Running List of Obama Endorsements

[Originally posted 2/4/08; FINAL UPDATE 11/4/08  11:30 AM]

[Following Obama's clinching of the nomination, I will include only notable or unexpected endorsements.  IMPORTANT NOTE: The Newspaper endorsements are from the primary season.  I will add 'General Election' next to papers which endorse him over McCain, but I doubt that my marking will be complete.  If you don't see a mark next to a paper, don't assume they haven't endorsed him for the General Election.]

I have decided to leave my two previous endorsement posts alone (Barack Obama Endorsements [January 4-14] and Obama Endorsements January 14-28), and keep one running list of endorsements (people more or less in reverse chronological order; newspapers by state).  I don't claim this is complete, but I hope it gives a sense of the breadth of his support.  Endorsements before the beginning of the year are NOT listed [I've added some to the bottom of the list].  Feel free to email me if I've missed an important endorsement.  (I list endorsers that I think will have an impact—no judgment is made about their positive or negative value.) Recently added endorsements are in green. [3/31: Following the lead of the Superdelegate endorsement list Pelosi Club, I am adding a separate list of people who have not endorsed Obama, but are superdelegates who will vote for the winner of the pledged delegates, which is all but certain to be Senator Barack Obama.  See also The Cantwell Club about the Pelosi Club's most exclusive member (she has now endorsed Obama).]

Politicians and Academics:

• Peter Monroe (Florida Republican & Former President of Resolution Trust Corporation Oversight Board; story)

  "Florida and the United States have the opportunity to vote for one of the 'best and brightest' as president -- without a doubt such person is Senator Barack Obama."

• Ron Reagan (son of President Reagan; audio)
• Nixon & Reagan Speechwriter Jeffrey Hart Obama is the Real Conservative
• Former Reagan Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein (story)
  Duberstein says Palin isn't ready:
  
• Prominent New Hampshire Republican Fred Bramante
  
• Former Republican Sen. Larry Pressler (of SD; story)
• Former Republican Sen. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. (of MD; endorsement)
• Former Republican Gov. William Weld (of MA; story)

  "Senator Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America's standing in the world.  We need a president who will lead based on our common values and Senator Obama demonstrates an ability to unite and inspire."

• Former  Republican Gov. Arne Carlson (of MN; story)
• Former George W. Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan (story with video clip)
  
• Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson (story;wikipedia)
• Republican Former WI State Rep. Barbara Lorman (story)
• Conservative Republican Ken Adelman (story; story on story)
• Google CEO Eric Schmidt (story)
• Former Republican Secretary of State General Colin Powell
  
  Endorsement (or see annotated combined video from Daily Kos):
  
  
  
  Image mentioned in Powell's Endorsement:
  
  
  
  Press conference:
  
  
  
  
• Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria (The Case for Obama)
• Christopher Hitchens (A toughly worded endorsement)
• Michael Smerconish (Conservative Radio Host; Story; Audio)
  

  "I’ve decided. My conclusion comes after reading the candidates’ memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general election debates.
  
  John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I’m voting for a Democrat for president.
  
  I may have been an appointee in the George H.W. Bush administration, and master of ceremonies for George W. Bush in 2004, but last Saturday I stood amidst the crowd at an Obama event in North Philadelphia."

• 76 Nobel Laureates  (An Open Letter to the American People)
  

  "This year's presidential election is among the most significant in our nation's history. The country urgently needs a visionary leader who can ensure the future of our traditional strengths in science and technology and who can harness those strengths to address many of our greatest problems: energy, disease, climate change, security, and economic competitiveness.
  
  We are convinced that Senator Barack Obama is such a leader, and we urge you to join us in supporting him."

• Jim and Sarah Brady
• Lilibet Hagel (wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel; video endorsement)
• Catholic Scholar Nicholas P. Cafardi (story)
• Christopher Buckley (son of William F. Buckley; blog post; in his own words) 
  

  "I have known John McCain personally since 1982. I wrote a well-received speech for him.
  ...
  I thought at the time, God, this guy should be president someday.
  ...
  This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?
  ...
  
  As for Senator Obama: He has exhibited throughout a “first-class temperament,” pace Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s famous comment about FDR.
  ...
  
  I’ve read Obama’s books, and they are first-rate. He is that rara avis, the politician who writes his own books. Imagine. He is also a lefty. I am not. I am a small-government conservative...
  
  Obama has in him...the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for."

• Wick Allison (owner of D magazine, former board member of the National Review; endorsement: A Conservative for Obama)
• Former Republican Gov. Linwood Holton (of VA; story)
• Former NY Mayor Ed Koch (he supported Bush in 2004; Why I'm Voting for Obama-Biden)
  

  
  "If the vice president were ever called on to lead the country, there is no question in my mind that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is a plucky, exciting candidate, but when her record is examined, she fails miserably with respect to her views on the domestic issues that are so important to the people of the U.S., and to me. Frankly, it would scare me if she were to succeed John McCain in the presidency."
  

  
  
• Conservative Activist Larry Hunter (his Daily News opinion piece)
  

  "How could I support a candidate with a domestic policy platform that's antithetical to almost everything I believe in?
  
  The answer is simple: Unjustified war and unconstitutional abridgment of individual rights vs. ill-conceived tax and economic policies - this is the difference between venial and mortal sins."

• Former Vice President Al Gore (TN)
• Senator Hillary Clinton (NY; former first lady, presidential candidate; video of entire endorsement speech) video of news story on her endorsement:
• [Obama Declares Victory]
• Senator Maria Cantwell (WA; switched from Clinton, a promise discussed in this post)
• Superdelegates of 6 June (DNC switchers, Reps, Senators, Governors, DPLs):   Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV)
  Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC)
  Rep. Bob Etheridge (NC)
  Sen. Jack Reed (RI)
  Gov. Steve Beshear (KY)
  Gov. Joe Manchin (WV)
  Rep. Tim Ryan (OH) (switch from Clinton)
  DNC Garry Shay (CA) (switch from Clinton)
  DNC Yolanda Caraway (DC) (switch from Clinton)
  Rep. Jason Altmire (PA)
   
• Superdelegates of 5 June (DNC switchers, Reps, Senators, Governors, DPLs):
  [Note: I am not bolding Reps who switch any more.  The train has already left the station, so to speak.]
  
  
  Former House Speaker Tom Foley (WA; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Jay Inslee (WA; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Nikki Tsongas (MA)
  Gov. Ted Strickland (OH; switched from Clinton)
  DNC Billi Gosh (VT; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Diana DeGette (CO; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Zach Space (OH)
  Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL)
  Rep. Corrine Brown (FL)
  Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (FL)
  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)
  Rep. Jim Matheson (UT)
  
  
  All 23 members of the NY Congressional Delegation switched from Clinton:
  Anthony Weiner, Brian Higgins, Carolyn Maloney, Carolyn McCarthy, Charles Rangel, Edolphus Towns, Eliot Engel, Gary Ackerman, Gregory Meeks, Jerrold Nadler, John Hall, Jose Serrano, Joseph Crowley, Kirsten Gillibrand, Louise Slaughter, Maurice Hinchey, Michael Arcuri, Michael McNulty, Nita Lowey, Nydia Velazquez, Steve Israel, Timothy Bishop, Yvette D. Clarke
  
  
  Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH)
  Rep. Betty Sutton (OH; switched from Clinton)
• Superdelegates of 4 June (DNC switchers, Reps, Senators, Governors, DPLs):
  
  
  
  Former VP Walter Mondale (MN; switched from Clinton to Obama)
  Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD)
  Sen. Frank Lautenberg (NJ)
  Gov. Phil Bredesen (TN)
  Rep. Rahm Emanuel (IL) 
  Rep. Mike Doyle (PA) 
  Sen. Ken Salazar (CO)
  Sen. Tom Harkin (IA)
  Rep. Tom Udall (NM)
  Sen. Ben Cardin (MD)
  Sen. Herb Kohl (WI)
  Sen. Ron Wyden (OR)
  Rep. John Salazar (CO)
  Rep. Mark Udall (CO)
  Sen. Tom Carper (DE)
  Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA)
  Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA; switched from Clinton to Obama)
  Rep. Michael Michaud (ME)
  Rep. Susan Davis (CA)

  DNC Claude "Buddy" Leach (LA; switched from Clinton to Obama)

  
  
• Superdelegates of 3 June (DNC switchers, Reps, Senators, Governors, DPLs):
  
