin on Tuesday. "I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier."

On Thursday, Cindy McCain struck a balance between strident and shocked as she calmly helped her husband confront the allegations. She was no Hillary Clinton, but neither was she silent, like the wives of New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig. The first announced he was gay, the second said he was not.

The New York Times had strongly suggested there was an inappropriate relationship between her husband, John McCain, and a female lobbyist, including favors for her clients. The Washington Post quickly published a similar story. The Times story also said top McCain aides became "convinced the relationship had become romantic."

At a news conference hours later, McCain denied any romantic relationship and insisted he had never done anything to betray the public trust.

Cindy McCain stood with her shoulder pressed against her husband's, watching him and his questioners intently, her expression pleasant and composed, as usual. Asked for her thoughts, she moved to the microphone without pause.

As she finished, her husband, obviously appreciative, said, "I should have had you conduct this." Cindy McCain smiled and briefly placed her hand on his arm.

The scene has played out time and again in politics, although the circumstances vary:

-Suzanne Craig stood silently as her husband, Larry, denied last summer that he had propositioned a man in the stall of an airport bathroom. Her expression was obscured by large sunglasses.

-Louisiana Rep. David Vitter apologized last summer after being linked to a Washington escort service. As reporters demanded to know whether he had any sexual relationship, his wife, Wendy, seized the podium, calling her husband "my best friend" and saying that forgiveness "is the right choice for me." Ironically, Wendy Vitter had predicted years ago that she would act more like knife-wielding Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary Clinton if her husband strayed.

-Carlita Kilpatrick, seated next to her husband, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, touched his knee as he publicly apologized to his family amid a scandal over intimate and sexually explicit text messages involving him and his top aide. "Yes, I am angry, I am hurt, and I am disappointed. But there is no question that I love my husband."

-Dina Matos McGreevey stood, obviously shell-shocked, next to her husband, then-Gov. McGreevey, as he announced in 2004 he was "a gay American" and would resign. He said later he stepped down rather than succumb to a $50 million blackmail threat from a male former lover. She wrote a tell-all book after they divorced.

-Lee Hart, after husband Gary Hart was linked to model Donna Rice during his presidential campaign, insisted to reporters in 1987: "When Gary says nothing happened, nothing happened."

How they responded "depends on the allegation, and it depends on the spouse," Renshon said.

Their comments are an important part of any candidate's response when such an accusation arises, he said.

"The allegation of infidelity is still a powerful allegation, and it remains powerful because it's about trust and responsibility, the idea that if you're cheating on your spouse, what can we expect of you in the presidency," he said.

Obama Scores 10th Straight Victory

Obama Scores 10th Straight Victory

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a rally Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008, in Houston.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama added Wisconsin and Hawaii to a primary season winning streak that now totals 10 and has put Hillary Rodham Clinton into a virtual must-win scenario in Democratic contests coming early next month in Texas and Ohio.

The former first lady now looks to a debate Thursday in Austin, Texas, to stall Obama's momentum and reinvigorate her campaign.

"The change we seek is still months and miles away," Obama told a boisterous crowd in Houston in a speech Tuesday night in which he also pledged to end the war in Iraq in his first year in office.

"I opposed this war in 2002. I will bring this war to an end in 2009. It is time to bring our troops home," he declared.

Sen. John McCain, the Republican front-runner, won a pair of primaries, in Wisconsin and Washington, to continue his march toward certain nomination.

In a race growing increasingly negative, Obama cut deeply into Clinton's political bedrock in Wisconsin, splitting the support of white women almost evenly with her. According to polling place interviews, he also ran well among working class voters in the blue collar battleground that was prelude to primaries in the larger industrial states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Clinton made no mention of her defeat, and showed no sign of surrender in an appearance in Youngstown, Ohio.

"Both Senator Obama and I would make history," the New York senator said. "But only one of us is ready on day one to be commander in chief, ready to manage our economy, and ready to defeat the Republicans. Only one of us has spent 35 years being a doer, a fighter and a champion for those who need a voice."

In a clear sign of their relative standing in the race, most cable television networks abruptly cut away from coverage of Clinton's rally when Obama began to speak in Texas.

