When Barack Obama is inaugurated in two days, Catholic voters who oppose abortion want him to know that his historic rise to power might not have happened if his mother could have predicted his troubled early years.
CatholicVote.com today released a video that reminds people of Obama’s circumstances as a child — the kind of circumstances that prompt some women to abort their babies. The ad, the first production of a campaign titled “Life: Imagine The Potential,” recounts Obama’s biography over the backdrop of an ultrasound showing a baby in the womb.
“This child’s future is a broken home,” the ad says. “He will be abandoned by his father. His single mother will struggle to raise him despite the hardships he will endure. This child will become the first African-American president.”
UPDATE, 1/29: NBC has rejected the ad as unfit for airing during the Super Bowl because of its “political” nature.
Categories: Abortion, Barack Obama, AdWatch
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Little more than a week after being elected president on a theme of change, Barack Obama showed that he is ready to make some technological changes in the way the president communicates with the public. He recorded the first weekly video address to the nation as president-elect and vowed to make it a tradition once in the White House.
Categories: Producer's Picks, White House, Politics, Technology, Barack Obama, Weekly Video Address
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Democrat Barack Obama scored a decisive victory over Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election last night and claimed victory in a speech delivered in his hometown of Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. …
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
In his concession speech, McCain noted the significance of Obama’s election.
“A century ago,” McCain said, “President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States.”
Categories: Producer's Picks, White House, Sen. Barack Obama, Presidency 2008, Barack Obama, John McCain
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ST. PAUL — Word on the cable networks this morning is that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a superstar because she delivered her rousing speech at the convention here last night despite a broken teleprompter.
MSNBC reported that tidbit. So did Fox News, with an aide to GOP presidential candidate John McCain talking about the teleprompter woes. Now the blogs are running with the story.
Don’t believe the myth. I watched the speech from the area to the left and behind the stage in the Xcel Center and had a perfect view of the teleprompter. It worked fine. I have the footage to prove it.
At this point, you may be wondering why I videotaped the teleprompter, so here’s my answer: Palin’s speech seemed rushed. She was missing what I thought would have been key applause lines. But then I realized it wasn’t entirely her fault; the teleprompter was rushing Palin through the speech.
I decided to get a clip of the teleprompter in action. At the time, I just thought it would be a colorful item worth blogging. I didn’t think I would need it to debunk a convention myth. But with the networks, the blogs and even the McCain campaign spreading the rumor that the teleprompter wasn’t working, AirCongress can set the record straight.
Watch the teleprompter, the one that was directly in front of the stage, and listen to Palin speaking. The rolling text and her speech are in sync. The teleprompter also stops rolling when the applause begins, and it resumes when Palin starts speaking. That was true throughout the speech.
At least one blog reported that Palin deviated significantly from the prepared speech because the teleprompter broke. That’s also not true. She did ad lib one of her best lines of the night — the one about the only difference between hockey moms and pit bulls being lipstick –but she pretty much read the rest of the speech as it appeared on the teleprompter.
So there you have it. There’s no need to wait for the Internet rumor-buster Snopes.com to get on the case. You heard it at AirCongress first.
Categories: AirCongress, Republican Convention
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ST. PAUL — The most-anticipated speech of the Republican convention here this week arguably was the one delivered tonight by vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. She won over the crowd with her personal and political story and her jabs at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Here’s a recap of the best lines in her speech, followed by video of the full speech:
- “I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions … and met far graver challenges … and knows how tough fights are won.”
- “Our family has the same ups and downs as any other, the same challenges and the same joys. Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. And children with special needs inspire a special love. To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.”
- “A writer observed: “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity.” I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman. I grew up with those people. They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America … who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars. They love their country, in good times and bad, and they’re always proud of America. “
- “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”
- “I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country.”
- “There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state Senate.”
- “Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee. He said, quote, ‘I can’t stand John McCain.’ Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we’ve chosen the right man.”
Categories: Alaska, Producer's Picks, Politics, Sarah Palin, Republican Convention
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