Blog.ObamaForTechnology.com

Barack Obama 2007 Campaign Contributions Over $100 Million

2008-02-01T13:44:00.000-06:00

According to Federal Election Commission reports, Barack Obama received $102 million in donations last year. The campaign reported a few days ago they took in $32 million in the month of January 2008 alone, about one million a day in donations - a record amount for any campaign in a one month period.

Contributions to Obama, Barack by State Through 12/31/2007

What's Included Here?

Summary

Contributions
Individual	$101,429,472
PAC	$25
Party	$0
Candidate	$0
Transfers-In	$0
Disbursements	$83,544,420
Cash On Hand	$18,626,248

Size of Donations

$200 and Under	$32,565,522
$200.01 - $499	$6,140,352
$500 - $999	$7,259,396
$1000 - $1999	$15,582,737
$2000 and Over	$41,685,974

Blogs on My.BarackObama.com Down

2008-02-01T04:27:00.000-06:00

The main blog on My.BarackObama.com has disappeared and the link forwards to an actblue.com fundraising page for democrat Barack Obama. It's possible the web team is undergoing maintenance and updating the infrastructure of the website.

Barack Obama's presidential campaign reported it received $32 million in cash donations, much of it is expected to have come from online donations in small dollar amounts.

Hillary Clinton Campaign Releases 2007 Fundraising Totals

2008-01-31T21:54:00.000-06:00

Hillary Clinton raised about $27 million from supporters for the period ended December 31, 2007. The total amount raised in 2007 by the Clinton campaign was $107 million.

2007 numbers for Barack Obama should be released soon, and made available at this link. An update will follow.

Barack Obama, Susan Collins Bill Creates Financial Aid and Scholarship Database

2007-12-14T11:52:00.000-06:00

Legislation would coordinate public and private scholarships and fellowships for students pursuing science, math, and technology

December 13, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) was joined by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to introduce the National STEM Scholarship Database Act (S. 2428), which would launch an innovative online database to coordinate information on financial aid opportunities available in science and technology through the federal government and public or private resources. More and more American students are pursing advanced degrees, and this database would make it easier for them to find and access the thousands of publicly and privately-supported scholarships and fellowships that may be available to them.

This legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Norm Coleman (R-MN). Representative Rush Holt introduced companion legislation, which passed the House of Representatives in June.

“Higher education remains out of reach for far too many Americans,” said Senator Obama. “This country has the best and strongest system of college and universities in the world, and for decades we have been the leader in scientific advancement, research and development, and innovation. We must ensure every student has the financial opportunity to attend these institutions. The STEM Database will make it easier for students to know which opportunities for scholarships and fellowships are available to them, and will give all our students a fair shot at pursuing an advanced degree. If we are truly committed to restoring America's competitiveness in the world, we must recruit a new generation of science and technology leaders, and this legislation is an important step forward.”

“I join the growing concern that the United States is not preparing a sufficient number of students, teachers, and practitioners in science, technology, and engineering fields,” said Senator Collins. “For many students, the obstacle is often not a lack of interest but rather a lack of financial resources. The database created in this bill will have a complete list of STEM scholarships, fellowships, and other programs of financial assistance from all public and private sources. I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Obama, in introducing this legislation.”

By creating a single web portal with the many financial aid opportunities available in science and technology, the National STEM Scholarship Database Act would promote study in these important fields. Access to this information is especially crucial for first generation college students who might otherwise receive limited guidance in how to successfully pursue, and finance, a degree in science or technology. As we attempt to raise the level of engagement and opportunity for students to enter STEM disciplines, it is essential that we reduce obstacles to accessing financial support; obstacles that might otherwise prevent students from pursuing their dreams, and America from maintaining its leadership in innovation.