McCain easily won the Republican primary in Wisconsin with 55 percent of the vote, dispatching former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and edging closer to the 1,191 delegates he needs to clinch the GOP nomination at the party convention in St. Paul, Minn. next summer. The Arizona senator also won the primary in Washington, where 19 delegates were at stake, with 49 percent of the vote in incomplete results.

In scarcely veiled criticism of Obama, the Republican nominee-in-waiting said, "I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure that Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change."

McCain stepped up his criticism of Obama on Wednesday, suggesting the Democrat doesn't have the experience or judgment on foreign policy and defense matters needed in a president.

"There are a lot of national security challenges and I know how to handle them. Senator Obama wants to bomb Pakistan without talking to the Pakistanis. I think that's dangerous," McCain said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I think that's an important factor - experience and judgment. Ready to serve and no on the job training."

McCain's nomination has been assured since Super Tuesday three weeks ago, as first one, then another of his former rivals has dropped out and the party establishment has closed ranks behind him.

Not so in the Democratic race, where Obama and Clinton campaign seven days a week, he the strongest black presidential candidate in history, she bidding to become the first woman to sit in the White House.

Ohio and Texas vote next on March 4 - 370 convention delegates in all - and even some of Clinton's supporters concede she must win one, and possibly both, to remain competitive. Two smaller states, Vermont and Rhode Island, also have primaries that day.

With the votes counted in all but one of Wisconsin's 3,570 precincts, Obama won 58 percent of the vote to 41 percent for Clinton.

With 100 percent of the vote counted in Hawaii, Obama had 76 percent to Clinton's 24 percent.

Wisconsin offered 74 national convention delegates. There were 20 delegates at stake in Hawaii, where Obama spent much of his youth.

Washington Democrats voted in a primary, too, but their delegates were picked earlier in the month in caucuses won by Obama.

The Illinois senator's Wisconsin victory left him with 1,303 delegates in The Associated Press' count, compared with 1,233 for Clinton, a margin that masks his 145-delegate lead among those picked in primaries or caucuses. It takes 2,025 to win the nomination at the party's national convention in Denver. Allocation of the 20 Hawaii delegates was not being calculated until later Wednesday.

Obama's victory came after a week in which Clinton and her aides tried to knock him off stride. They criticized him in television commercials and accused him of plagiarism for using words first uttered by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a friend. He shrugged off the advertising volley, and said that while he should have given Patrick credit, the controversy didn't amount to much.

The voters seemed not to care.

Wisconsin independents cast about one-quarter of the ballots in the race between Obama and Clinton, and roughly 15 percent of the electorate were first-time voters, the survey at polling places said. Obama has run strongly among independents in earlier primaries, and among younger voters, and cited their support as evidence that he would make a stronger general election candidate in the fall.

Obama began the evening with eight straight primary and caucus victories, a remarkable run that has propelled him past Clinton in the overall delegate race and enabled him to chip away at her advantage among elected officials within the party who will have convention votes as superdelegates.

The economy and trade were key issues in the race, and seven in 10 voters said international trade has resulted in lost jobs in Wisconsin. Fewer than one in five said trade has created more jobs than it has lost.

The Democrats' focus on trade was certain to intensify, with primaries in Ohio in two weeks and in Pennsylvania on April 22.

Obama's campaign has already distributed mass mailings critical of Clinton on the issue in Ohio. "Bad trade deals like NAFTA hit Ohio harder than most states. Only Barack Obama consistently opposed NAFTA," it said.

Clinton's aides initially signaled she would virtually concede Wisconsin, and the former first lady spent less time in the state than Obama.

Even so, she ran a television ad that accused her rival of ducking a debate in the state and added that she had the only health care plan that would cover all Americans and the only economic plan to stop home foreclosures. "Maybe he'd prefer to give speeches than have to answer questions" the commercial said.

Obama countered with an ad of his own, saying his health care plan would cover more people.

Unlike the Democratic race, McCain was assured of the Republican nomination and concentrated on turning his primary campaign into a general election candidacy.

In one sign of progress in unifying the party, he split the conservative vote with Huckabee in Wisconsin.

Huckabee parried occasional suggestions - none of them by McCain - that he quit the race. In a move that was unorthodox if not unprecedented for a presidential contender, he left the country in recent days to make a paid speech in the Grand Cayman Islands.

McCain picked up endorsements in the days before the primary from former President George H.W. Bush and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a campaign dropout who urged his 280 delegates to swing behind the party's nominee-to-be.