  
  Former President Jimmy Carter (GA; was in Pelosi club)
  DNC Ben Johnson (DC; switched from Clinton to Obama)
  DNC Kamil Hasan (CA; switched from Clinton to Obama)
  Rep. Maxine Waters (CA; switched from Clinton to Obama)
  DNC Rhett Ruggerio (DE; switched from Clinton to Obama)
  Rep. Dennis Moore (KS)
  Rep. Bob Brady (PA)
  Rep. William Jefferson (LA)
  Rep. John Sarbarnes (MD)
  Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)
  Christine Pelosi (CA; was in Pelosi Club)
  DNC Rachel Binah (CA; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Sam Farr (CA)
  Rep. Bob Filner (CA)
  Rep. Jerry McNerney (CA)
  Gov. Bill Ritter (CO)
  DNC Michael Thurmond (GA; switched from Clinton)
  DNC Patsy Arceneaux (LA; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Bart Stupak (MI)
  Rep. Rush Holt (NJ; one of three physicists in Congress)
  DNC Ian Murray (PA; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Ron Sims (WA; switched from Clinton)
  Rep. Rick Stafford (MN; switched from Clinton)
  Sen. Max Baucus (MT)
  Sen. Jon Tester (MT)
  Governor Brian Schweitzer (MT)
• Rep.  Alan Mollohan (of WV)
  
• Rep. Dennis Cardoza (of CA;switched from Clinton to Obama)
  
• Rep. Jim Costa (of CA)
  
• Rep. Joe Courtney (of CT)
  
• Investor Warren Buffet
• Senator Robert Byrd (of WV; This is an amazing endorsement given his beginnings in the KKK)

  "Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support" 

• Mayor Mufi Hannemann (of Honolulu HI)
• Rep. Henry Waxman (of CA) 

  "I wanted to make sure that Senator Clinton had every opportunity to bring her campaign to the American people. It is now clear, however, that the Democratic Party is nearing a broad consensus on our nominee. And it is with great pride that I endorse Senator Barack Obama for President."

• Rep. Howard Berman (of CA)
  
• Rep. Jim McDermott (of WA)
  
• Former Presidential Candidate John Edwards (of NC; full video)

• William Donaldson (Former SEC Chair, appointed by George W. Bush)
  
• Arthur Levitt (Former SEC Chair, appointed by Bill Clinton)
• David Ruder (Former SEC Chair, appointed by Ronald Reagan)
  
• College Democrat superdelegates Lauren Wolfe and Awais Khaleel 
• Rep. Peter Visclosky (of IN)
• Sen. Daniel Akaka (of HI)
  
• Rep. Tom Allen (of ME)
• Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo (of KY; key endorsement)

  "I believe Senator Obama can unite the Democratic Party and build a coalition of Independents and Republicans to win in November"
  

• Rep. Harry Mitchell (of AZ)
  
• Rep. Mazie Hirono (of HI)
  
• Rep. Donald Payne (of NJ; Switched from Clinton to Obama)
  
• Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR)
  
• Rep. Brad Miller (of NC)
• Rep. Rick Larsen (of WA)
• Former Rep. David Bonior (of MI; Former Campaign Manager for John Edwards)
• Former Presidential Nominee George McGovern (of SD; Switched from Clinton to Obama)

  "Obama has won the nomination by any practical test... It's time to unite the Democratic Party."

• Superdelegate Jennifer McClellan (of VA House; switched from Clinton to Obama)
• Former Gov. Parris Glendening (of MD;add-on superdelegate)
  
• Superdelegate Joe Andrew (of IN; switched from Clinton to Obama) 

  "A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists (Republican) John McCain."

• Rep. Bruce Braley (of IA) 
  
• Rep. Baron Hill (of IN)
• Rep. Lois Capps (of CA)
• Rep. Ben Chandler (of KY; story)
  

  "Now is not the time to be timid. It's instead a time to be bold and support a candidate who can transform our future."

• Senator Jeff Bingaman (of NM)
• Gabriel Guerra-Mondragon (big Clinton donor; switch to Obama)
  
• Rep. David Wu (of OR;story;Chair of the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee)
• Governor Brad Henry (of OK; story)
• Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel (of Evansville, IN; story)
• Former Sen. Don Riegle (of MI)
• Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (in the Clinton admin.; three endorsements; his blog)

My avoidance of offering a formal endorsement until now has also been affected by the pull of old friendships and my reluctance as a teacher and commentator to be openly partisan. But my conscience won't let me be silent any longer...

His plans for reforming Social Security and health care have a better chance of succeeding. His approaches to the housing crisis and the failures of our financial markets are sounder than hers. His ideas for improving our public schools and confronting the problems of poverty and inequality are more coherent and compelling. He has put forward the more enlightened foreign policy and the more thoughtful plan for controlling global warming...

...he offers the best possibility of restoring America's moral authority in the world.

• Former Sen. Sam Nunn (of GA; was head of  Senate Armed Services Committee; three endorsements)
  

  I believe Senator Obama has a rare ability to restore America's credibility and moral authority and to get others to join us in tackling serious global problems.

• Former Sen. David Boren (of OK; was head of  Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; three endorsements)
• Rep. David Price (of NC; Obama can change the equation)
  

  "With Barack Obama as our nominee, I believe we can turn North Carolina blue this year"

• Rep. Mel Watt (of NC)
• Rep. Andre Carson (of Indiana)
• Auditor General Jack Wagner (of PA; last of the statewide officials to decide: now 2-to-2)
• Former Gov. Barbara Roberts (of Oregon)
  
• Former Gov. John Kitzhaber (of Oregon; story for both)
  
• Mayor Steve Luecke (of South Bend Indiana; story)
• Former Republican Gov. & Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr (of CT; story)
• Governor Dave Freudenthal (of Wyoming; story)
  
• Former Sen. John Melcher (of Montana)
  
• Former Rep. Lee Hamilton (of Indiana; cochair of the 9/11 Commission; story)

  “I read his national security and foreign policy speeches, and he comes across to me as pragmatic, visionary and tough. He impresses me as a person who wants to use all the tools of presidential power.”

• Senator Amy Klobuchar (of Minnesota;unexpected endorsement)
  
• Mayor John Engen (of Missoula, Montana; story; since some have asked: he is NOT a superdelegate)
• Senator Bob Casey (of Pennsylvania; surprise endorsement; video)

  "I believe in my heart that there is one person whose uniquely qualified to lead us in that new direction and that is Barack Obama."

• Rep. Dan Lipinski (of IL, penultimate superdelegate in IL to decide)
  
• Mayor Yvonne Johnson (of Greesnsboro, NC)
• Doug Kmiec (Republican; Head of Office of Legal Council for Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush; Head the Romney for President Committee on the Courts and the Constitution; endorsement)
  

  "Today I endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States...It is not arrived at without careful thought and some difficulty...I believe him to be a person of integrity, intelligence and genuine good will. I take him at his word that he wants to move the nation beyond its religious and racial divides and to return United States to that company of nations committed to human rights... I do have confidence that the Senator will cast his net widely in search of men and women of diverse, open-minded views and of superior intellectual qualities to assist him in the wide range of responsibilities that he must superintend."

• Gov. Bill Richardson (of New Mexico; former presidential candidate, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 5 times; story)
  

  "I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world. As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation. There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the judgment and courage we need in a commander in chief when our nation's security is on the line."
  

• Cass Sunstein (U. of Chicago Law Professor; great piece: The Obama I know)
• Rep. Bill Foster (just elected to Dennis Hastert's vacated seat in IL (Hastert, a Republican, was the Speaker of the House); physicist and programmer!) 
• Lt. Gov. Beverley Perdue (of NC; story)
• Brigadier General Larry Gillespie (Army)  
  
• Major General Scott Gration (USAF-Ret;Former Director of Strategy, Policy, and Assessments of the United States European Command)  
  
• Admiral Don Guter (Navy)  
  
• Brigadier General David "Dave" McGinnis (Former Chief of Staff of the National Guard Association of the U.S) 
  
• General Merrill "Tony" McPeak (Former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force) 
  
• Admiral John B. Nathman (Former Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command)  
  
• Major General Hugh Robinson (military aide to Lyndon Johnson) 
  
• Brigadier General James Smith (USAF-Ret; Former Commander, Joint Warfighting Center) 
• Admiral Robert "Willie" Williamson (USN-Ret Rear Admiral; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy) 
  
• Major General Ralph Wooten (Army)
  
• Rep. Nick Rahall (of West Virginia; story)
  
• Daniel Kurtzer (former US Ambassador to Israel for Pres. Bush, 2001-2005; quote)
• Former Gov. Hugh Carey (of New York; story)
  
• Current and Former Mayors of Brownsville, TX
• Jim Hightower (progressive populist in TX; statement)
• Sen. Jay Rockefeller (of WV; Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee; his strong endorsement)
• Rep. Rob Wexler (of FL)
• Rep. John Barrow (of Georgia)
  
• Senator Byron Dorgan (of North Dakota; story)
• Paul Strauss (shadow Sen. of DC)
• Michael Brown (shadow Sen. of DC)
• Former Gov. Mark White (of Texas)
  
• Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (of South Dakota)
• Sen. Chris Dodd (of CT; former presidential candidate; story)
  
• Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley
• Steve Novick (Merkley's opponent in the US Senate race; story)
• Mayor Mark Mallory (of Cincinnati OH)
• Mayor Michael Coleman (of Columbus OH)
  
• Mayor Donald Culliver (of Mansfield OH)
• Mayor Frank Jackson (of Cleveland OH)
  
• Sen. Russ Feingold (of WI; story) 
• Rep. Steve Kagen (of WI) 
• Rep. Kathy Castor (of FL; story) 
  
• Rep. Ron Kind (of WI; voting with his district)
• Rep. Lloyd Doggett (of TX;story)
  
• Mike Panetta (Shadow Rep. of DC)
  
• Rep. Chet Edwards (of TX; story)
  
• Treasurer Richard Cordray (of Ohio)
  
• Former Mayor Ed Garza (of San Antonio Texas)
  
• Mayor Will Wynn (of Austin TX)
• Rep. Brian Baird (of WA) 
• Rep. John Lewis (of Georgia; civil rights elder statesman; switched from Clinton -- maybe, now definitely)
  
• Rep. David Scott (of Georgia; switched from supporting Clinton)
• Former Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee (of Rhode Island; story)
• Christine "Roz" Samuels (NJ superdelegate switched from Clinton to Obama) 
• Governor Aníbal Acevedo Víla (of Puerto Rico, location of the winner-take-all last primary)
  
• David Wilhelm (Bill Clinton's former campaign manager; superdelegate)
  
• Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) 
  
• Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (TX)
  
• Rep. Earl Blumenauer (of Oregon)
  
• Rep. Jim Oberstar (of MN)
• Rep. Steve Cohen (TN)
• Rep. James P. Moran (of Virginia)
  
• Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX) 
• Rep. Rosa DeLauro (of CT)
  
• Rep. John Yarmuth (KY)
• Rep. David Obey (WI) 
• Rep. Michael Capuano (MA)
• Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch
  
• Frank LaMere (Nebraska superdelegate; chair of DNC Native American Caucus)
• Governor Christine Gregoire (of Washington State)
• Doug Wilder (former Governor of Virginia; currently Mayor of Richmond; statement)
• Governor Chet Culver (of Iowa)
• Rep. Tim Waltz (of Minnesota)
• Several Maryland Politicians
• Several Louisiana Politicians
• Marion Barry (controversial former DC mayor)
• Lawrence Lessig (Internet freedom intellectual; really cool video; transcript)
• Katha Pollitt (journalist and feminist; her reasoning)
• Julie Nixon Eisenhower (daughter of Republican president Richard Nixon; story)
• Maria Shriver (First Lady of California, niece of JFK)
• Kate Michelman (former president of NARAL; former Edwards supporter; her reasoning)
• Harold Varmus (Nobel Prize winner; head of the National Institutes of Health in the Clinton admin; story (be sure to read his last paragraph))
• Susan Eisenhower (granddaughter of President Eisenhower, Washington Post Op Ed)
• Paul Volcker (former Chairman of the Federal Reserve)
• Alma Rangel (wife of powerful Clinton supporter Rep. Charles Rangel)
• Rep. Chris Murphy (of Connecticut)
• Rep. John Larson (of Connecticut)
• Rep. Earl Pomeroy (of North Dakota)
• Elizabeth B. Moynihan (window of fomer NY Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan)
• Governor Kathleen Sebelius (of Kansas)
  
• Rep Anna Eshoo (of California)
• Rep. Raul Grijalva (of Arizona, had endorsed Edwards) 
• Toni Morrison (author who famously called Bill Clinton "the first black president")
• Senator Edward Kennedy (of Massachusetts, brother of JFK)
  
• Caroline Kennedy (daughter of JFK, see A President Like My Father)
• Senator Patrick Leahy (of Vermont)
• Former Senator Jean Carnahan (of Missouri)
  
• Rep. Benny Thompson (of Mississippi)
• Rep. Rick Boucher (of Virginia)
  
• Senator John Kerry (of Massachusetts, former presidential candidate)
• Senator Claire McCaskill (of Missouri, vowed to work hard for Obama)
• Governor Janet Napolitano (of Arizona)
• Former Senator Bill Bradley (of New Jersey, former presidential candidate)
• Rep. George Miller (of California, close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, liberal Democrat)
• Governor Jim Doyle (of Wisconsin)
• Senator Ben Nelson (of Nebraska, a conservative Democrat)
  
• Senator Tim Johnson (of South Dakota, a moderate Democrat)
• Mayor Shirley Franklin (of Atlanta)
• Former Senator Tim Roemer (of Indiana; member of the 9/11 commission)
• Rep. Zoe Lofren (of CA, endorsed in Jan 2008; will vote for him unless somehow Hillary takes the lead--i.e. she is a Pelosi Club Superdelegate)
• Rep. G. K. Butterfield (of NC; supporter of Edwards, switched in January)
• Rep. Adam Schiff (of California)
• Rep. Patrick Murphy (of PA;story)
• Former Senator Tom Daschle (of SD; former Senate Majority Leader; Pelosi Club Superdelegate)
• Alice Walker (Pulitzer Prize winning author; video endorsement) 
• Governor Tim Kaine (of Virginia; first official outside IL to endorse him)

[For a complete list of superdelegates, see this great site]

Pelosi Club Superdelegates (those who will vote for the winner of  the pledged delegates) some of whom are listed above:

• Former President Jimmy Carter (story;my post;officially endorsed)

  “It would be undemocratic if the super-delegates blatantly went against the decision of Democratic voters across the nation.
  
  "And I think that many super-delegates who have not yet declared their preference have the same feeling that I do, including the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. She’s said over and over that whoever gets the most [pledged] delegates by June 3rd ought to be the nominee.”

• Denise Johnson (DNC in Texas; story)
• Senator Maria Cantwell (of WA; endorsed Clinton, but will vote for winner of pledged delegates; story; officially endorsed)
  

  “If we have a candidate who has the most delegates and the most states,” the Democratic party should come together around that candidate, Cantwell said. The pledged delegate count will be the most important factor, she said, because that is the basis of the nominating process.

• Former Governor Roy Romer (of Colorado; former co-chair of Bill Clinton's '96 campaign; story;officially endorsed)
• Christine Pelosi (DNC member in CA; daughter of Nancy Pelosi; officially endorsed)
  
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (of CA; Speaker of the House of Representatives; will vote for  the candidate with the most pledged delegates; Pelosi: Party should heed the will of the voters)

  “If the votes of the super-delegates overturn what happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party,’’ she said.
  
  What if one candidate has won the popular vote and the other claims the most delegates?
  
  “It's a delegate race. In other words, one wins the Electoral College and one wins the popular vote -- guess who's president of the United States. The way the system works is that the delegates choose the nominee."

• Betty Ritchie (DNC Texas; story;officially endorsed)
  

Celebrities, Actors, Musicians (very incomplete):

• Billy Joel (first political endorsement ever) 
• Tom Hanks (video endorsement)
• Michael Moore (filmmaker; upset at Clinton tactics)
• Bruce Springsteen (full quote)

  Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

  He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."
  
  At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams from My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.
  

• Dan Rooney (owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers; story)
• Russell Simmons (Def Jam; story)
• Joan Baez (first time endorsing a candidate)
• Kareem Abdul Jabbar
• Charles Barkley
  
• John Legend
• Usher
• Common (super-Tuesday video)
• Dave Matthews
• The Grateful Dead
• Robert De Niro (actor, usually apolitical)
• Garrison Keillor (host of A Prairie Home Companion)
  
• will.i.am
• Scarlett Johansson
• Oprah
• Stevie Wonder
• George Clooney

Organizations:

• Cuban American National Foundation (Jorge Santos column)
• Mathew 25 Network (argues that fewer abortions would occur in an Obama administration)
• 200 Former Diplomats (story)
• National Association of Police Organizations (287,000 police officers;story)
  
• 400 Rabbis (full story requires login)
• Association of Professional Flight Attendants (19,000 members; story)
  
• The National Organization for Women (NOW; 500,000 members; first endorsement in a presidential race since 1984)
•  Business and Professional Women PAC
•  National Association of Social Workers
•  National Congress of Black Women
•  Women's Information Network
• League of Conservation Voters (story)
  
• National Association of Letter Carriers (300,000 members; motion by Sen. Clinton)
• Planned Parenthood
  
• AFL-CIO (10 million members)
• Sierra Club (1.3 million members)
• Oregon AFSCME Council 75
  