The STEM Scholarship Database:

Includes information on available financial aid that would be organized by fields of study as well as by postsecondary or postbaccalaureate programs of financial support.
Organizes information on opportunities specifically targeted to individuals based on gender, ethnicity, family income, or other demographic characteristics.
Makes available information that is searchable.
Includes hyperlinks to programs and to application materials as well as contact information for applicants to receive further guidance.
Calls on the Secretary of Education to contract with a private entity to furnish and regularly update the information available through the website.

Source: Senator Barack Obama
Bruce Montgomery contributed to this report.

Barack Obama Announces Technology Agenda at Google

2007-12-12T12:22:00.000-06:00

Barack Obama Rewrites Presidential Campaign Fundraising History

2007-07-01T14:36:00.000-05:00

The campaign of Senator Barack Obama for president of the United Stats continues to set fundraising records while outpacing Hillary Clinton, who pundits hailed as unbeatable raising money. Clinton is expected to report a lower amount (about $27 million plus) when figures are released for the quarter April 1 through June 30 of this year.

A State of the Race message from David Plouffe summarizes the results:

I’m thrilled to report that in the last three months, the Obama campaign has set a new record for fundraising. Thanks to you, we raised at least $32.5 million including at least $31 million that we can spend on the battle for the Democratic nomination. But as astonishing as that feat is, much more important is how we raised it. To date, more than 258,000 Americans have contributed to this effort, much of it coming in small donations.

Barack Obama Narrows the Gap and Closes in on Hillary Clinton

2007-06-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama Narrows the Gap and Closes in on Hillary Clinton

           Al Gore and John Edwards Still a Long Way Behind Them

   ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- While 13 points
separated Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama just one month
ago in the race for the Democratic nomination for President, the gap
between them has narrowed considerably to just four points. Just over
one-third (36%) of adults who would vote in a Democratic primary or caucus
would vote for Senator Clinton, while 32 percent would vote for Senator
Obama. Last month, 40 percent would vote for Senator Clinton and 27 percent
said they would vote for Senator Obama.
   Of the next closest potential candidates, only one is an actual
candidate. However, both are very far behind the two front-runners. Al Gore
is next in preference as 14 percent would vote for him, followed by 12
percent who would vote for John Edwards. The other six candidates and
potential candidates are all even further behind with only Governor Bill
Richardson above one percent - - he is at three percent. The Democratic
primary race is clearly a two person race at this point in time.
   These are some of the results of a Harris Poll of 3,304 U.S. adults
surveyed online by Harris Interactive(R) between June 1 and 12, 2007. This
survey included 1,196 adults who expect to vote in a Democratic primary or
caucus and like all polls conducted well before an election, it should not
be read as a prediction. Rather, it is a snap shot of the presidential
"horse race," at a very early stage in the race. A previous column(1)
reviewed the data on the Republican candidates.
   Before being asked to pick their first choice in the primary elections,
the adults surveyed were also shown a list of all the main candidates in
both parties and some other well-known Republicans and Democrats, and asked
which of them they would consider voting for. They could name as many
people, in both parties, as they wished.
   Among Democrats, more people say they would consider voting for Hillary
Clinton (70%) than for Barack Obama (57%). However, Obama edges Clinton
among Independents (by 38% to 33%). Among the next tier of candidates, half
of Democrats (49%) would consider Al Gore, while 43 percent of Democrats
would consider John Edwards.
   Overall Democratic Leaders Continue to be Preferred over Republicans
   When the replies of all adults are taken together, 67 percent would
consider voting for one of the Democrats and 59 percent would consider
voting for one of the Republican leaders. While almost all Democrats (96%)
and Republicans (92%) would consider one of the leaders from their own
party, the Independents are pretty equally divided. Two thirds (68%) of
Independents would consider one of the Democratic leaders while 60 percent
would consider one of the Republican leaders.
   TABLE 1
   DEMOCRATIC LEADERS ADULTS "WOULD CONSIDER VOTING FOR" FOR PRESIDENT
   "Although the U.S. presidential election is not until November, 2008,
there are a number of people who may run for president. If you were to vote
and had
 to select from the following candidates, for which of the following people
                        would you consider voting?"