Rendell’s Race Card Trashes Pennsylvanians

Harrisburg - Governor Ed Rendell’s chances of landing a top position in a future Democratic administration is slowly slipping away as the Hillary Clinton campaign locomotive is being surpassed by the Obama Express. Governor Rendell, hoping to land a top position in DC, endorsed Hillary Clinton shortly after her strong showing in the Nevada caucuses when the polls showed she was likely going to capture the Democratic Presidential nomination. However, Rendell’s grand plan seems to be unraveling as Barack Obama’s recent string of victories has resulted in his pulling ahead of Hillary in the delegate count.

Like any desperate animal backed into a corner, and with his national political future in jeopardy, Rendell has gone on the attack. In the process, he has insulted the people of Pennsylvania and injected the race card into a campaign that has already seen its fair share of race baiting politics.

Rendell’s recent statement that “many white conservatives won’t vote for a black candidate” is not only a thinly veiled cynical attempt to galvanize the white vote in Pennsylvania’s upcoming April primary for his candidate, but it is dead wrong. He errantly cites his own recent election as proof that “many conservative whites won’t vote” for a black candidate.

However, what Rendell fails to do is actually look at the county-by-county results of the 2006 gubernatorial election where he soundly dispatched of Lynn Swann by a 20-point margin. If Rendell had bothered to actually look at the election results, he would find that the reason Swann lost was because Lynn Swann got absolutely crushed in the Philadelphia region by 80% to 20% ratio, losing the City of Philadelphia by a 90% - 10% margin. That accounts for about 45% of the total statewide vote.

It was with the mostly white, moderate-to-liberal Philadelphia suburban voters (those supposedly enlightened enough to vote for a black candidate) that Rendell racked up the big margin over Mr. Swann that propelled him to victory. Furthermore, in the most liberal part of the state, the “City of Brotherly Love,” black voters voted 95% against the first black gubernatorial nominee in Pennsylvania of a major party.

When we turn our attention to the more rural, conservative areas of the state; we see that in 2006 not only did those areas vote for a black candidate, but that Rendell’s conservative-whites-that-won’t-vote-for-blacks voted for Lynn Swan in a greater numbers than Rick Santorum. In conservative bastions such as Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry and Adams counties Swann ran well ahead of Republican Rick Santorum. This despite the fact Santorum was better funded, better known and, by the way, white. Overall Lynn Swann ran ahead of Rick Santorum in rural central and Western Pennsylvania, where the state’s most conservative voters live.

It was a horrible year in 2006 for GOP candidates all across the nation, especially in Pennsylvania where numerous GOP office holders were defeated. Any GOP candidate, regardless of color, going up against Ed Rendell and his money machine in the toxic election conditions of 2006 wouldn’t have fared much better. But as the evidence shows, the areas populated by conservative whites voted for Lynn Swann. It was the areas filled with moderate-to-liberal whites and large black populations that voted overwhelmingly against Lynn Swann.

Rendell’s cynical race card ploy was designed to do two things: First, it was a desperate attempt to stop Barack Obama’s momentum and aid his fledging candidate Hillary Clinton in the up coming April 22^nd primary. Secondly, Rendell wanted to take a pot shot at the people of Pennsylvania; specifically the central Pennsylvania “T” which voted overwhelmingly against him in 2006, by further propagating a stereotype they are all a bunch of “conservative white” racists who would never vote for a black.

It’s truly sad that the Governor of any state would single out a large share of the electorate that he clearly despises and portray them as intolerant to the rest of the country out of sheer vindictiveness and for raw political gain.

(Ryan Shafik is communications director at the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc. His e-mail address is rshafik@lincolninstitute.org.)

Clinton Camp Accuses Obama of Plagiarism

Clinton Camp Accuses Obama of Plagiarism

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks at a campaign rally, Monday, Feb. 18, 2008, at the Schuldes Sports Center on the campus of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis.

DE PERE, Wis. (AP) -- Top advisers to Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of plagiarism Monday, the latest effort by her campaign to undermine the Illinois senator's credibility.

Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson, during a conference call with reporters, pointed to a speech Obama delivered at a Democratic Party dinner in Wisconsin Saturday that lifted lines from an address given last year by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

The Associated Press reported in January that Obama had borrowed ideas and speech points from Patrick, often without attribution. But with Obama now leading in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton's campaign is using this example in an attempt to chip away at the premise of his candidacy.

