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A few months ago, your favorite Senator and mine appeared on The Ellen Show.

As is the custom on her show, Senator Obama arrived on stage in pure Presidential fashion, and then proceeded to “get his boogie on” as if he had been somehow teleported back to a junior highschool dance. I swear I could almost see the awkward junior high girls holding up the walls.

I am endlessly amazed by how ordinary Senator Obama can seem at times, and yet, he has convinced me, and many, many others that he is not only one of the great minds of our time, but also one of our greatest leaders.

I think that one of the things that appeals to so many about Senator Obama is the duality of him; a game of Uno with his daughters, juxtaposed against one of his inspiring, uplifting speeches, all brought together by the common-sense approach he takes to explaining how America got into some of our greatest messes, and what it will take for us to get out of them. Truly amazing, in a man, let alone in a Presidential candidate.

Bemoaning the fate of this country’s apparent inability to elect someone who is not named ‘Clinton’ or ‘Bush’ has been my favorite battle cry since the beginning of my involvement in Senator Obama’s campaign. But it is equally important to me, and I believe to most Americans that the man who leads us into our better future, be a man that we can honestly say we like, respect, admire, and yes, believe in. Someone real. Someone who can shimmy awkwardly across the set of a popular talk show and still look Presidential. Someone like Senator Obama.

Faithful readers. By now I’m almost bored with pointing out when Hillary Clinton steps in her own poop, but I have to weigh in on this one. It’s too important.

Unless you live under a really big rock that doesn’t have cable, you know that this week during an impromptu Fox News interview, Hillary told a reporter that:

“Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done.”

Now, this morning CNN is reporting that Hillary and Bill are in full damage control mode, doing the news show rounds, and accusing the Obama campaign of “distorting” her words regarding Dr. King. As if we’ve all been inflicted with some sort of collective brain disorder that renders us incapable of hearing and comprehending on our own. Sheesh.

I hate to be the one to break it to Hillary, but there is no going back on this one, and African Americans around this country are correct to be incensed. What she said was not taken out of context, it was not misinterpreted, and none of us have heard incorrectly. Hillary Clinton thinks that Martin Luther King Jr’s efforts during the Civil Rights movement were just “a dream”, and that it took Lyndon B. Johnson, a politician, to swoop in and make his and the dreams of millions of socially, financially and physically abused Black Americans a reality. Wow.

What a terrible mis-step. Even I, someone who is no fan of Hillary Clinton, and who really just wants the Clintons to fade into history, don’t really believe that she really believes that Martin Luther King Jr. had no substantive part in the Civil Rights Movement. Only an idiot would believe that, and Hillary’s no idiot. But are we distorting her words? Heck no. She said what she said when she said it, and now she must be made to pay the political piper. Hillary Clinton has proven yet AGAIN, that in the heat of the moment, when her back is against the wall, she’ll say and do anything to try to portray herself in the proper light. So in trying once again to do so, whether she meant to or not, she dismissed the historical importance of the man who without argument was the catalyst, visionary, and leader of the Civil Rights Movement in this country.

It’s mind-boggling. What Hillary said to that reporter makes her seem like someone who just doesn’t understand the power of a movement. That’s the real problem. At a minimum, in stating that Lyndon Johnson was really behind the change that occurred during those perilous years, she once again has shown that she just doesn’t understand what any of us means when we talk about real change. And at worse, if she really DOES believe what she said that day, then she really is the soul-less being people portray her as, and so entrenched in the Washington political machine, that unlike another famous ‘matrix’, the biggest red pill in the world won’t snap her back to reality.