   Base: All adults
                      Feb          Mar         Apr         May         June
                       %            %            %           %           %
   Hillary Clinton    45           41           37          42          39
   Barack Obama       37           41           39          41          37
   Al Gore            26           29           29          29          28
   John Edwards       28           29           31          31          26
   John Kerry         12           14           14          15          13
   Joe Lieberman      12           10            9          11           9
   Bill Richardson     8            8            9           9           9
   Joe Biden           7            7            7           8           7
   Howard Dean         8            8            7           9           7
   Wesley Clark        8            9            8           7           5
   Russ Feingold     N/A          N/A            5           4           4
   Dennis Kucinich     4            5            4           5           4
   Christopher Dodd    4            3            3           3           3
   Mike Gravel         1            2            1           2           2
   Al Sharpton       N/A          N/A            3           3           2



   Base: All adults
                               Republican      Democrat     Independent
                                   %               %             %
   Hillary Clinton                 8              70            33
   Barack Obama                   12              57            38
   Al Gore                         6              49            26
   John Edwards                    8              43            25
   John Kerry                      2              25            11
   Joe Lieberman                   9              10             9
   Bill Richardson                 3              13             9
   Joe Biden                       3              11             6
   Howard Dean                     1              11             7
   Wesley Clark                    2               8             4
   Russ Feingold                   1               6             4
   Dennis Kucinich                 *               5             5
   Christopher Dodd                1               5             3
   Mike Gravel                     1               3             1
   Al Sharpton                     *               4             2

   Note: Multiple-response question
   *Less than 0.5% "-" No response
   N/A -- Not applicable



                                  TABLE 2
                DEMOCRATIC VOTERS FIRST CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT
   "There are many different people who are, or who may become, candidates
for
   president in the Democratic primaries starting in January, 2008. Based
all that you know or have heard up to now about the people listed below,
for which
                one person would you be most likely to vote?

   Base: Those who would vote in Democratic primary or caucus
                                 April           May           June
                                   %               %             %
   Hillary Clinton                37              40            36
   Barack Obama                   32              27            32
   Al Gore                        13              13            14
   John Edwards                   14              12            12
   Bill Richardson                 3               3             3
   Joe Biden                       1               2             1
   Dennis Kucinich                 1               1             1
   Wesley Clark                    *               1             1
   Christopher Dodd                *               *             *
   Mike Gravel                     -               *             *

   Note: Percentages do not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding
   *Less than 0.5% "-" No response



                                  TABLE 3
   SUMMARY: THOSE WHO WOULD CONSIDER VOTING FOR ANY OF THE LISTED LEADERS
                               AND CANDIDATES

   Base: All adults
                                     Feb      Mar      Apr      May      June
                                      %        %        %        %         %
   Would consider one of
    the listed Democratic leaders    71       69       68       71        67
   Would consider one of
    the Republican leaders           58       59       59       58        59



   Base: All adults
                                     Republican    Democrat    Independent
                                         %            %             %
   Would consider one of
    the listed Democratic leaders       32           96            68
   Would consider one of
    the Republican leaders              92           33            60
   Methodology
   This Harris Poll(R) was conducted online within the United States
between June 1 and 12, 2007 among 3,304 adults, 1,196 of whom said they
would vote in a Democratic primary or caucus (aged 18 and over). Figures
for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were
weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual
proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to
adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
   All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability
sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not
possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error,
error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording
and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore,
Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are
misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling
errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples
with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published
polls come close to this ideal.
   Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have
agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been
weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the
sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris
Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be
calculated.
   These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the
National Council on Public Polls.
   J 30279A (June)
   Q492, 2036

   (1) The Harris Poll(R) #55, Fred Thompson Solidly in Second Place in
       Republican Preference For President, June 14, 2007
   The Harris Poll(R) #56, June 15, 2007
   By Regina Corso, Director, The Harris Poll(R), Harris Interactive.
   About Harris Interactive
   Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market
research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research,
insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident
decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in
performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of
the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online
market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the
world's largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris
Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and
Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and
MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent
market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be
obtained at http://www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a member of the Harris
Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at
http://www.harrispollonline.com.

