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Jul

1

Live-blog: Obama in Ohio, faith-based initiative expansion

Filed Under Announcements, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Democrats, Elections, Government, Ohio, Politics, Religion, WH2008 | Comments Off

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:05 pm July 1st, 2008 in Announcements, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Democrats, Elections, Government, Ohio, Politics, Religion, WH2008 | Comments Off 

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Jul

1

Watch Obama’s faith based program expansion speech @1pm in OH

Filed Under Announcements, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Democrats, Government, Ohio, Politics, Religion, WH2008 | 2 Comments

Ohio News Now will be carrying it here at 1pm today (E.S.T.):

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is to announce plans to expand President George W. Bush’s program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and support some ability to hire and fire based on faith.

Obama is scheduled to unveil his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government and anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks on Tuesday afternoon.

The event is scheduled to begin at about 1 p.m.  Watch it live on ONN.  If you’re not near a TV set, watch it on 10TV.com and ONNTV.com.

I suspect there are some Ohio bloggers there because I believe the event was closed to the public but open to the press, though not 100% sure on that. I’ll try to live-blog it.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:05 pm July 1st, 2008 in Announcements, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Democrats, Government, Ohio, Politics, Religion, WH2008 | 2 Comments 

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Jul

1

[update] Obama to expand faith based programs (cue Tim Allen huh? grunt)

Filed Under Announcements, Barack Obama, Government, Ohio, Politics, Religion | 27 Comments

Okay – people who are rabid Obamamaniacs – what is up with this?  And he does it in Ohio?

Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans to expand President Bush’s program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and — in a move sure to cause controversy — support some ability to hire and fire based on faith.

Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday in Zanesville, Ohio, at Eastside Community Ministry, which provides food, clothes, youth ministry and other services.

More concerning:

Obama’s support for letting religious charities that receive federal funding consider religion in employment decisions could invite a protest from those in his own party who view such faith requirements as discrimination.

Obama does not support requiring religious tests for recipients of aid nor using federal money to proselytize, according to a campaign fact sheet. He also only supports letting religious institutions hire and fire based on faith in the non-taxypayer funded portions of their activities, said a senior adviser to the campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity to more freely describe the new policy.

I’ve called for Governor Ted Strickland to shut his faith-based and community initiatives office down and I’ve wanted the same at the federal level.  The executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State agrees:

Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, criticized Obama’s proposed expansion of a program he said has undermined civil rights and civil liberties.

“I am disappointed that any presidential candidate would want to continue a failed policy of the Bush administration,” he said. “It ought to be shut down, not continued.”

According to the article at NPR, the Obama campaign has consulted a former Bush administrator for the office, David Kuo, “a conservative Christian who was deputy director of Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives until 2003 [who]… later became a critic of Bush’s commitment to the cause…”

More specifics from the story (which seems to have a copy of whatever Obama said or is to say in Ohio today):

Obama proposes to elevate the program to a “moral center” of his administration, by renaming it the Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and changing training from occasional huge conferences to empowering larger religious charities to mentor smaller ones in their communities.

Saying social service spending has been shortchanged under Bush, he also proposes a $500 million per year program to provide summer learning for 1 million poor children to help close achievement gaps with white and wealthier students. A campaign fact sheet said he would pay for it by better managing surplus federal properties, reducing growth in the federal travel budget and streamlining the federal procurement process.

Like Bush, Obama was arguing that religious organizations can and should play a bigger role in serving the poor and meeting other social needs. But while Bush argued that the strength of religious charities lies primarily in shared religious identity between workers and recipients, Obama was to tout the benefits of their “bottom-up” approach.

Okay cooler heads and more invested Obama fans -’splain this to me.

Hattip to Andy Carvin’s tweet.

UPDATE: Here’s the take at Plunderbund and at Progress Ohio (including links to the policy overview).

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:58 am July 1st, 2008 in Announcements, Barack Obama, Government, Ohio, Politics, Religion | 27 Comments 

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Jul

1

Presidential fundraising from small donors enhances perceptions of candidate

Filed Under Announcements, Barack Obama, Campaigning, Culture, Elections, Government, Politics, Research, Social Issues, Voting, WH2008 | Comments Off

So says a report covered here by the Center for Media Research.

A new BYU/Harris Poll of 2,602 U.S. adults surveyed in May by Harris Interactive shows that small individual contributions which may limit the “corrupting” influence of large contributions, especially from PACs and lobbyists, could have a lasting impact with the voters.

This latest study looks at candidates who raise most of their money from small donors ($200 or less) versus large donors ($2000 or more). Ultimately, Americans are more likely to respond positively to a candidate who raises campaign funds from small donors, concludes the report.

Specific findings include:

More specifically, the results include:

  • 39% of U.S. adults say they would have a more positive view of a candidate who raises from small donors while just 5 percent would have a more positive view of one who raised from large donors
  • 27% of Americans would have a more negative view of a candidate who raised more than half of his or her money from large donors
  • 58% say their view of a candidate would be neither more negative nor positive about a candidate who takes mostly from small donors
  • 68% say the same regarding one who takes mostly from large donors

Among the 11% of Americans who have made a political contribution in this political season:

  • 38% were more likely to respond negatively to a candidate who relies primarily on large donors than were those who did not donate (26%)
  • Among this group of donors, 68% were more positive in their views of candidates who relied more on small donors

When asked how their feelings would change about a candidate who raised $84 million through his or her own efforts, 57% said that it would not affect their views negatively nor positively and, on balance, views were more positive than negative (28% positive vs. 15% negative). When compared against a similar candidate who raised $168 million, responses were virtually identical, says the report (25% positive, 58% neither, 17% negative).

Good news for the Barack Obama campaign, and for people who can only give a little, or only want to give a little.  I also don’t think this is anything we didn’t already know, but certain strategists and politicians would prefer not be confirmed.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:43 am July 1st, 2008 in Announcements, Barack Obama, Campaigning, Culture, Elections, Government, Politics, Research, Social Issues, Voting, WH2008 | Comments Off 

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Jul

1

Josh Mandel featured speaker at CA’s Republican Jewish Coalition annual event

Filed Under Campaigning, Government, Jewish, Politics, Religion, Republicans | 3 Comments

From California State Assemblywoman Gabrielle Holt:

The RJC held its annual summer celebration at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Air Force One Pavilion. Over six hundred people attended this incredible event. The evening began at 5:00 pm with a reception and tours of Air Force One. What a magnificent airplane. Following the reception was a sit down dinner.

The dinner program began with patriotic songs. We overlooked the beautiful hills of Simi Valley as we sang tribute to our country. Rabbi Isaac Jeret, from the Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Temple N’er Tamid , gave a heart rendering invocation. Featured speakers included Roger Wicker, US Senator from Minnesota, Josh Mandel, Ohio State Representative and Marine veteran of two tours of duty in Iraq, Steve Poizner, California Insurance Commissioner, Ron Nehring, California Republican Party Chair, and concluded with a very inspiring presentation by Dennis Prager, talk show host and author.

More about Dennis Prager and Roger Wicker.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:37 am July 1st, 2008 in Campaigning, Government, Jewish, Politics, Religion, Republicans | 3 Comments 

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