Chicago Democratic Socialists of America

Barack Obama is running to gain the Democratic ballot line for Illinois Senate 13th District. The 13th District is Alice Palmer's old district, encompassing parts of Hyde Park and South Shore.

Mr. Obama graduated from Columbia University and promptly went into community organizing for the Developing Communities Project in Roseland and Altgeld Gardens on the far south side of Chicago. He went on to Harvard University, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated with a law degree. In 1992, he was Director of Illinois Project Vote, a voter registration campaign that made Carol Moseley Braun's election to the U.S. Senate much easier than it would have been. At present, he practices law in Judson Miner's law firm and is President of the board of the Annenberg Challenge Grant which is distributing some $50 million in grants to public school reform efforts.

What best characterizes Barack Obama is a quote from an article in Illinois Issues, a retrospective look at his experience as a community organizer while he was completing his degree at Harvard:

"... community organizations and organizers are hampered by their own dogmas about the style and substance of organizing. Most practice ... a 'consumer advocacy' approach, with a focus on wrestling services and resources from outside powers that be. Few are thinking of harnessing the internal productive capacities, both in terms of money and people, that already exist in communities." (Illinois issues, September, 1988)

Luckily, Mr. Obama does not have any opposition in the primary. His opponents have all dropped out or were ruled off the ballot. But if you would like to contribute to his campaign, make the check payable to Friends of Barack Obama, 2154 E. 71st, Chicago, IL 60649. If you would like to become involved in his campaign, call the headquarters at (312) 363-1996.

Chicago Jobs with Justice and ACORN held a huge rally on February 24th in support of the Jobs and Living Wage Ordinance. The rally was swarming with candidates for office, most for offices having nothing to do with the passage of the ordinance. There were not so many aldermen present, but Ed Burke was there- a fact that might be encouraging.

The Chicago Jobs with Justice Workers Rights Committee pulled off a very successful fundraiser for the blacklisted SETMI workers in El Salvador. The event, a dance held this last January 13, raised $2,500, and was part of a nationwide effort to raise money to help the fired union workers. The committee is planning future work around corporate responsibility and international labor solidarity. The committee is also conducting a public education campaign around the video "Zoned for Slavery" about labor conditions in the "Free Trade" zones in Central America. If you'd like to arrange for a presentation, contact Frank Klein at (312) 738-6060.

The Columbus Free Press New Party Online News - November 1996 Running to Win New Party members are busy knocking on doors, hammering down lawn signs, and phoning voters to support NP candidates this fall. Here are some of our key races:

Arkansas: The Little Rock New Party has a full slate of candidates up for election in November. LRNP steering committee member Michael Booker is running unopposed for re-election to the Arkansas State House. Two NP members -- Paul Kelly and Genevieve Stewart -- are running for at-large (city-wide) city council positions. And in a head-to-head battle between the New Party and the conservative right, NP member Jayne Cia faces the Arkansas state chair of Empower America (Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett's organization) for a Justice of the Peace (county board) position.

Illinois: Three NP-members won Democratic primaries last Spring and face off against Republican opponents on election day: Danny Davis (U.S. House), BARACK OBAMA (State Senate) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary).

Maryland: Two New Party members are up for school board seats this fall: Doyle Niemann in Prince George's County and Dan Parr in Montgomery County.

Minnesota: Despite the successful effort by conservative Democratic Party forces to deny Progressive Minnesota the opportunity to use fusion this fall, the state legislative candidates that sought our nomination still see themselves as Progressive Minnesota candidates, and we're still backing them in the general election. PM/NP endorsed candidates include Ellen Anderson, Karen Clark, Andy Dawkins, Linda Higgins, and Sandy Pappas. Progressive Minnesota has also endorsed Green Party State Assembly candidate Cam Gordon.

New York: The New Party of Long Island is backing three candidates for office this Fall: State Assembly candidate Tom DiNapoli and Congressional candidates Carolyn McCarthy and Nora Bredes. NP members collected the necessary signatures to nominate progressive Democratic Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli on the New Party line, making this the first Democratic Party/New Party fusion effort. The chapter is supporting a major voter registration drive in African-American and Hispanic communities in McCarthy's district.

Washington, DC: DC New Democracy/NP is backing ten candidates for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (Almedith Bass-Williams, John Jordan, Laine McRaney, Henry Fernandez, Todd Mosley, Daniel Rosenberg, Gerry Lorentz, Will Hill, Dennis Dolinger, Violet Hewlett), neighborhood-based councils that represent community concerns to the mayor and city council. In addition, DCND is recruiting candidates to run write-in campaigns in some of the 80-odd ANC races with no candidate.

Wisconsin: In addition to the four Progressive Milwaukee-backed candidates running for state office (Spencer Coggs, Dale Dulberger, Gwendolynne Moore, Johnnie Morris-Tatum, see Sept Update), two New Party members in Fox Valley are running for the state assembly. Progressive Fox Valley founder and chair Tony Palmeri is in a surprisingly close race against an four-term incumbent conservative Republican in Oshkosh. New Party and AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) member Corky Van Handel is also running for the state assembly in a nearby district. Both are running as Democrats.