• United Steelworkers Union (600,000 members)
• NARAL (!)
• American Federation of Government Employees (600,000 members, the nation's largest federal employee union; press release)
• Friends of the Earth Action
• Princeton College Democrats
  
• International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (85,000 members, affiliated with AFL-CIO;story;press release)
  
• 43 NC Mayors
• 29 NC state lawmakers
• The American Hunters & Shooters Association (story)
• US Postal Workers Union (300,000 members)
  
• Some Philadelphia Lawmakers
  
• Philadelphia chapter of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (16,000 members)
  
• Laborers District Council of Metro Philadelphia (10,000 members)
  
• 60 Pennsylvania Jewish Leaders (story)
• 25 Indiana State Legislators (story)

  "There, you've had it, Indiana, north, south, east, west, middle. Black, white, Hispanic. Urban, rural. We cross all of these spectrum. And with those kinds of demographics that Indiana possesses, those are precisely the demographics that will make Barack Obama the next president of the United States." -- State Sen. Earline Rogers

• Oregon  Council of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME; story) 
• Harrisburg PA City Council
• Philly for Change
• University of Penn Democrats
• Social Security Administration Union (25,000 members)
• 1500 Feminists for Peace (story; grew out of NY group listed below)
• Akron/Canton group of pastors (story)
• Change to Win (7 unions, 6 million members (many included below); press release)
• The Teamsters (1.4 million members)
• International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (65,ooo members; part of AFL-CIO; statement)
• Texas group called the Mexican American Democrats
  
• Service Employees International Union (1.9 million members;press release)
• United Food and Commercial Workers (1.1 million members)
• Washington State Service Employees International Union (100,000 members)
  
• MoveOn.org (3.2 million members)
• New York Feminists for Peace (statement)
• CA Service Employees International Union (650,000 members)
• NY Transport Workers Union (200,000 members)
• Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (800,000 members)
  
• Nevada Culinary Workers Union (60,000 members)
  
• Unite Here
• United Association of Plumbers and Piperfitters (January 2008 endorsement)

Newspapers (Primary and General Election--see also this list) (Republican leaning papers in red):

• UK - The Economist for General Election: It's Time

  "America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world.

  The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly.

  Merely by becoming president, he would dispel many of the myths built up about America: it would be far harder for the spreaders of hate in the Islamic world to denounce the Great Satan if it were led by a black man whose middle name is Hussein; and far harder for autocrats around the world to claim that American democracy is a sham.  America’s allies would rally to him."

• UK - The Financial Times for General Election
• UK - Nature [the weekly science journal] America's choice
• US - College Newspapers for Obama 66-2 (story)
• US - Esquire for General Election, their first ever
• US - Rolling Stone (I just had to attach this link :) )
• US - The Nation
• AK - Anchorage Daily News (largest newspaper in Alaska) for General Election

  "Gov. Palin has shown the country why she has been so successful in her young political career...

  Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time."

• AL - Birmingham News (primary only)
• AL - Decatur Daily for General Election
• AL - Florence Daily Times for General Election
• AL - Montgomery Advertiser for General Election
• AL - Tuscaloosa News (General Election)
• AR - Benton County Daily Record for general election
• AZ - The Arizona Republic (primary only)
• AZ - Arizona Star for General Election (McCain's home state) Barack Obama for President
• CA - Black Voice News
• CA - Chico News & Review
• CA- The Fresno Bee for General Election
• CA - Hoy for General Election Obama para presidente
• CA - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
• CA - La Opinión (General Election: Barack Obama para presidente)
• CA - Long Beach Leader
• CA - Long Beach Press Telegram for General Election
• CA - Los Angeles Sentinel
• CA - The Los Angeles Daily News for General Election
• CA - The Los Angeles Times (General Election: first time endorsing a Democratic nominee ever, done without hesitation)
• CA - Marin Pacific Sun
• CA - Modesto Bee (General Election)
• CA - Monterey County Herald for General Election
• CA - North Bay Bohemian
• CA - Oakland Tribune for General Election
• CA - Palm Springs Desert Sun
• CA - Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News for General Election
• CA - Precinct Reporter
• CA - Riverside Press-Enterprise
• CA - Sacramento Bee (General Election)
• CA - San Bernadino Sun for General Election
• CA - San Diego City Beat
• CA - San Francisco Bay Guardian
• CA - San Francisco Bay View
• CA - San Francisco Chronicle (General Election)
• CA - San Gabriel Valley Tribune for General Election
• CA - San Jose Mercury News (General Election: "Seize the historic moment")
• CA- San Mateo Country Times for General Election
• CA - Santa Barbara Independent
• CA - Santa Cruz Sentinel (General Election)
• CA - Tri County Bulletin
• CA - Tri-Valley Herald for General Election
• CA - Stockton Record (General Election: first for a Democrat since FDR in 1936)
• CO - Aspen Daily News for General Election
• CO - Boulder Daily Camera for General Election
• CO - Denver Post for General Election
• CO - Durango Times for General Election
• CO - El Semanario for General Election
• CO - Gunnison Times General Election endorsement
• CO - Rocky Mountain News
• CT - The Day (re-endorsement for Rhode Island voters)
• CT - Connecticut Post
• CT - Hartford Courant for General Election (only second Democrat backed in 244 years)
• CT - New Haven Register for General Election
• CT - Norwich Bulletin (General Election)
• DC - The Washington Post for General Election:

  "Mr. Obama's temperament is unlike anything we've seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment."

• DE - News Journal for General Election
• KY - Louisville Courier-Journal (and Southern Indiana)
• FL - Daytona Beach News-Journal for General Election
• FL - Florida Today for General Election
• FL - Gainesville Sun
• FL - Miami Herald for General Election
• FL - Naples Daily-News for General Election
• FL - Orlando Sentinel for General Election
• FL - Pensacola News-Journal for General Election
• FL - Palm Beach Post (General Election)
• FL - The Sun-Sentinel (General Election)
• FL - Sarasota Herald-Tribune for General Election (Why Obama? His record, judgment, temperament)
• FL - Tampa Tribune
• FL - St. Petersburg Times (General Election)
• GA - Atlanta Journal Constitution (General Election)
• GA - Atlanta Daily World
• GA - Columbus Ledger Enquirer for General Election
• GA - Macon Telegraph for General Election
• GA - Serma Times-Journal for General Election
• HI - The Honolulu Advertiser
  
• HI - Honolulu Star Bulletin for General Election
• IA - Ames Iowa State Daily
• IA - Des Moines El Latino
• IA - Des Moines Register for General Election
• IA - Iowa City Press Citizen
• IA - Iowa City Daily Iowan
• IA - Logan Herald-Observer
• IA - Mason City Globe Gazette for General Election
• IA - Ottumwa Courier
• IA - Sioux City Journal
• IA - The Storm Lake Times for General Election
• ID - The Idaho Statesman for General Election
• IL - Chicago Defender
• IL - Chicago Sun-Times (General Election)
• IL - Chicago Tribune (re-endorsement: Indiana, go with Obama) (General Election: first endorsement of a Democratic nominee ever)

  "Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's pretty new to them.
  
  We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's nominee for president.
  
  We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready...

  It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation's most powerful office, he will prove it wasn't so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama's name to Lincoln's in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States."

• IL - Daily Herald
• IL - Belleville News Democrat
• IL - The Pantagraph for General Election
• IN - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette for General Election
• IN - Gary Post-Tribune
• IN - Lafayette Journal and Courier for General Election
• IN - Merrillville Post-Tribune for General Election
• IN - The Muncie Star (general election)
• IN - Richmond Paladium-Item for General Election
• KY - Ledger Independent for General Election
• KY - Lexington Herald-Leader for General Election
• KY - Louisville Courier- Journal for General Election
• MA - Bay State Banner
• MA - Boston Globe (General Election)
• MA - Daily News Tribune
• MA - The Springfield Republican
• MD - Baltimore Sun (General Election)
• ME - Bangor News for General Election
• ME - Brunswick Times Record for General Election
• ME - Portland Press Herald
• MI - Battle Creek Enquirer for General Election
• MI - Bay City Times for General Election
• MI - Detroit Free Press for General Election
• MI - Lansing State Journal for General Election
• MI - Livingston Daily for General Election
• MI - Michigan Chronicle for General Election
• MI - The Muskeegan Chronicle for General Election
• MI - Saginaw News for General Election
• MN - St. Cloud Times for General Election
• MN - Star Tribune for General Election
• MO - Columbia Daily Tribune for General Election
• MO - Joplin Globe for General Election
• MO - Kansas City Call
• MO - Kansas City Star for General Election
• MO - The St. Louis American
• MO - St. Louis Post-Dispatch (general election)
• MS - Jackson Clarion Register for General Election
• MT - Billings Gazette for General Election
• MT - Independent Record for General Election
• MT - Montana Standard for General Election
• NC - Ashville Citizen-Times for General Election
• NC - Charlotte Observer (General Election)
• NC - Durham Herald Sun for General Election
• NC - Greenville Daily Reflector for General Election
• NC - News & Observer for General Election
• NC - Rayleigh News and Observer for General Election
• NC - Wilmington Star News for General Election
• NH - Cabinet Press for General Election
• NH - Concord Monitor for General Election
• NH - Littleton Courier
• NH - Nashua Telegraph (General Election)
• NH - Portsmouth Herald (General Election)
• NH - Valley News
• NM - Albuquerque Tribune
• NM - Farmington Daily Times for General Election We like John McCain, but who is Sarah Palin?  