Open Letter for Barack Obama Campaign to Establish Technology Platform Policy Agenda

2007-05-25T11:14:00.000-05:00

The campaign of Barack Obama for president of the United States has a defining moment to establish a Technology Policy platform, much of which has been outlined in draft format from the Technology for Obama | Obama for Technology national support group days after the formal announcement back in February 2007.

Now, The Open Internet Coalition has made a plea for a national US Broadband Policy. Without going into extensive research on broadband adoption rates for other countries compared to the USA, suffice it to say that Barack Obama needs to act now and make his voice known in a Technology Platform agenda.

The time is now Barack Obama. Fulfill your true role as the "Technology President" and adopt a Technology Platform that will address broadband and other high-tech issues. Act now.

Obama Campaign Community Kickoff Raised Millions

2007-04-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

According to campaign finance reports filed April 15, the presidential campaign of Barack Obama raised over five million dollars on March 31, 2007. Obama had another million dollar day on March 08.

March 08, 2007 - $1,483,599.24
March 31, 2007 - $5,315,824.98

Barack Obama Campaign Technology Related Expenditures

2007-04-15T20:55:00.000-05:00

Here are selected expenditures related to technology taken from Obama for America campaign finance reports of presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Disbursements by Payee:

Apple Computer Inc. - 2,649.08
Best Buy - 89.99
Blue State Digital LLC - 36,171.50
CDW Direct - 5,879.96
CDW Direct LLC - 34,804.13
Cingular - 544.17
Cingular Wireless - 333.89
COMCAST - 440.00
Communication Systems Inc. - 8,700.00
CompUSA - 321.47
Datamax - 4,233.50
Dell Computer Corp. - 368,641.24
eAccess - 6,568.00
Ebay Inc. - 540.00
EveryOneNet - 2,530.54
Expedia - 1,652.32
HUGHES, CHRIS - 3,427.13
Google Adwords - 72,232.03
Imagetec - 7,772.46
J & R Sound - 595.06
J&R Sound/Mailorder -,224.95
LSG Strategies - 127,293.35
MALOVER, KEVIN - 13,490.23
Metro Media Productions - 37,280.00
Office Depot - 853.32
Office Max - 2,242.93
On 2 Technologies - 199.00
PressFlex LLC - 8,523.00
Provantage - 18,630.87
Qwest - 31,815.75
Radio Shack - 720.28
Rospars, Joseph - 10,000.00
The Synetech Group - 37,130.95
Verizon - 103,358.38
Verizon Political Unit - 15,000.00
Verizon Wireless - 253.79
Web Soapbox Inc. - 28,994.79
www.newegg.com - 408.97
Yipes Enterprise Services - 4,250.00

Obama For America Campaign Top Fundraising States

2007-04-15T20:21:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama raised millions of dollars in several key states, they are:

California $4,156,500.42
Florida $1,019,041.59
Illinois $3,790,156.98
New York $2,767,845.10

Here is a complete state rundown of all contributions:

NO STATE WAS SUPPLIED 5,496,280.10
60 - 2,800.00
AA - 2,800.00
AE - 4,129.12
Alaska - 4,330.18
Alabama - 14,567.88
AP - 250.00
Arkansas - 8,420.13
Arizona - 64,146.00
BC - 1,000.00
California - 4,156,500.42
Colorado - 565,087.30
Connecticut - 419,283.84
District of Columbia - 876,248.14
Delaware - 10,610.98
EN - 3,800.00
Florida - 1,019,041.59
FR - 4,600.00
Georgia - 477,771.30
Hawaii - 28,074.87
Iowa - 18,158.33
Idaho - 14,829.38
Illinois - 3,790,156.98
Indiana - 36,828.89
IR - 32,925.00
Kansas - 14,216.24
Kentucky - 265,258.83
Louisiana - 18,490.71
Massachusetts - 934,679.65
Maryland - 712,871.61
Maine - 33,974.01
Michigan - 86,825.00
Minnesota - 58,353.07
Missouri - 149,083.10
Mississippi - 12,220.18
Montana - 13,253.64
N/ - 4,200.00
NA - 37,895.50
North Carolina - 115,737.72
North Dakota - 1,086.37
Nebraska - 12,843.62
New Hampshire - 49,971.45
New Jersey - 397,351.58
New Mexico - 30,755.34
Nevada - 63,530.31
New York - 2,767,845.10
Ohio - 316,338.72
Oklahoma - 309,112.70
Oregon - 51,315.04
Pennsylvania - 417,438.89
QC - 500.00
Rhode Island - 19,957.26
South Carolina - 31,810.66
South Dakota - 7,350.00
SW - 4,600.00
Tennessee - 26,630.91
Texas - 695,306.38
UK - 7,400.00
Utah - 28,414.97
Virginia - 631,221.69
Virgin Islands - 9,900.00
Vermont - 46,271.42
Washington - 223,544.69
Wisconsin - 70,918.61
West Virginia - 8,752.50
Wyoming - 14,900.00

Obama Campaign Finance Report Online

2007-04-15T20:05:00.000-05:00

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has posted finance reports for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 online here. Hillary Clinton's report is located here.

A summary of Barack Obama's finance report is below:

Clinton's report is located below:

BarackObama.com Most Popular Among Younger and African-American Audiences; HillaryClinton.com Attracts Visitors from Higher-Income Households

2007-04-05T19:48:00.000-05:00

Traffic to BarackObama.com Jumps 27 Percent in February Following Official Presidential Announcement

RESTON, VA, April 5, 2007 – comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a study on visitation to the Web sites of top 2008 Democratic presidential contenders Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). The study revealed several interesting differences between the visitor bases to their respective campaign Web sites, giving some insight into which demographic segments are demonstrating early interest in these candidates.

Surges in site visitation corresponded with the two Senators’ official declarations of their candidacies for president. Clinton’s announcement on January 20, 2007 helped her top Obama in January with 313,000 unique visitors in the U.S., compared to Obama’s 297,000. In contrast, Obama generated a traffic boost from his announcement on February 10, 2007, drawing 376,000 visitors during the month to top Clinton’s total of 206,000.

Younger Visitors Favor BarackObama.com

With 33 percent of visitors to BarackObama.com under the age of 35, as compared 19 percent of visitors to HillaryClinton.com, Senator Obama’s site is clearly attracting a younger online audience. Most notably, visitors between the ages of 18-24 were 48 percent more likely than average to visit Obama’s site, indicating a strong affinity for Senator Obama among the college-aged crowd.

“Historically, few political campaigns have focused on reaching out to 18-24 year olds because they are a notoriously unreliable voting bloc,” said Andrew Lipsman, senior analyst at comScore. “Indeed, our data show that 18-24 year olds are 20 percent less likely than average to visit political Web sites. Thus, it is particularly noteworthy that BarackObama.com is attracting such heavy interest among 18-24 year olds, because it speaks to Senator Obama’s ability to mobilize younger voters and offers an early indication that they may play a more significant role than usual in the 2008 elections.”

HillaryClinton.com Draws Heavier Interest among Wealthiest Households

Both sites attract visitors from higher-income households, but the wealthiest households – those with at least $100,000 in annual income – were 57 percent more likely than average to visit HillaryClinton.com and just 18 percent more likely to visit BarackObama.com.

Both Clinton and Obama were also more likely than average to draw African-American visitors. Specifically, African-Americans were 20 percent more likely than the average Internet user to visit HillaryClinton.com and 127 percent more likely to visit BarackObama.com.