If Rosa Parks had never stayed seated on that bus that day, if Reverend King had never inspired the masses to protest the injustices of that time, if Malcolm X had never stood up to say that we will achieve our freedom in this nation “by any means necessary”, if all the other fighters, the ordinary people of that time had not organized, marched, chanted, listened, rallied, and worked tirelessly to change hearts and minds – President Johnson would never have been moved to act. Period. Get it now, Hillary? Lyndon Johnson may have put his blessing on the law with the stroke of a pen that finally legally validated what so many people fought and died for (including of course Dr. King), but it was the architect of that movement, and the many everyday citizens who would not take no for an answer that made it happen.

Now – enough of Billary. I want you to dare to dream with me for a moment. Imagine if you will that the architect of the new dream of a truly United States, actually was the President. Imagine what it would be like if the man who was challenging the nation to think of what we could one day be, unified, together, working to tackle our nation’s problems as a collective rather than as a group of labels actually occupied the Oval Office. Imagine if he had not only taught us that the dream possible, but was actually in a position to make that dream a reality.

In Senator Barack Obama, we’re going to have both an inspirational leader and a courageous chief executive, and that my friends is what this nation both wants and needs. We want to be inspired; we want a moral leader, someone who can step up on the world stage with courage, free of scandal, political baggage, and the shackles of a history of self-aggrandizement, ready to say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done to solve the nation’s and the world’s problems.

So let Hillary and Bill waste their time with their endless political rants. We know that we have so much more to look forward to in Senator Obama. Unlike the Clintons, Senator Obama is not the least bit interested in twisting or distorting anything in the hopes of getting the desired reaction for the moment. And that’s why he will be the Democratic nominee, and the next President of the United States.

One more thing – any African American that votes for Hillary Clinton after this doesn’t deserve to benefit from all that Dr. King and our forefathers fought so hard to give us. Pass this one along.

By Kim Bettie 

The great debate continues.  Is it really possible for women to have it all?  An even better question is, “Can we handle it all?”  We want to get more joy out of life.  However, the number one killer of joy is burnout.  For nearly 10 years I worked as an executive coach for General Motors.  The executive women I coached were breaking the glass ceiling, but at the expense of their peace of mind. 

Despite our best efforts, it appears the evidence is stacked against us. Given the demands and pace of life today, our quality of life is suffering.  Finding balance can literally mean the difference between life and death.  Many of us complain about being over extended.  As a result, we are not taking very good care of ourselves.  One in three Americans is overweight.  Our eating and drinking habits are responsible for six out of ten deaths.  Coronary heart disease is the number one single killer of women over the age of 25.  The effects of chronic stress are major contributors to our escalating health concerns. 

So many women are growing weary of unsuccessfully juggling multiple roles and sacrificing one aspect of life for another.  The meaning of work and related time commitments must be balanced with the time, energy, and satisfaction devoted to family and friends.  Women who put work first, or give work equal priority to their home life, are experiencing higher rates of depression and role conflict than those who put relationships first. 

I will never forget the robust conversations with my mother about how my life would be radically different than her life.  Unlike her I was going to have it all: health, fitness, the perfect career, a loving husband, and adoring children.  I believed I would have the time and energy for my husband, children, home, church, community, as well as, me-time.  I got all I asked for and more. However, this was no fairy tale ending. 

All of my successes came back to haunt me.  Instead of living my dream life, it turned out to be a nightmare that ended in divorce.  I had no time for myself, very little energy, and even less joy.  I struggled in every way imaginable to find balance and fulfillment.  Unfortunately, I was not prepared to live my new life.  It would take a major shift in perspective for me to overcome the barriers to really living my vision and enjoying my life. 

As I considered my condition, I was reminded of a parable in the Bible that warns “No man puts new wine into old bottles: else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.”  “Bottles” were made of goatskins sewn together at the edges to form watertight bags.  New wine expands as it ages, so it had to be put in new, pliable wineskins.  An old wineskin has become too rigid and will burst under the pressure and spill the wine.  This is what I believe is happening to women today.  We set out to live a new life of promise, but we put the new life into old “wineskin”, and many have reached the breaking point.  We need a fresh perspective, a life-changing new method…a new “wineskin”. 