  "The tip of the scale for us came with McCain's choice of a vice presidential candidate. Few of us are convinced that Sarah Palin is ready to be the president of the United States, and as with any vice president, she would be only one heartbeat away if McCain is elected. Further, we question McCain's judgment in making such a choice...All of our previous endorsements have supported the Republican ticket.  We, however, must break ranks and endorse Barack Obama for president."

• NM - Las Cruces Sun-News for General Election
• NM - Santa Fe New Mexican (General Election)
• NJ - Asbury Park Press for General Election
• NJ - Bergen Record for General Election
• NJ - The Trenton Times (General Election)
• NJ - The Star-Ledger (General Election)
• NV - Elko Free Press
• NV - El Tiempo for General Election
• NV - Las Vegas Review Journal
• NV - Las Vegas Sun for General Election
• NV - Reno Gazette Journal (General Election)
• NY - Buffulo News for General Election
• NY - El Diario/La Prensa for General Election
• NY - Newsday for General Election
• NY - The New York Daily News for General Election
• NY - The New Yorker for General Election
• NY - New York Observer
• NY - New York Post (primary only)
• NY - The New York Times for General Election

  Barack Obama for President

  "It will be an enormous challenge just to get the nation back to where it was before Mr. Bush, to begin to mend its image in the world and to restore its self-confidence and its self-respect. Doing all of that, and leading America forward, will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand.
  
  Mr. Obama has those qualities in abundance...
  
  We believe he has the will and the ability to forge
  the broad political consensus that is essential to finding
  solutions to this nation's problems."

• OH - Akron Beacon Journal for General Election
• OH - The Athens Post (nuanced endorsement)
• OH - Cleveland Plain Dealer (General Election)
• OH - The Canton Repository (General Election endorsement)
• OH - The Cincinnati Enquirer (audio interview) (for primary only)
• OH - Dayton Daily News (General Election)
  

  "Meanwhile, the Republican Party is asking the American people to ignore their discontent with President George W. Bush and give the party another chance. But if a party can retain the presidency after failing in it — just by putting up somebody different — then accountability is undercut. Failure should exact a political price. If it doesn't, failure becomes harder to deter."

• OH - Hamilton Journal-News for General Election
• OH - Mansfield News Journal for General Election
• OH - The Springfiled-Sun News for General Election
• OH - The Times-Reporter for General Election
• OH - The Toledo Blade (General Election)
• OH - Youngstown Vindicator for General Election
• OH - Zanesville Times Recorder for General Election
• OR - East Oregonian for General Election
• OR - Eugene Register-Guard (General Election)
• OR - Mail Tribune for General Election
• OR- Oregonian for General Election
• OR - Portland Tribune
• OR - Salem Statesman Journal for General Election
• PA - Allentown Morning Call
• PA - The Bucks County Courier Times
• PA - Dubois Courier-Express for general election
• PA - The Daily Item
• PA - The Daily and Sunday Review
• PA - Easton Press Times for General Election 
• PA - Erie Times-News for General Election
• PA - The Lehigh Valley Express-Times for General Election
• PA - The New Castle News
• PA - Philadelphia Inquirer (General Election)
• PA - The Patriot-News (general election)
• PA - The Philadelphia Daily News (General Election)
• PA - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (General Election)
• PA - Pocono Record for General Election
• PA - Pottstown Mercury for General Election
• PA - The Scranton Times-Tribune (General Election)
• PA - The Washington Observer Reporter
• PA - The Wilkes-Barre Citizen's Voice
• PA - York Daily Record for General Election
• RI - Providence Journal for General Election
• SC - Charleston Post and Courier
• SC - The State
• SC - The Rock Hill Herald
• SC - The Greenville News
• TN - The Tennessean for General Election
• TN - Tri-State Defender
• TX - Dallas Morning News (primary only)
• TX - The Austin American-Statesman (General Election)
• TX - The Corpus Christi Caller-Times (primary only)
  
• TX - The Eagle for General Election
• TX - The El Paso Times
• TX - Houston Chronicle (General Election)
• TX - Fort Worth Star-Telegram (General Election)
• TX - Longview News-Journal (General Election)
• TX - The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (primary only)
• TX - San Angelo Standard-Times
• TX - San Antonio Express-News (primary only)
  
• UT - The Salt Lake Tribune for General Election (A simple choice)
• UT - San Angelo Standard Times for General Election
• VA - Falls Church News Press for General Election
• VA- Staunton News Leader for General Election
• WA - The Columbian for General Election
• WA - The Seattle Times (General Election)
  
• WA - Seattle Post Intell. for General Election
• WA - Yakama Herald-Republic for General Election
• WI - Chippewa Herald for General Election
• WI - Kenosha News for General Election
• WI - Lacrosse Tribune for General Election
• WI - Marshfield News Herald for General Election
• WI - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (General Election)
• WI - State Journal for General Election
• WV - The Charleston Gazette (largest paper in WV) (General Election)

  "We hope they support the brilliant, inspiring, eloquent frontrunner in the race, Barack Obama.
  
  Sen. Obama is a rare figure in U.S. politics - a deep thinker who rises above partisan sniping and makes statecraft seem noble. He raises hope that, after the disastrous Bush years mercifully come to an end, Americans can again be proud of their national leader."

• WY - Caspar Star-Tribune (Dick Cheney's hometown paper) for General Election Obama can lead us through troubled times

Read More...

Summary only...

Obama 30 Minute TV Message--It's About Us

Here is the 3o minute video the Obama campaign aired tonight on network television (minus three minutes of live feed from Florida shown at the end).  The video weaves through the tapestry of his campaign by tracing the threads of people across the US.

Senator Obama's campaign has been different in many ways, but principally because it has been driven by ordinary citizens.  We have contributed the money which has fueled it. We have provided the stories which inspired it. We have used our creativity, our ideas, and our heart to further it. We have created art, music, videos, and blogs.  We have made calls and knocked on doors in neighboring states.  We have held house parties and major concerts.  And the campaign has welcomed our participation and involved us at nearly every level.  A vote for Obama is a vote for us.

Read More...

Summary only...

Obama's Closing Argument

Here is the full video of Obama's speech in Canton OH, one week before the election.  It is effectively his closing argument:  We cannot afford to keep doing the same thing.  We need to move forward forcefully but pragmatically.  And though the times ahead will be challenging, there is hope if we are willing to change. 

 

If you can't listen to the whole thing, at least listen starting at 28:14 for his inspiring uniting closing message of hope. 

TRANSCRIPT

One week. (Cheers, applause.) One week. (Cheers, applause.)

After decades of broken politics in Washington, eight years of failed policies from George Bush and twenty-one months of a campaign that has taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California and everywhere in between, we are one week away from changing America. (Cheers, applause.)

In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks right here in Canton, folks right on Main Street. (Cheers, applause.)

In one week, you can choose. You can choose policies that invest in our middle-class and create new jobs and grow this economy from the bottom-up, so that everyone has a chance to succeed, from the CEO to the secretary and the janitor, from the factory owner to the men and women on the factory floor. In one week. (Cheers, applause.)

In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation, just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region and city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope. In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need. You can do that. (Cheers, applause.)

You know, we began this journey in the depths of winter, nearly two years ago, on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, the place where Abraham Lincoln served for so many years.

You know, back then, we didn't have much money and we didn't have many endorsements. We weren't given much of a chance by the polls or the pundits. And we knew how steep our climb would be.

But I also knew this. I knew that the size of our challenges had outgrown the smallness of our politics. I believed that Democrats and Republicans and Americans of every political stripe were hungry for new ideas and new leadership and a new kind of politics, one that favors common sense over ideology, one that focuses on those values and ideals we hold in common as Americans. (Cheers, applause.)

Most of all, I believed in you. I believed in your ability to make change happen. I knew that the American people were a decent, generous people who are willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations. (Cheers, applause.)

And I was absolutely convinced that when we come together, our voices are more powerful than the most entrenched lobbyists or the most vicious political attacks -- (cheers) -- or the full force of a status quo in Washington that wants to keep things just the way they are. (Cheers, applause.)