“Given the importance of the African-American vote in the Democratic primaries, both camps should be pleased that they’re attracting heavier than average online interest from that demographic, with Senator Obama faring particularly well,” added Lipsman. “With campaign Web sites now being used very effectively as fundraising vehicles, it’s clear that a key advantage for Senator Clinton is the deeper pockets of her core visitor base – though as Senator Obama has already demonstrated, the number of online donors also matters.”

Denmark Tops Global Information Technology Report Rankings

2007-03-28T10:59:00.000-05:00

For the first time, Denmark tops the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007 ’s “Networked Readiness Index ”, as a culmination of an upward trend since 2003. Sweden, Singapore and Finland follow, while the United States loses ground in networked readiness, falling 6 places to 7th position. With record coverage of 122 economies, the GITR has become the world’s most respected assessment of the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.

The time is NOW to push a broad-based US Technology Agenda to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign.

FCC Launches Inquiry into Broadband Market Practices

2007-03-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission today begins an inquiry to better understand the behavior of participants in the market for broadband services.
The Commission in its 2005 Internet Policy Statement announced four principles to encourage broadband deployment and to preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet. This Notice of Inquiry seeks information on the behavior of broadband market participants, including:

How broadband providers are managing Internet traffic on their networks today
Whether providers charge different prices for different speeds or capacities of service
Whether our policies should distinguish between content providers that charge end users for access to content and those that do not
How consumers are affected by these practices

The Notice of Inquiry further seeks comment on whether the Policy Statement should incorporate a new principle of nondiscrimination and, if so, how would “nondiscrimination” be defined, and how would such a principle read.

Action by the Commission, March 22, 2007, by Notice of Inquiry (FCC 07-31). Chairman Martin, Commissioners Tate and McDowell, with Commissioners Copps and Adelstein concurring. Separate statements issued by Chairman Martin, Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate, and McDowell.

Creator of '1984' Anti-Clinton Video Confesses

2007-03-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press reports Philip de Vellis, a strategist with Blue State Digital, the firm hired to create Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign website, developed the famous anti-Clinton video viewed over 1.5 million times on YouTube.com.

De Vellis has resigned from his role at Blue State Digital and confirmed he created the video using Apple Macintosh equipment and software on his own time and not as part of his duties at the firm.

The campaign of Barack Obama quickly released the following statement:

"The Obama campaign and its employees had no knowledge and had nothing to do with the creation of the ad. We were notified this evening by a vendor of ours, Blue State Digital, that an employee of the company had been involved in the making of this ad. Blue State Digital has separated ties with this individual and we have been assured he did no work on our campaign's account."

There now appears an anti-Obama video on YouTube viewed by over 250 thousand people.

Senator Barack Obama Claims Campaign Lacks Technological Ability to Recreate Apple's 1984 Ad

2007-03-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

Speaking candidly on CNN's Larry King Live on Monday, March 19, 2007, Senator Barack Obama admitted his campaign does not have the ability to produce such a magnificent piece of video work displayed in the remake of Apple's famous "1984" ad.

"Frankly, given what it looks like, we don't have the technical capacity to create something like this. It's pretty extraordinary," said Obama when King asked if his campaign had anything to do with the video.

YouTube.com viewers have watched the video 1,481,436 as of this writing. It was posted online two weeks ago.

Mysterious Vote Different Video on YouTube.com Viewed Over 438,000 Times

2007-03-19T12:41:00.000-05:00

A remarkable remake of Apple Computer's famous "1984" ad surfaced on YouTube.com March 5, 2007 by a user named ParkRidge47 (possible a 47 year old resident from Park Ridge Illinois?). In the short time online Vote Different has been viewed over 438,000 times, generating 1800 comments and favorited 779 times as of today.

The video replaces the Apple logo with an O containing the leaf and rainbow. Quite a display. Some are now saying this marks the dawn of "attack ads" but I don't think so. I think this ad was done obviously by an Apple follower who may also be an Obama loyalist but not necessarily a Hillary Clinton hater.