The passage in question from Obama's speech addressed the power of oratory, and he used it to rebut Clinton's oft-repeated charge that he is long on rhetoric and short on policy specifics.

"Don't tell me words don't matter," Obama told the Wisconsin audience. "'I have a dream' - just words? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' - just words? 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' - just words? Just speeches?"

Patrick used similar language during his 2006 governor's race to push back on similar charges from his GOP opponent.

"'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' - just words? Just words?" Patrick said. "'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' - just words? 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.' Just words? 'I have a dream' - just words?"

Clinton's campaign posted video clips on YouTube to illustrate the similarities in Obama's and Patrick's speeches.

The charges came a day before Wisconsin's presidential primary, where polls indicate a tight race between the two. The contest featured the first negative television ads of the campaign - from Clinton, criticizing Obama for refusing to debate her in the state before the primary.

A day earlier, Wolfson criticized Obama for backing away from a pledge to accept public funding if he is the Democratic nominee, saying Obama had engaged in a pattern of walking away from promises.

Monday, Wolfson said the two matters were related.

"If you ask voters to judge you on the basis of promises and you break them, or on the basis of rhetoric and you lift it, there's not much else there," he said.

The accusations momentarily put Obama on the defensive and distracted from a tour in Ohio where he hoped to focus on the economy.

At a news conference, Obama acknowledged trading ideas with Patrick and said he and the Massachusetts governor occasionally had borrowed language from each other. Obama said he probably should have credited Patrick but said the oversight didn't indicate a pattern of deception.

"I've written two books, wrote most of my speeches. So I think putting aside the question ... in terms of whether my words were my own, I think that would be carrying it too far," Obama said.

He noted that Clinton occasionally had borrowed language from him.

"I really don't think this is too big of a deal," Obama said. "When Senator Clinton says 'It's time to turn the page' in one of her stump speeches or says she's 'fired up and ready to go,' I don't think that anybody suggests that she's not focused on the issues that she's focused on."

He hit back harder at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, turning Clinton's criticism of his speeches into a biting critique of her past support of trade deals, including the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"She says speeches don't put food on the table. You know what? NAFTA didn't put food on the table, either," Obama said, bringing the Rust Belt crowd to its feet.

Obama Wins 3 Primaries, Leads Delegates

Obama Wins 3 Primaries, Leads Delegates

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves to the crowd following his address at a rally Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, in Madison Wis.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Barack Obama blamed Washington and his Democrat and Republican rivals for the nation's economic woes on Wednesday, one day after racking up big primary victories. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton courted Texas voters, counting on the state to help her faltering candidacy rebound.

"We are not standing on the brink of recession due to forces beyond our control," Obama said in excerpts of a speech at a General Motors plant in Janesville, Wis. "The fallout from the housing crisis that's cost jobs and wiped out savings was not an inevitable part of the business cycle. It was a failure of leadership and imagination in Washington."

On Tuesday, General Motors Corp., reported the largest annual loss ever for a U.S. automotive company - $38.7 billion in 2007. The loss largely was due to a third-quarter charge related to unused tax credits. Separately, GM was offering a new round of buyouts to 74,000 U.S. hourly workers.

Obama offered a litany of problems associated with Washington, where he has been a senator since January 2005.

"It's a Washington where politicians like John McCain and Hillary Clinton voted for a war in Iraq that should've never been authorized and never been waged - a war that is costing us thousands of precious lives and billions of dollars a week" that could be used on infrastructure, job training and health care.

Obama surged to the fore in the delegate race for the party prize with resounding primary victories Tuesday in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. On the GOP side, McCain took another step in shoring up his credentials as the runaway Republican front-runner despite lukewarm support from the party's conservative base.

Clinton, considered the overwhelming Democratic favorite just a few weeks ago, was left to turn her attention to Texas and Ohio in an attempt to pump new life into her suddenly stumbling campaign.

"There's a great saying in Texas, all hat and no cattle," she told a boisterous crowd of about 12,000 at a college basketball arena in El Paso Tuesday evening as the shape of the latest Obama ballot victories were unfolding. "Well, after seven years of George Bush, we need a lot less hat and lot more cattle."