In 2004, I started my own business.  I decided to use what I learned in corporate America to reach my own life goals.  Now, I am privileged to make a living coaching hundreds of people – mostly women – as they make plans to live the life they always imagined.  The majority of my clients are between the ages of 35-50.  Most are African-American professional women.  Some are married, but most are single or divorced.  I take them through a process to shift their mindset to success and create a strategic vision for life.

We must be liberated from the inside out with a new life-changing mindset.  I let my version of a perfect life go, and created a shared vision with God, using Proverbs 31.  This rare and valiant woman juggled many more roles than I ever could have imagined with grace and dignity.  As I focused on Proverbs 31, I began to change from the inside out.  I embraced with joy the roles that once overwhelmed me, as actual gifts from God.  I have found peace that surpasses my own understanding.  I have stopped complaining about balancing my different roles in life.  I now pray for renewed strength.  This type of balance is about being poised with the gracious tact to cope and handle every aspect of life.

“A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth more than rubies.  Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.  She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.  She gets up while it is still dark; and she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She considers a field and buys it and out of her earnings, she plants a vineyard.   She sets out about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for the tasks.  She sees that her trading is profitable; her lamp does not go out at night.  She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

Her husband is respected at the city gate where he takes his seat with the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come, she speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed: her husband also, and he praises her, ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’  Charm is deceptive; and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

It is a best practice to find a real life role model to bring more focus to your vision. We are in dire need of role models to demonstrate the successful navigation of a woman’s life in the 21st century.  We need a variety of role models to represent all of the women in America today.  Lately, I have been hearing more and more women refer to Michelle Obama as their role model.  A woman recently came up to me after a speaking engagement.  She said, “When you talk about the Proverbs 31 woman, I think of Michelle Obama.”  She was excited about the possibility of her being our First Lady.

I believe Michelle Obama embodies the true spirit and poise of this woman of biblical proportions. It has been helpful for me and others to see and hear her speak openly about how she achieves balance, as she supports her husband’s campaign for President.  God has uniquely fashioned us to have a potent effect on the behavior of others with the visible strength emanating from us.  

Kim Bettie is a life coach and partner with The Greater Advantage, Inc.  Kim has 20 years of executive, career and life coaching experience. She shares strategies for success in workshops, teleseminars, and private coaching sessions around the country.  She has developed a variety of do-it-yourself coaching products to help you shift your mindset to success in business, life and love too.  She can be reached at lifecoach@greateradvantage.com.

As elated and as hopeful as I am right now, it would be easy for me to wax poetic about what awaits us tomorrow – what seems to be a certain victory by the man many of us have worked so hard to spread the word about. But I’m not going to – I’m going to let some of the Americans who have been similarly inspired by Senator Obama’s message of hope do the talking tonight.

The following quotes are being brought to you courtesy of CNN’s blogs:

John:

I am a 62-year-old white Republican in Virginia. I have voted only once for a Democrat for President in the past 36 years. Not only would I vote for Barack Obama in November if he is on the ballot, I will for the first time in my life vote in the Democratic primary, so that I can help put him on that ballot. And I’m not that unusual in my peer group. I know for a fact that other Republicans will support him in the primary — and it is because they want to see him as President. And that thing about his middle name being “Hussain” — well, that’s a real plus internationally, where we aren’t doing so well lately. Talk about throwing the world a curve ball! Barack Obama is the Tiger Woods of politics. And by the way, white America didn’t see Colin Powell as being black either — just an American. Things have sure changed a lot in the last four decades, and I’ve seen them happen and I will being seeing more history being made in November.