And Canton, 21 months later, my faith in the American people has been vindicated. That's how we've come so far, how we've come so close -- because of you. That's how we'll change this country -- with your help. That's why we cannot afford to slow down or sit back. We cannot let up for one day, or one minute, or one second in this last week. (Cheers, applause.) Not now, not when there's so much is at stake. One week. (Cheers, applause.)

We are in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. I don't have to tell you, Ohio; 760,000 workers have lost their jobs so far this year. Businesses and families can't get credit. Home values are falling. Pensions are disappearing. Wages are lower than they've been in a decade, at a time when the cost of everything from health care to college have never been higher. It's getting harder and harder to make the mortgage, or fill up your gas tank, or even keep the electricity on at the end of the month.

At a moment like this, the last thing we can afford is four more years of the tired, worn-out, old theory -- (cheers) -- that says -- that says we should give more to billionaires and big corporations and hope that prosperity trickles down on everybody else. The last thing -- the last thing we can afford is four more years where no one in Washington is watching anyone on Wall Street because politicians and lobbyists killed common-sense regulations. (Cheers.) Those are the theories that got us into this mess. They haven't worked, and it is time for change. And that's why I'm running for president of the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)

Now, Senator McCain has served this country honorably. And Senator McCain can point to a few moments, like torture, where he has broken with George Bush over the past eight years. He deserves credit for that. He deserves credit for that.

But when it comes to the economy -- when it comes to the central issue of our time, the central issue of this election -- the plain truth is that John McCain has stood with this president every step of the way, voting for the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that he once opposed; voting for the Bush budgets that spent us into debt; calling for less regulation 21 times just this year.

Those are the facts.

And now after 21 months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he'd do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy. (Cheers, applause.) Not one thing. Senator McCain says we can't spend the next four years waiting for our luck to change, but you understand that the biggest gamble we can take is to embrace the same old Bush-McCain policies that have failed us for the last eight years. (Cheers, applause.) We can't afford to take that risk.

It's not change when John McCain wants to give a $700,000 tax cut to the average Fortune 500 CEO. It's not change when he wants to give $200 billion to the biggest corporations or $4 billion to the oil companies or 300 billion (dollars) to the same Wall Street banks that got us into this mess. (Boos.) It's not change when he comes up with a tax plan that doesn't give a penny of relief to more than 100 million middle-class Americans. That is not change. (Applause.)

So look, Ohio, we have tried it John McCain's way. We have tried it George Bush's way. And deep down -- deep down, Senator McCain knows that, which is why his campaign said that "if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose." (Applause.) That's why he's spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book -- (boos) -- because that's how you play the game in Washington. If you can't beat your opponent's ideas, you distort those ideas and maybe make some up. (Boos, applause.) If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run away from. You make -- you make a big election about small things.

Ohio, we're here to say not this time, not this year -- (cheers, applause) -- not when so much is at stake. (Cheers, applause.) John McCain might be worried about losing an election, but I'm worried about Americans who are losing their homes and their jobs and their life savings. (Cheers, applause.) I can take one more week of John McCain's attacks, but this country can't take four more years of the same failed politics -- (cheers) -- and the same failed policies. It's time to try something new. (Cheers, applause.) It is time, Canton, to try something new. (Cheers.)

The question in this election is not are you better off than you were four years ago. We all know the answer to that. The real question is, will this country be better off four years from now? (Cheers, applause.)

I know these are difficult times. They're difficult times for Ohio; they're difficult times for America. But I also know that we've faced difficult times before. The American story has never been about things coming easy, it's been about rising to the moment when the moment was hard. It's about seeing the highest mountaintop from the deepest of valleys. It's about rejecting fear and division for unity of purpose.

That's how we overcame war and depression. That's how we've won great struggles for civil rights and women's rights and workers' rights. That's how we'll emerge from this crisis stronger and more prosperous than we were before, as one nation and as one people. (Cheers, applause.)

Remember, we still have the most talented, most productive workers of any country on Earth. We're still home to innovation and technology, colleges and universities that are the envy of the world. Some of the biggest, brightest ideas in history have come from our small businesses; in the back of somebody's garage, in our research facilities.

So there's no reason we can't make this century another American century. We just need --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Off mike.)

SEN. OBAMA: -- we just need a new direction. We just need a new politics.

Now, understand, I don't believe that government can or should try to solve all our problems. You don't believe that either. But I do believe that government should do that which we cannot do for ourselves -- protect us from harm; provide a decent education for all children -- (cheers, applause); invest in new roads and new bridges, in new science and technology. (Applause.) Our government should reward drive and innovation and encourage growth in the free market, but it should also make sure businesses live up to their responsibility to create American jobs, and look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road. (Cheers, applause.)

It should ensure a shot at success, not just for those with money and power and influence, but for every single American who's willing to work. That's how we create not just more millionaires or more billionaires, but how we create more middle-class families. That's how we make sure businesses have customers that can afford their products or services. That's how we've always grown the American economy -- from the bottom-up. John McCain calls this socialism.

I call it opportunity. (Cheers, applause.) And there is nothing more American than that. (Cheers, applause.)

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!

SEN. OBAMA: Thank you.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Obama! Obama!

SEN. OBAMA: Look, if we want get through this crisis -- if we want to get through this crisis, we need to get beyond the old ideological debates and divides between the left and the right. We don't need bigger government or smaller government. We need better government. (Cheers.) We need a more competent government. We need a government that upholds the values we hold in common as Americans.

We don't have to choose between allowing our financial system to collapse and spending billions of dollars of taxpayer money to bail out Wall Street banks. As president, I will ensure the financial rescue plan helps stop foreclosures and protects your money instead of enriching CEOs. (Cheers, applause.) And I'll put in place the common- sense regulations that I've been calling for throughout this campaign so that Wall Street can never cause a crisis like this again. That's the change we need. (Applause.)

The choice -- the choice in this election isn't between tax cuts and no tax cuts. It's about whether you believe we should only reward wealth, or whether we should also reward the workers (sic) and workers who create wealth. (Cheers, applause.) I will give a tax break to 95 percent of Americans who work every day and get taxes taken out of their paychecks every week. (Cheers, applause.) I'll eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000. (Cheers, applause.) And we're going to give homeowners and working parents more of a break. (Cheers, applause.) And yes, I'll help pay for this by asking the folks who are making more than $250,000 a year to go back to the tax rate they were paying in the 1990s. (Cheers, applause.)

No matter what John McCain may claim, here are the facts. If you make under $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime; not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes. No taxes. Because the last thing we should do in this economy is raise taxes on the middle class. (Applause.) And we have been saying that throughout this campaign.

Now, when it comes to jobs, the choice in this election is not between putting up a wall around America or allowing every job to disappear overseas. The truth is, we won't be able to bring back every single job that we've lost here in Ohio or across the country, but that doesn't mean we should follow John McCain's plan to keep giving tax breaks to corporations that send American jobs overseas. (Cheers.)

I will end those breaks as president. (Cheers, applause.) I will give American businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every job they create right here in Ohio, right here in the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)

I'll eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-up companies that are the engine of job creation in this country. We'll create 2 million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges and schools, by laying broadband lines to reach every corner of the country.

And I will invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy -- (cheers, applause) -- to create 5 million new energy jobs over the next decade -- jobs that pay well; jobs that can't be outsourced; jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and a new electricity grid -- (cheers, applause continue) -- jobs building the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow, not in Japan, not in South Korea but right here in the U.S. of A. -- (sustained cheers, applause) -- jobs that will help us eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in 10 years and help save the planet in the bargain. That's how America can lead again.

When it comes to health care, we don't have to choose between a government-run health care system and the unaffordable one we have now. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change under my plan is that we will lower your premiums. (Cheers, applause.) If you don't have health insurance, you'll be able to get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress give themselves. (Cheers, applause.)

We'll invest in preventive care and new technology to finally lower the cost of health care for families and businesses and the entire economy. And as someone -- as someone who watched his own mother spend the final months of her life arguing with insurance companies because they claimed her cancer was a pre-existing condition and they didn't want to pay for her treatment, I will stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most. You can count on that. (Cheers, applause.)

When it comes to giving every child a world-class education -- (applause) -- so they can compete in this global economy for the jobs of the 21st century, the choice is not between more money and more reform, because our schools need both. As president, I will invest in early childhood education -- (cheers, applause) -- to close the achievement gap. We'll recruit an army of new teachers. We'll pay them more money. We'll give them more support. (Cheers, applause.)

But I will also demand higher standards and more accountability from everybody, from our teachers and principals and our schools. (Cheers, applause.) And I will make a deal with every young American who has the drive and the will but not the money to go to college: If you commit to serving your community or your country in national service, we will make sure you can afford your tuition. (Cheers, applause.)