I use an Apple Macintosh and Apple users have long doctored up Apple's own graphics, ads and marketing collateral to predict coming products. This usually happens around the time MacWorld is about to take place. There are websites devoted to just predicting what Apple will unveil at MacWorld.

This Vote Different video, reportedly an independent effort from someone who is not affiliated with the campaign of Barack Obama, should be nominated for a YouTube award and not classified as an "attack ad." That's what I think. But then the person who wrote the article about attack ads probably uses a Windows PC.

Hope Action Change Community Kickoff Set

2007-03-12T12:39:00.000-05:00

Kick-off the Campaign

Millions of Americans are building this campaign one community at a time. On March 31, we’ll all come together in a day of community gatherings around the theme of “Hope. Action. Change.” We’ll kick off this campaign to change America and to restore faith in our political process.

On Saturday, March 31 at 3:00 pm Central time, Barack will be speaking to a small group gathered in the home of an Iowa family. It will be a candid discussion, streamed live at www.barackobama.com, about the challenges facing us today and how we can work together to change America.

Join Barack in this discussion by opening your homes on this day and gathering friends and family to watch the live webcast. For those who would like to host an event but do not have access to the Internet, sign up to receive a conference call number to dial into and listen to the Iowa discussion.

After signup you will receive an email confirmation:

Thanks for RSVPing to the conference call with Barack on March 31.
Dial-in information for the call will be distributed in the days prceding the event.

MySpace, YouTube and Tech Workers Can Influence 2008 Presidential Candidate's Technology Platform

2007-03-12T06:53:00.000-05:00

A San Jose Mecury News article outlines how technology movers and shakers are staking claim to aspiring 2008 preseidential candidates such as Senator Barack Obama and others. The story underscores how in the past candidates simply took a check from technology industry insiders who now want to influence the Washington agenda on everything from energy to the greening of America.

Ironically, the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, who reportedly netted $300,000 in a 20 minute phone call to Silicon Valley supporters, has put the power of influence in the hands of the people through a social networking website My.BarackObama.com.

Senator Barack Obama is the Next Technology President

2007-03-11T18:46:00.000-05:00

Senator Barack Obama has shown he is savvy with technology. How did he do this? By making his presidential campaign pre-announcement via webcast video on Brightcove and then posting it on YouTube.com. But that's not all. Last year Sentaor Obama worked closely with Senator Coburn, to draft and ultimately pass the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.

President Bush signed this measure into law in September of 2006. This important bill will bring badly needed transparency to Federal spending by creating a user-friendly website to search all government contracts, grants, earmarks, and loans, thereby opening up Federal financial transactions to public scrutiny.

Senator Barack Obama Claims Technology Can Decrease Oil Dependency

2007-03-06T02:54:00.000-06:00

The Fuel Economy Reform Act of 2006 was reintroduced by U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Richard G. Lugar (R-IN), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and Norm Coleman (R-MN) on March 5, 2007. The legislation would reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by nearly half a trillion gallons by 2028 and greatly decrease our dependence on foreign oil.

"We need to act now if we want to prevent an even greater energy crisis in the future," said Obama. "This bipartisan, common sense approach will finally harness the technology we already have to save Americans money at the pump and save America from a dependence on the world's most unstable, undemocratic regimes."

Opening Doors for America's Workers

2007-03-05T07:41:00.000-06:00

Senator Barack Obama promised hundreds of union healthcare workers battling injustices at Resurrection Health Care the Employee Free Choice Act would be passed.

Obama spoke briefly before leaving to deliver a keynote address in Selma, Alabama marking the anniversary of a "Bloody Sunday" march over Edmund Pettus bridge that defined a shift in civil rights for African Americans.

Barack Obama in Cleveland, Ohio

2007-03-01T05:15:00.000-06:00

Barack Obama in Cleveland, Ohio, my hometown!

20,000 Rally for Obama in Austin, TX

2007-02-24T05:52:00.000-06:00