Ernie:

Here on the eve of the NH primary, I’ve just come home from seeing Barack Obama in Rochester NH and I must testify that in my experience with politics I’ve never felt anything like what I witnessed tonight. What an inspirational guy to have so transformed the packed quarters of the Rochester Opera House into one united body. And it’s not simply about oratorial talent–it’s him, and his authenticity beams through. I’m convinced there’s no stopping Barack Obama. I’m sorry for the Democratic candidates who’ll lose in tomorrow’s primary, because they’re all also such good people. But in the end, this all isn’t about winners and losers–it’s about America winning, and about hope; and this wonderful, hopeful man inspires hope, and makes this American feel my country may yet again be something Americans and non-Americans alike can be proud of.

Phillip:

Some of you sound pretty angry but the numbers speak for themselves: Obama has run a positive campaign and people have reacted to it. You can either stamp your feet and use the same Old School Political Attack Cliches or you can wake up to the fact that Americans are tired of being told everything is impossible and that only “experienced” politicians know what’s best for them.

Joel:

I am a 26 year old minister who lives in a VERY conservative area. I was raised as a ultra conservative right-wing fundamentalist Republican/evangelical. I have always voted nearly straight line Republican but I can say with certainty I will be voting for Barack Obama in our Texas primary as well as in the general election after he wins the Democratic nomination. I believe in his message that together we can dramatically change our country for the better. I have never donated money to a politician but I have already donated several times to the Obama campaign. He has what it takes to unify our nation and bring about the change in direction we desperately need.

Patricia: (not me)

Call me a liar if you will. I know Barack Obama from his days in the Statehouse in Springfield, IL. He is the real deal. I never had any doubt that he would win in Iowa; in fact, I bet good money on it. This is more than a movement. It is a revolution against “politics as usual”. By the way, I am a 64 year old caucasian woman.

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

Anyone willing to bet what next year’s ‘word of the year’ will be?

I’m guessing it’ll be ‘change’. Since Senator Obama’s decisive win in the Iowa caucuses this week, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a word uttered so much by so many. The cable news pundits, the candidates themselves, the focus group members, my family members, strangers on the street – all talking about ‘change’ as if it were some sort of new age cure for everything that ails us.

What strikes me as most interesting though, is that the other candidates in the Democratic field, namely Senators Clinton and Edwards, hardly knew how to spell the word before January 3rd, and yet suddenly, they’re both proclaiming themselves as professional change agents, and the only ones who could possibly bring about the transformation that Iowans proved the nation so desperately wants.

There’s only one problem – neither of them seems to understand what real change means to all of us, and unfortunately for them, the concept can only really be defined by the ones for whom change is most important – the American people.

Hillary Clinton in particular has begun to screech about affecting change in a shrill and insistent way that makes her sound like a spoiled teenager trying to convince her parents that she’s ready to date. On several occasions since the Iowa Caucuses, her main battle cry has been “it takes experience to bring about change”, and that she effectively has been ‘making’ change (as if there’s some magic recipe book for it) for the last 35 years. And that’s where she has gone sorely wrong. Or at least where she’s pretended to.

During the ABC News/Facebook debates tonight in New Hampshire, Hillary could be heard at one point impatiently exclaiming (and I’m paraphrasing), “if balancing the budget and improving the economy is not making change, then we all must have some kind of amnesia!” I cringed for her – I literally wanted to hop a plane to Manchester, grab a cab and dash over to St. Anselm College, fight my way past the Secret Service, dive for the stage, drag myself to where she was sitting and give her a hug. It was at that moment in the debate that I realized that when it comes to the subject of change, Senator Clinton is clueless, an unwitting victim of her own denial, backed into a corner with no way out – and what’s worse – she doesn’t even know how she got there.

It’s as if she doesn’t see what’s 100% obvious to everyone else. By handing Senator Obama the decisive victory that they did, Iowans made it patently clear that they wanted to be the ones to usher in a new political reality, one free of the baby-boomer, Vietnam and Watergate era politics that created the divisions that exist between the citizens of this nation today. One that is inclusive of the everyday American, and promises an earnest attempt at unification for the greater good of the people of this nation, rather than more of the same partisan sniping and bad judgment that has left our global reputation in shambles, our military weakened and fighting wars for no reason, and our collective political spirits broken. A new political age that only Senator Barack Obama has been able to convince us is possible, and that only Senator Obama has helped us dare to dream of.