You invest in America; America will invest in you. Together we'll move this country forward.

When it comes to keeping this country safe, we don't have to choose between retreating from the world and fighting a war without end in Iraq. It is time to stop spending $10 billion a month, in Iraq, while the Iraqi government sits on a huge surplus. (Cheers, applause.)

As president, I will end this war, by asking -- (cheers, applause) -- by asking the Iraqi government to step up, and finally finish the fight against bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.

I will never hesitate to defend this nation. But I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home. We will treat our veterans with honor and respect. (Cheers, applause.)

I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again viewed as that last, best hope for all, who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, who yearn for a better future.

Now, Canton, I won't stand here and pretend that any of this will be easy, especially now. The cost of this economic crisis, the cost of the war in Iraq means that Washington will have to tighten its belt and put off spending on things we can afford to do without.

On this, there is no other choice. As president, I will go through the federal budget, line by line, ending programs that we don't need and making the ones we do need work better and cost less.

But as I've said from the day we began this journey, all those months ago, the change we need isn't just about new programs and policies. It's about a new attitude. It's about new politics, a politics that calls on our better angels, instead of encouraging our worst instincts, one that reminds us of the obligations we have to ourselves and one another.

Part of the reason this economic crisis occurred is, because we have been living through an era of profound irresponsibility. On Wall Street, easy money and an ethic of "what's good for me is good enough" blinded greedy executives to the dangers in decisions that they were making. On Main Street, lenders tricked people into buying homes they couldn't afford. Some folks knew they couldn't afford those houses and bought them anyway.

In Washington, politicians spent money they didn't have and allowed lobbyists to set the agenda.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah!

SEN. OBAMA: They scored political points instead of solving our problems.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Right!

SEN. OBAMA: And even after the greatest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, all we were asked to do by our president was to go out and shop. That's why what we've lost in these last eight years can't be measured just by lost wages or bigger trade deficits.

What's also been lost is the idea that in this American story, each of us has a role to play. Each of us have responsibilities to work hard, to look after ourselves and our families, and each of us has a responsibility to look out for each other, our fellow citizens. (Cheers, applause.) That's what's been lost these last eight years, our common sense of purpose, our sense of higher purpose. That's what we need to restore right now. That's one of the reasons I'm running for president of the United States of America. (Cheers, sustained applause.)

So yes, government must lead the way on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair, but all of us have to do our part as parents, to turn off the TV set and read to our children, to take responsibility for providing love and guidance. (Cheers, applause.)

Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately, but all of us must summon the strength and grace to bridge our differences and unite in common effort -- black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; Democrat, Republican; young, old; rich, poor, gay, straight; disabled or not. All of us have to come together. (Cheers, sustained applause.)

Ohio, in this election, we cannot afford the same political games and tactics that are being used to pit us against one another, to make us afraid of one another. The stakes are too high to divide us by class and region and background; by who we are or what we believe. Because, despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country. There is no city or town that is more pro-America than anywhere else. (Cheers, applause. We're one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots. (Cheers, applause.)

There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women who serve in our battlefields -- some may be Democrats, some may be Republicans, others independents, but they fought together and they bled together, and some died together, under the same proud flag. (Cheers, applause.)

They have not served a red America or a blue America. They served the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)

It won't be easy, Ohio. It won't be easy; it won't be quick. But you and I know that it is time to come together and change this country. (Cheers.) Some of you may be cynical. Some of you may be fed up with politics. A lot of you may be disappointed and even angry with your leaders, and you have every right to be. But despite all of this -- (applause) -- I ask of you what has been asked of Americans throughout our history. I ask you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.

I know this change is possible, because I've seen it -- I've seen it over the last 21 months -- because in this campaign, I've had the privilege to witness what is best in America. I've seen it in the lines of voters that stretched around schools and churches; in the young people who cast their ballots for the first time -- (applause) -- and those not so young folks who got involved again after a very long time. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see their friends lose their jobs; in the neighbors who take in a stranger when the floodwaters rise; in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb. I've seen it in the faces of the men and women I've met at countless rallies and town halls across the country, men and women who speak of their struggles but also of their hopes, of their dreams.

I still remember the e-mail that a woman named Robyn sent me after I met her in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sometime after our event, her son nearly went into cardiac arrest. He was diagnosed with a heart condition that could only be treated with a procedure that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Her insurance company refused to pay, and their family didn't have that kind of money.

In her e-mail, Robyn wrote, "I ask only this of you -- on the days where you feel so tired you can't think of uttering another word to the people, think of us. When those who oppose you have you down, reach deep and fight back harder." (Cheers, applause.)

Ohio, that's what hope is -- (cheers, applause) -- that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting around the bend -- (cheers, applause) -- that insists there are better days ahead if we're willing to work for it; if we're willing to shed our fears and our doubts; if we're willing to reach deep down inside ourselves when we're tired, when we're worn out and we come back fighting harder. (Cheers, applause.)

Hope -- that's what kept some of our parents and grandparents going when times were tough, what led them to say, "Maybe I can't go to college, but if I save a little bit each week my child can go to college -- (applause) -- maybe I can't have my own business but if I work really hard my child can open one of her own." Hope -- it's what led immigrants from distant lands to come to these shores against great odds and carve a new life for their families in America; what led those who couldn't vote to march and organize and stand for freedom -- (cheers, applause) -- that led them to cry out, "It may look dark tonight, but if I hold on to hope, tomorrow will be brighter."

That's what this election is about. That's the choice we face right now. (Cheers, applause.)

Canton, don't believe for a second this election is over. Don't think for a minute that power concedes. We have a lot of work to do. We have to work like our future depends on it, in this last week, because it does depend on it this week. (Cheers, applause.)

In one week's time, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom up. In one week, we can choose to invest in health care for our families and education for our kids and renewable energy for our future.

In one week, we can choose hope over fear and unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo. In one week, we can come together, as one nation and one people, and once more choose our better history. (Cheers, applause.)

That's what's at stake. That's what we're fighting for. And if in this last week, you will knock on some doors for me and make some calls for me and talk to your neighbors and convince your friends; if you will stand with me and fight with me and give me your vote, then I promise you, we will not just win Ohio; we will win this general election. And together we'll change this country and we will change the world.

God bless you. God bless the United States of America. Let's get to work. (Cheers, applause.)

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Obama's Defining Moment Ad

I have spent all my blog time keeping the running list of endorsements up to date (that post has been getting about 100 hits a day of late).  I will try to make some short posts rather than none at all.

This 2 minute ad lays out Barack's closing argument.  As usual, he balances forward-thinking ideas with pragmatism.

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2008 Nobel Prize in Physics

The 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to two different achieve- ments.  Both relate to symmetry breaking, but in very different ways.  All three recipients, Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa, certainly deserved the prize, but Nambu should have gotten the prize years ago, and they should given the prize to Nicola Cabibbo as well—after all it is called the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism!

In brief, this is what they did.

Nambu explained how protons and neutrons could get mass in the same way that superconductivity happens.  If that doesn't sound ground-breaking, I don't know what does!  He showed that a symmetry in something called a quantum field theory can be "spontaneously broken".   

Think of looking down at a pencil from above.  What is the most symmetric way of placing the pencil?  Why on its point!  That way, if you rotate your view, it looks the same.  But of course that is not a stable situation.  The pencil immediately falls over.  Which way?  Well, it goes spontaneously in a random direction.  And after it falls, the situation isn't invariant under rotations—the symmetry is broken.  That is in essence what Nambu showed worked in a quantum field theory—that the most stable state need not be the most symmetric one.

Now on to a completely different topic.  There are three families of quarks: up-down, charm-strange, and top-bottom (yes, these are silly names).  Back when we knew about only two of them, Nicola Cabibbo realized that they could mix together—that if you started a process with a strange quark, there was a chance you could end it with a down quark.  Such mixing is controlled by just one parameter, the Cabibbo angle.  (It's an angle of rotation in quark mixing space.)

A puzzle at the time was how to explain CP violation—the observation that the symmetries of charge conjugation (C, switching + and -) and parity (P, switching left and right) were not actually good symmetries of nature.   In other words, if you took some processes and switched both + and - charges and left and right, you didn't get the same result (trust me, that's odd).

Kobayashi and Maskawa realized in 1973 that if there were a third family of quarks (there is, but no one knew it then), one would get not only other mixing angles, but something called a phase.  This phase was just what one needed to explain CP violation.

In brief, they came up with a mechanism which explained the existing observation of CP violation by proposing that there was a third family of quarks—and lo and behold a third family of quarks was found a few years later!  Come to think of it, Cabibbo, Kobayashi, and Maskawa should have won years ago.

