Tag Archive: Barack Obama

Based on this video, courtesy of the Barack Obama Presidential Exploratory Committee, the New Jersey Draft Obama for President may be transitioning into New Jersey for Obama much sooner than expected.

In the meantime, we are going ahead with our plans to engage the community-at-large in a conversation about the 2008 Presidential elections and the impact that we believe a Barack Obama for America campaign could have on the national debate as well as how a Barack Obama presidency could shape a new future for our country and world.

The next step in these plans is to host a series of State of the Union Watch house parties throughout the state in an effort to bring people together, no matter whom they are supporting or not supporting for President at the moment, to look at the 2008 elections through the lens of the current failed administration and talk about how our country and world can resurrect itself going forward no matter who the next President of the United States might be.

During this weekend, established to remember the commitment, conviction, and courage possessed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the good that has come from the fights that he fought, not only on behalf of African-Americans, but on behalf of everyone who benefits from living in a more equal and just society, New Jersey Draft Obama for President will launch a movement that we hope will result in Senator Barack Obama announcing that he will run for President in 2008, the Democratic Party choosing him to be our nominee, and our country electing him President of the United States.

The launch will take place this evening at 7:30pm at Panera Bread (1551 Route 1 South) in Edison.  We are looking for individuals who are ready, willing, and able to assume leadership roles and spread the Draft Obama movement’s message to their community.  For more information about tonight’s launch, please feel free to e-mail our State Director, Bertin Lefkovic, at bert@draftobama.org or call him at 908-416-3105.

For more information about the Draft Obama movement, you can go to the national organization’s website.  If you click on “Forums” you will find one dedicated to the organizing effort here in New Jersey.  DraftObama.org has also formed a federal PAC for the purpose of raising money to put this television ad on the air in various parts of the country.

From PoliticsNJ.com

A group of New Jerseyans seeking to draft Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination will hold their first meeting on Sunday evening. Leaders of New Jersey DraftObama.org say they will launch a grass roots campaign from every part of the Garden State’s diverse political environment. The meeting at Panera Bread on Route 1 South in Edison (7:30 PM) will seek to develop a statewide organizational structure that might encourage the Illinois Senator to run.

“New Jersey was primarily an ATM machine and source of volunteers for the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary in 2004,” said Bertin Lefkovic, New Jersey DraftObama.org co-state director, who had served as the New Jersey field director for Howard Dean’s 2004 Presidential campaign, “But now that the state has moved its primary date to February 5, 2008, it will play a major role in deciding who the Democratic nominee will be. (01/11/07)

Please feel free to e-mail me at bert@draftobama.org or call me at 908-416-3105 for more info about this Sunday night’s meeting.

I hope to see more than a few of my friends from the 2004 Dean campaign there as we embark on a new Presidential journey and apply everything that we learned from that incredible experience, bringing forth all of its enthusiasm and excitement in support of Barack Obama, who I believe has the ability to be as inspiring a leader as Howard Dean was and continues to be.

According to an FDU poll, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani lead the way among Democratic and Republican primary voters in New Jersey. Both had 100% name recognition. 41% of Democrats say they would support Clinton while 48% of Republicans chose Guiliani. Runner-up for the Democrats was Barack Obama with 15% and John Edwards at 13%. On the Republican side, 23% support McCain. The poll has a huge +/-6% and 7% margin of error.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have 72% and 70% approval ratings, though Obama’s name recognition is only 74% at the moment.

New Jersey’s primary will likely be moved up to February 5th and be one of the first states to weigh in on the issue.

Who do you support in the primary right now? Take the poll below.

Before I tell you all about my lunchtime trip to Trenton, let me make one thing clear:  Sen. Barack Obama is a rockstar.

So what brought me to Trenton from Cherry Hill you ask?  Well, it was the chance to experience for myself that je ne sais quoi that makes Sen. Obama so special to many in our progressive community and well beyond.  Senator Obama was in the Garden State to lend his support to our own Sen. Bob Menendez.  After a morning visit to Camden, where Sen. Menendez received the warm support from black clergymen at the Kaighn Baptist Church, the Obama/Menendez juggernaut headed northbound to Trenton for a noontime rally with NJ’s labor movement near the Statehouse.

And what a rally it was!  First of all, the venue was an iconic one: Trenton’s Masonic Temple.  When I arrived, I heard the musical stylings of Fleetwood Mac thumping through the sound system.

“Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,”  Stevie Nicks reminded the crowd, “Don’t stop! It’ll soon be here, better than before!  Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone!”