The kind of change Senator Obama can bring about has little to do with pure policy, though heaven knows that for the last eight years we have been saddled with a myriad of policies by the Bush Administration that have been disastrous on every imaginable level. Further, the kind of change Senator Obama can bring to office represents so much more than anything getting in a time machine and heading back to the nineties, or trying to enact the same old failed Clinton initiatives can bring. Senator Clinton rants about the changes she can make because of her perceived breadth of experience, because she doesn’t understand that the change that we long for, the change that Iowans clearly showed they want to see has to do with not what we do as a nation, but how we do it. It runs deeper than either she or Senator Edwards (or even Bill Clinton for that matter), is capable of understanding, as proven by her knee-jerk reaction to her 3rd place showing in Iowa.

The numbers bear it all out – Senator Clinton may have won the majority of votes from older Americans, but in practically every other category that mattered – women, younger voters, independents – she was left in the dust by Senator Obama, sputtering, and wondering what the hell had happened. Fortunately for me, as a loyal Obama supporter from way back, I can tell Ms. Clinton exactly what happened. Senator Obama has somehow single-handedly managed to challenge a new generation of thinkers to imagine what kind of nation we could be if we would be brave enough to shake off the shackles of the past, and abandon the notion that we can’t communicate with enemy nations, or talk to our neighbors who are not of our same political affiliation about the problems that plague us. We’ve all been conditioned to not talk to one another, ever. We’ve been conditioned to believe that real, meaningful discourse is not possible across political aisles, and that no leader could possibly work with members of the opposing party to do what needs to be done to fix our nation’s ills. We’ve been conditioned to view our nation through a murky, dirty glass, that Senator Obama has shown us can be cleaned, and polished, and made bright again, so that we can all collectively begin to see a brighter future for this country. He’s challenged us to imagine real change. And Lady Hillary just doesn’t get it.

It’s probably not her fault. Senator Clinton can only see what she’s been doing for all those 35 years she brags so much about. All she can see is the political maneuvering, and the polls that direct her actions – like the ones that told her that she must talk about change now. It would be nice if someone in her camp could get her to slow down long enough to explain to her what change really means to the brave citizens of Iowa and to the nation. I’m not going to hold my breath though.

It’s best if those of us who get it just remain steadfast, and undaunted by the Clinton’s attempts to yet again scramble for a bandwagon in order to align themselves politically with what the polls say they should. They’ve not fooled anyone so far, certainly not Iowans, and I’m betting that New Hampshire will see right through them as well.

It makes me wanna sing hallelujah – it’s a new day! Hillary and Bill Clinton’s day is over, and our future looks brighter than it has in a very long time. It’s too bad that we’ll have to endure more dry debates, primaries, and stump speeches before we get to that glorious end, but the bottom line is that we’ve come too far to turn back now, and it will be SO worth it. Thank you Iowa, for creating a defining moment in my life, one that I will tell my grandchildren about one day, one that I can proudly say I was a small part of. And thank you for showing that America is still the greatest nation in the world, capable of reinventing itself even during the most difficult of times. Aren’t we lucky to have the architect of that reinvention right here, right now, ready to one day lead us all, black, white, young, old, Democrat, and Republican, by standing on the world stage and proudly proclaiming to all who will listen that “America’s back”?

Senator Barack Obama has won the Iowa Caucuses! ‘Nuff said!

By Patricia Wilson-Smith 

This is Iowa-Caucus Day, and I can’t help but reflect as I bop around the site what an awesome responsibility it is to play a part in this nation’s political system.