Before flying into Texas, she told a Cincinnati television station that "Ohio is really going to count in determining who our Democratic nominee is going to be." She also declared herself the "underdog candidate" in the Wisconsin primary next Tuesday, the same day Obama's birthplace Hawaii holds its primary.

In was at the University of Wisconsin where Obama characterized his surging campaign to a crowd of 17,000. "This is what change looks like when it happens from the bottom up," he said. "This is the new American majority."

Looking ahead to November, he said that although he honors McCain's experience as a war hero, he is linked to failed policies put in place by President Bush.

"George Bush won't be on the ballot this November, but the Bush-Cheney war and the Bush-Cheney tax cuts for the wealthy will be on the ballot," he said.

McCain told supporters in Virginia it is clear where either Obama or Clinton would take the country "and we dare not let them. They will paint a picture of the world in which America's mistakes are a greater threat to our security than the malevolent intentions of an enemy that despises us and our ideals."

The Associated Press count of delegates showed Obama with 1,223. Clinton had 1,198, falling behind for the first time since the campaign began. Neither was close to the 2,025 needed to win the nomination.

His victories Tuesday were by overwhelming margins - 75 percent of the vote in the nation's capital , nearly two-thirds in Virginia and approximately 60 percent in Maryland.

Obama moved past Clinton in the delegate chase on the basis of the Tuesday's primaries and newly released results from last Saturday's Washington caucuses. Additional delegates still to be allocated from his new victories were certain to add to his lead.

McCain's victory in Virginia was a relatively close one, the result of an outpouring of religious conservatives who backed Mike Huckabee.

The AP count showed McCain with 821 delegates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race last week, had 288. Huckabee had 241 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 14.

Obama Looks for Momentum in Va., Md., DC

Obama Looks for Momentum in Va., Md., DC

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a campaign rally Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, in Baltimore, Md. Maryland, Virginia, and Washington will hold their primaries Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama looked to continue his winning streak in three mid-Atlantic presidential primaries Tuesday, while rival Hillary Rodham Clinton turned her attention to a future round of contests. Republican John McCain sought to rebound from two weekend losses to Mike Huckabee and reinforce his position as the inevitable GOP nominee.

Coming off weekend victories in five contests, Obama was favored to win the primaries in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia thanks to a blend of black and better educated voters in those areas, blocs that have aided his wins in earlier matchups against Clinton. Likewise, McCain was favored on the GOP side.

Democrats picked 168 delegates and Republicans 116 in the Mid-Atlantic primaries.

"We need something new," Obama told a huge rally at the University of Maryland on Monday, dismissing the former first lady's suggestions that he is not tough enough for the rigors of the presidency.

The Illinois senator was traveling late Tuesday to Wisconsin, which votes next week, along with Hawaii, where Obama grew up.

With the Clinton campaign all but conceding losses Tuesday, as well as in other primaries during the month, the New York senator prepared to fly to Texas, which holds its primary on March 4. She is banking on strong showings there and in Ohio, which votes the same day, to blunt Obama's momentum.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I would be the best candidate," Clinton told reporters Monday as she campaigned near Baltimore. "So I'm going forward - every day, we get to make our case to the American people."

On the Republican side, McCain hoped to rebound with three wins Tuesday en route to his likely nomination. The Arizona senator lost contests in Kansas and Louisiana during the weekend, but managed a narrow win in Washington state caucuses that Huckabee is now challenging.

Early turnout was heavy in Virginia, which does not have party registration so voters can participate in either primary. By 9 a.m., voters had to wait as much as 45 minutes in some localities, Board of Elections spokeswoman Susan Pollard said.

"We have had heavy voter turnout in a variety of different localities throughout the state," Pollard said. Richmond voter registrar J. Kirk Showalter said, "It's a good strong turnout."

Interest in the close Democratic contest was evident from spikes in voter registrations and absentee balloting in the region.

In Virginia, a total of 32,166 people had requested mail absentee ballots by last Tuesday's deadline, and nearly two-thirds of them were for Democratic primary ballots. In the first two weeks of the year, 37,025 met the Jan. 14 deadline for registering in time to vote in the primaries. Of that, 61 percent of the new registrants were 24 or younger.

In the District, voter registration increased by 34,916 to 377,007 since the presidential primary in January 2004 - and is up more than 93,000 compared with the 2000 primary.