Membership Growth September was the New Party's all-time high month for membership recruitment -- more than 1000 new members joined! Welcome aboard.

As before, we encourage you to continue send us whatever names you can -- whether it's 10, 100, or 1000. Every little bit counts, and this is an extremely inexpensive way for us to get the word out about our work.

As always, onward and upward... New Party 227 West 40th St. Suite 1303 New York, NY 10018 phone: 800-200-1294 fax: 212-302-5344 email: newparty@newparty.org web site: http://www.newparty.org

If you google Obama Ayers you can see they have been working a lot with John Ayers who is the brother of William Ayers. They seem to be involved in The Catalyst of Chicago and there are photos from a 10th Anniversary Prom they all attended.

http://www.google.com/search2001/search?q=Ayers+Obama&hl=en

http://web.archive.org/web/20010724081433/www.populist.com/11.96.Edit.html

Barack Obama identified as member of “The New Party” — many other simialr citations — the “New Party” is essentially a party of “soft-socialism” akin to the “green Party(s)” in Europe...

New Party members and supported candidates won 16 of 23 races, including an at-large race for the Little Rock, Ark., City Council, a seat on the county board for Little Rock and the school board for Prince George’s County, Md. Chicago is sending the first New Party member to Congress, as Danny Davis, who ran as a Democrat, won an overwhelming 85% victory. New Party member Barack Obama was uncontested for a State Senate seat from Chicago

http://web.archive.org/web/20011230212457/www.law.harvard.edu/alumni/celebration/obama.shtml

Barack H. Obama ‘91

Barack Obama, D-Chicago, is the Illinois State Senator for the 13th State Senate District representing areas of Chicago’s South Side. He earned his A.B. in political science from Columbia University in 1983 and then spent five years working as a community organizer, first in Harlem, then in Chicago. In 1988, he enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he served as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review and was a member of the Executive Board of the Black Law Students Association. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, in 1991.

In 1992, Senator Obama served as Illinois Executive Director of PROJECT VOTE!, an effort that added over 100,000 newly registered voters in Illinois. That year, he also joined Miner, Barnhill and Galland as a civil rights attorney and was elected to the Illinois State Senate. He is currently in his second term as state senator, having been reelected in 1998. His term runs through January 2003. Additionally, Senator Obama still works with the firm Miner, Barnhill and Galland and is also a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches constitutional law.

Senator Obama lost a bid for the Democratic nomination for Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois’ seat in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.

In 1993, Senator Obama was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of “40 under 40” outstanding young leaders in the City of Chicago. He is the recipient of the 1995 Legal Eagle Award from IVI-IPO for his work in bringing Illinois into compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (Motor-Voter). His commentaries have been heard on National Public Radio and published in his memoir, Dreams From My Father, which was published by Random House in August 1995.

Senator Obama serves on the boards of several organizations including the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, where he is chairman, the Joyce Foundation, the Woods Fund of Chicago, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, and Public Allies.

Senator Obama is married to Michelle Obama. They have one daughter, Malia Ann Obama.

Franklin D. Raines ‘76

Franklin D. Raines has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fannie Mae, the largest non-bank financial services company in the world, since January 1, 1999.

The Fannie Mae Board of Directors designated Mr. Raines as the successor to James A. Johnson in April 1998. From May through December 31, 1998, Raines served as Chairman and CEO-Designate.

Mr. Raines stepped down as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a member of the President’s Cabinet on May 20, 1998, after two years of service. He was the President’s key negotiator in the talks that led to passage of the bipartisan Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and was the first OMB director in a generation to balance the federal budget.

From 1991 to 1996, Mr. Raines was Vice Chairman of Fannie Mae, in charge of the company’s legal, credit policy, finance, and other corporate functions.

Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Mr. Raines was with Lazard Freres & Company for 11 years where he was a general partner. Before joining Lazard Freres, he served from 1977 to 1979 as Associate Director for Economics and Government in the Office of Management and Budget and Assistant Director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff.

Mr. Raines currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Fannie Mae, Pfizer Inc., America Online, Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., the Enterprise Foundation, and the National Urban League. Formerly, he served as a member of the congressionally mandated Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces. He has also served on a number of federal and state public policy advisory groups regarding tax equity, education, poverty, and welfare reform.

Mr. Raines has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of The Business Council, the Trilateral Commission, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Raines is Chairman of the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and was previously President of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University. He was formerly a Director of the Harvard Alumni Association and was an Adjunct Lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government from 1984 to 1987.

Mr. Raines earned his A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1971 and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1976. He also attended Magdalen College, Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Mr. Raines is married to Wendy Farrow Raines (A.B. Harvard ‘78) and has two children: Laura and Andrea.

66 posted on Tue Oct 7 20:14:02 2008 by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL (****************************Stop Continental Drift**)

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