And the caucus system makes it even more daunting. For those of you who may not know, the Iowa caucus has been the first major electoral event of the nominating process for President of the United States since 1972. It has served as an early indication of which candidates for President might win the nomination of their political party at that party’s national convention.

This year, of course, is particularly exciting and historic, as it seems almost certain that either the first black man, or the first woman will be nominated as the Democratic Party’s choice to run for President. It is a very cool time to be alive, in so many ways!

For starters, there is no doubt that we are experiencing a political renaissance in this country; most people, out of necessity, have begun to actively participate in the process, either by paying much closer attention to the issues, or by getting up and out and doing the work for the candidate of their choice. For me, that choice is of course Barack Obama; for you, it may be someone else, but all indications are that more people than ever before in history are taking an active part in the political process, and that is historic in and of itself!

As a nation, we have so much at stake – a War that should never have been waged, children being lost forever in the education system, Americans without adequate healthcare, our nation losing the technology race, and an ever worsening reputation around the globe – the man or woman who becomes the next leader of the free world will inherit an office and a set of problems unlike any other before him, and so we need a leader who has all that it takes to bring the country through it.

What issues are important to you? Have you already made a decision about whom you’ll support? If you (like many Democrats) are locked in a vaccuum of indecision over Obama and Clinton, what hesitations do you have about both? Have you done YOUR due diligence to make sure you know all you need to know to make an informed decision?

There may never be as historic and important an election as the one of 2008. The future of our nation, our very ability to remain the super power we have been for so long is at stake. It is so easy for us to lead our comfortable lives, cozy in the fake knowledge that things will just ‘work out’, and believing that someone else will make the moves to ensure that. But ask youself this – can you imagine being one of the people who did NOT get out and vote in 2004, when it was critical that we get Bush out of office? Can you imagine what it must feel like now to know that if you’d just gotten out and voted and encouraged others to do so that you may have actually saved the lives of some of America’s servicemen and women?

That’s real talk. So this election year, make sure to let your voice be heard. Go to the polls during your primary or caucus, and before the vote, get involved in getting out the vote in your community! Start with your home, then move to your church, your job, and then out into your neighborhoods, but do everything you can to ensure that the voiceless are represented, and that the voiced open their mouths and collectively pull the virtual lever on the ballot box. Only then can we rest assured that we’ve done all we can to make this nation a better place inwhich to live.

And wouldn’t that be worth it?

By Jerome Garrett, of Tomorrow Matters, Inc.

In every relay race that I have watched in my life there remains one fact that is irrefutable. That fact, simply put, is this: The man that starts the race is not the man that crosses the finish line. Truly, it is a very profound statement. The man that starts the race is not the man that crosses the finish line.
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The successess and failures of black people in this country have never been a one man show. When we run together, we succeeded; when we do not; we fail.   Its really that basic.
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I have never been forced to ride on the back of a bus, I’ve never been forced to drink from a water fountain labeled “coloreds” nor have I been forced to attend a school system that was separate but not equal.   I am very thankful for that. The runners of that leg of the race, Mary McLeod Bethune, Linda Brown, Ruby Bridges, Martin L King, Jr, and Medgar Evers, to name a few, ran long, ran hard and ran well.
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We are now at the threshold of a new leg of the relay that we know as the Civil Rights Movement; a leg that I call the “renaissance of pride and unity”. And the leaders that have gotten us to this point, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, Al Sharpton and the others I have not mentioned, have also run long, hard and well. But there comes a point in every leg of a relay race that the baton must be passed to the next runner.
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There is no reason why Barack Obama should not have the support of every living black man and woman in this country….. Isn’t an opportunity such as the one before Barack Obama exactly what the Civil Rights Movement was about? Or was blood shed and life loss by people of all colors in vain?
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To Jesse, Andrew and Al, I say. Thank you for a job well done. Thank you for your struggle so that I should struggle less. Much gratitude is due you; but the man that starts the race is not the man that crosses the finish line and this race isn’t over…. Pass the baton.