Dozens of people filled the gymnasium at Oyster Elementary School in northwest Washington as voting began at 7 a.m. Eric Sonnenschein, 34, who waited outside the school before the polls opened, said he planned to vote for Clinton but believed both candidates were highly qualified.

"I feel like this is her chance," Sonnenschein said about Clinton. "I feel like (Obama) will have future chances."

An Associated Press tally shows Clinton with a slim lead among delegates - 1,147, compared to 1,124 for Obama - in the race for the 2,025 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination at this summer's convention.

In the latest AP count, McCain had 729 delegates to Huckabee's 241 delegates. It takes 1,191 delegates to clinch the GOP nomination.

Both the Clinton and Obama campaigns prepared to launch television ads in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday, and added another debate to their schedule - Feb. 21 in Austin, Texas.

In hypothetical general election matchups, a new AP poll conducted after last week's Super Tuesday contests found Obama edging McCain, 48 percent to 42 percent, while Clinton and the Arizona senator were tied - 46 percent for Clinton to 45 percent for McCain.

Despite what the poll numbers suggest, Clinton's strategists argued that she would be the stronger competitor against McCain because she has stared down Republicans throughout her career in politics and public service.

Clinton "has withstood the full brunt of this kind of attack and will be able to neutralize what is likely to happen particularly with a nominee who is not as well known," said strategist Mark Penn

"In a general election the Republicans would spring into action and quickly, if he were the nominee, roll out his full record," Penn said of Obama.

Obama Basks in Crowds, Momentum

Obama Basks in Crowds, Momentum

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a Stand For Change rally Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008, in Virginia Beach, Va.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- Barack Obama could hardly have had a better weekend. On Sunday he added the Maine Democratic presidential caucus to the three contests he swept Saturday against rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, giving him momentum heading into Tuesday's voting in three mid-Atlantic states.

For a cherry on top, he won a Grammy award Sunday, beating former president Bill Clinton and others for "best spoken word album," for the audio version of his book, "The Audacity of Hope."

While everything seemed to go Obama's way this weekend, the Clinton campaign was regrouping. Campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle stepped down a few hours before it was clear that Obama had carried Maine, where both candidates had addressed crowds on Saturday.

Obama also won in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington on Saturday.

The Illinois senator exulted Sunday, telling a crowd of 18,000 in Virginia Beach, Va., "We have won on the Atlantic coast, we have won on the Gulf coast, we have won on the Pacific coast and we have won between those coasts."

The Democratic nomination is far from decided, with weeks or months of campaigning still ahead. Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, is an experienced, well-financed campaigner certainly capable of pulling off more surprise wins, as she did Jan. 8 in New Hampshire.

She also is vying with Obama for the endorsement of former candidate John Edwards. Clinton quietly visited Edwards last Thursday in North Carolina, and Obama reportedly planned to do the same Monday after two rallies in Maryland.

For now, at least, the wind is at Obama's back. Polls published Sunday showed him leading in Maryland and Virginia, which hold primaries Tuesday, along with the District of Columbia.

Barring a Clinton upset in one of those states, her best bet to slow his momentum may lie in upcoming primaries in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Obama has looked buoyant and confident in recent days, basking in huge crowds that cheer him lustily and call out "We love you" and "Yes we can!"

On Sunday in Alexandria, Va., Obama took audience questions for the first time in more than a week. While the people and their questions were not chosen in advance, the queries helped Obama outline his differences with Clinton without seeming to attack her unprovoked.

"I think it's very hard for Senator Clinton to break out of the politics of the past 15 years," which were divisive and included the Democrats' loss of control in Congress, Obama told a woman who asked how to convince others they should vote for him. Clinton "starts off with 47 percent of the country against her," he told 3,000 people at a high school gym in Alexandria, Va. "That's a hard place to start."

Another 1,000 people listened in overflow rooms, typical of the overcapacity crowds Obama has drawn repeatedly. Over the weekend he filled arenas ranging from an 18,000-seat venue in Seattle to a 7,000-seat gym in Bangor, Maine. In each case, several thousand people were turned away - remarkable crowds for campaign events nine months before a general election.

Clinton draws good-sized, appreciative audiences. But Obama's crowds tend to be several times larger when the two senators campaign in the same state within a day or two of each other.