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Obama and McCain Contrast on Economic Crisis

I think it is fair to say that a large part of this mess on Wall Street is due to deregulation, mostly championed by Republicans (Senator McCain has been a strong proponent of deregulation).  I think it is also fair to say that the Bush administration, after years of not minding the current, took some bold steps this week to try to keep the economy from going down a waterfall.

Senator Obama has supported those efforts and called for bipartisanship.

Senator McCain has, on the other hand, staked out firm positions only to reverse himself the next day, and issued attacks on Senator Obama which, to be tactful, seem to be at odds with the facts.  And as the video montage above from the Jed Report shows, Senator McCain has certainly not always been the voice of calm, steady, bipartisanship this week.  

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, known for its rightward tilt, wrote:

"In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help. Mr. McCain is sounding like a candidate searching for a political foil rather than a genuine solution." 

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Science Debate Answers!

As I introduced in one of my first posts, there has been a grassroots effort to get the presidential candidates to have a debate centered on concerns of science and technology.  These concerns are intertwined with many foreign and domestic political issues.  It is vital that the next President be aware of these concerns when constructing policy.

Well, we didn't get the candidates to hold a live debate, but we did get them to answer 14 important questions.  Senator Obama responded on 30 August, and Senator McCain on 15 September (McCain thus had the advantage of seeing Obama's answers before committing to his own).  Here are their complete answers, side by side.  Below I offer a brief summary of their answer and my take on them.  [under construction]

Innovation

Obama proposes doubling federal funding for basic research over the next decade.  McCain would provide tax incentives for research.  It is not clear whether he would increase funding for basic research, but he does say he will "Fund basic and applied research in new and emerging fields".

  

I am all for stimulating the market to engage in technological research, but basic research can take decades to pay off. Further, some basic research will end up enriching our culture but not providing direct economic benefit (e.g. the Hubble Space Telescope).  So we cannot rely on the market alone.

Climate Change

Obama: "I will implement a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary: 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050."

McCain: "I will institute a new cap-and-trade system that over time will change the dynamic of our energy economy.  By the year 2012, we will seek a return to 2005 levels of emissions, by 2020, a return to 1990 levels, and so on until we have achieved at least a reduction of sixty percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050."

It is encouraging to see both candidates state that climate change is real and to set specific goals.  McCain seems more likely, IMHO, to expand fossil fuel use in the short term (e.g. his position on offshore drilling) which is unlikely to move the market in the right direction.  But this is one area where he does seem to differ markedly from the Bush administration.  I do worry, however, about Gov. Palin, who seems to be skeptical that global warming is caused by humankind.  To meet the goals that Obama or McCain have laid out will require a determined push from the White House.  If Palin were to assume the presidency, I fear that she would return to the disastrous do-nothing policy of the Bush administration.

[more to come]

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Is the Large Hadron Collider safe?

The Large Hadron Collider, usually referred to by scientists as the LHC, had its first preliminary test today.  All went well.  But what does the LHC do, and is it safe?

What is the LHC?

The LHC is a "particle collider".  It has two main parts: beams and detectors.  Two beams of protons will be channeled at near the speed of light around a tunnel 27 km in circumference, one clockwise, one counterclockwise, by a pair of rings made of 9000 superconducting magnets.  The beams will cross in several places, allowing the particles within them to collide (hence the term "collider").  The by-products of those collisions will be observed by two enormous detectors (as well as two somewhat smaller ones).  It short, it collides beams of particles and detects what happens.

What is the LHC for?

Physicists have learned a lot about the fundamental constituents of matter by bashing particles together.  The higher the energy scale of the collisions, the deeper, in a sense, one can probe.  We now understand what particles make up all the matter we can see, and what particles are responsible for forces.  For example, as I said in a previous post, we understand about electrons and their siblings (yes, I know I haven't gotten around to doing the followup posts yet), and we understand that the electromagnetic force comes from the particle of light, the photon.  In fact, we have understood how these particles and forces behave in terms of some rather beautiful symmetries.  A symmetry is an invariance, as in "looks the same in a mirror", or "runs the same if you switch all the red and black cables for one another".   A key point is that a symmetry can be broken.  For example, you don't look the same in a mirror.  Even if you part your hair down the middle, there is always some freckle to give away that it is a mirror image.

Our theory of particle physics using symmetries works great, except for understanding why most of the particles have mass.  If the symmetries of the theory were not broken,  these particles would have to be massless.  We need to understand how the symmetries are broken—we have to find the freckles.   The main freckle is called the Higgs boson (please, can we stop using the awful term "God particle"!).  It has never been seen.  We think that is how the electron gets its mass, but we don't know for sure.  And we don't understand how the Higgs boson might fit into a more complete theory.

The LHC is designed to find the Higgs boson, and we hope it will point us to a more complete theory of matter and energy.  It may also shed light on the dark matter, but that is a post for another day.

Is the LHC Safe?

Sometimes the LHC is described as "recreating the Big Bang".  This sort of language is colorful, and conveys the grand nature of the endeavor, but it also makes it sound scary, and, more to the point, is completely inaccurate.  The LHC will probe a new frontier for humans, but the kinds of collisions that will take place in it happen in and around the Earth all the time.  Cosmic ray protons hit protons in the atmosphere and create sprays of particles just like in the LHC.  If you were to wait in one location, it would be quite rare that you would see a collision at the same energies as the LHC, but across the whole atmosphere they happen all the time.  If these collisions were dangerous, they would have done their damage long ago.  

One worry that has been stated in the press is that the LHC might produce mini black holes.  Well, that is a possibility if there are extra dimensions of space that become visible just at the LHC energy scale, but that is unlikely (not quite as crazy as it sounds though).  But such mini black holes would not be like the monsters you may have seen in Sci Fi.  They would be tiny (way smaller than protons) and would decay in a fraction of a second.

Could these mini black holes be stable?  First of all, even if they were, a mini black hole would take hundreds of millions of years to grow appreciably in size in the Earth, so it could not be the doomsday machine some have feared.  But everything we know about the theory says that such mini black holes must decay very rapidly due to quantum processes.   Mini black holes are essentially  just another kind of particle that decays. 

If all of that is not enough to convince you that the LHC is safe, here is a final comfort:  we have seen pulsars.  Comforting eh?  You see, pulsars are like canaries in the coal mine.  They are spinning neutron stars.  Neutron stars are dense cinders of dying stars that just barely avoided collapsing on themselves into black holes (the large kind).  They would feel the effects of a mini black hole much much faster than the Earth would.  They too are bombarded by cosmic rays all the time.  They recreate the LHC experiments each second.  If particle collisions created mini black holes that somehow were stable, all neutron stars would quickly be triggered into collapsing.  We see pulsars, so that can't have happened.

So the LHC is not a threat.  It is just a tool to look for freckles.

An engineer leans on a magnet in the 27km-long tunnel that houses the Large Hadron Collider (BBC News; Image: Cern/Maximilien Brice)

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Sarah Palin's thoughts on Iraq

Here are some thoughts from Republican VP pick Gov. Sarah Palin on Iraq.  She makes George W. Bush sound coherent.  

Further, her energy policy seems to consist mainly of further oil drilling.  We cannot free ourselves from foreign oil by domestic drilling—there is not enough of it.   And continuing to rely on oil will certainly do nothing to help global warming.

I also find it troubling that McCain met her only once or twice before picking her.  Is that Putting America First?  Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a qualified woman (like Hillary Clinton) elected to the US Presidency, but we can't just omit the "qualified" part.

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McCain's Choice

Today, John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his running mate.  There is no question that it was a Hail Mary pass.  It was designed to 

• Obliterate coverage of Obama's historic acceptance speech.
• Appeal to anti-abortion activists 
• Try to pick off disaffected Hillary voters

But the pick carries with it great risks because Palin has so little experience (less than two years as governor of Alaska), and none on the national much less the international stage.  The Republicans have already tried to compare her experience to Senator Obama's, but this is truly laughable.  He has experience at the state, national, and international level, plus he has led an incredibly successful campaign organization with more twice the number of people in the state of Alaska.  He has learned a lot in those two years of campaigning.  She has 67 days.

But the thing I find most troubling is that they are making a naked grab for Hillary supporters.  Palin and Hillary disagree on almost every issue.  Yes, there are some supporters so childishly angry that Hillary lost that they will buy the ruse, but how can John McCain argue with a straight face that he puts the country first when his choice of running mate was based solely on cynical politics? 

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Obama's Acceptance Speech

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  Life is busy.  Here is Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.  I thought he did everything he needed to do in a masterful way. The text is below.

Democratic Convention at Invesco Field
Denver, Colorado
As Prepared for Delivery

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.


To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

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