Michael Jackson put out a song with a very hip beat a few years ago entitled “Remember the Time.” I have a question for you: Do you remember the the last time a Presidential candidate separated himself from the sitting President? How about 1992?

Bill Clinton was the sitting President and was very popular with the Democratic base even though he had just been impeached for lying under oath. Vice President Al Gore intentionally distanced himself from a popular President and it ended up costing him the Presidency. Fast forward to 2008.

Even though with the general public George W. Bush has very low approval ratings, he is extremely popular with the Republican base. Will distancing himself from President Bush cost Senator John McCain the election too? Time will tell.

It is amazing how people can use their religion for political expediency. I could not believe how forgiving the religious right was of the out of wedlock teenage pregnancy of Governor Palin’s daughter.

If this had been Senator Obama’s “teenage daughter”, we would have heard the words “lack of family values” ad nauseam. Not only are they embracing her, but they are saying the fact that she will have the baby and marry her “Baby Daddy” is very honorable and says this shows they are an average American family.

This is one of the most hypocritical things I have seen the religious right do to date. It is early, so keep your eyes open and expect the unexpected.

It is become more and more obvious that the Republican party and conservatives in general do not seem very “hopeful” about Senator John McCain’s chances of winning the presidency. Even sadder, John McCain does not think he can win being the Maverick, John McCain.

He has decided to turn the campaign over to “Karl Rove’s JV team.” Unfortunately, the playbook has the same plays in it from the past two decades. FEAR, FEAR, FEAR.

They have turned to WMDs to accomplish this mission. Senator Obama on Saturday did an excellent job, in a matter-of-fact way, of talking about the talent of the GOP being masters of distractions. You saw a sneak preview over the last week of what is to come in the Fall.

He is too young, he is too inexperienced, do you want a celebrity or a hero to lead you? Do you want the Messiah or a Man on a mission? All I can say is don’t believe the hype because that’s all it is. They want you to get caught in these rabbit trails so it can take your mind off of the real issues and concerns. It has worked in past but, in the words of Barack Obama, “not this time.”

As your daily politics watcher, it is my responsibility to raise concerns that are of interest to you. Since that is the case, I would like to pose a question: Why are poor, uneducated Whites called blue collar workers?

It is interesting to me that poor uneducated Whites get more credit and recognition than poor uneducated Blacks or Hispanics? As a matter of fact, most poor uneducated Blacks and Hispanics are not even thought of as likely voters. But not poor uneducated Whites.  Poor uneducated Whites are give a fancy title, like NASCAR dads.  Is something wrong with this picture or is it just me?

Why is it that when the Democratic primary came down to Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, poor uneducated Whites were the ones that everyone wanted Barack Obama to cater to? Do the poor make up a majority of the U.S. electorate? I’m just trying to understand what’s really going on.

We are beginning to embark upon a series of centennials for Black organizations. If the founders of these organizations could have looked 100 years into the future and see what we see now, they would have closed their doors and accepted second class citizenship.

Look where we are today. The goal of the civil rights movement and movements before that one was not integration, it was equal opportunity and equal rights. The goal was not just to be able to go where White people can go and stay where White people can stay.

Does integration mean come and join me and shut down what you have? Of course, it doesn’t. In many ways “Black America” is worse off now than it was back then. Look at the number of Black men that are incarcerated, on parole or on probation. Look at the Black family today. Sometimes I wonder if there are people who are Black who benefit from Black misery.

We can not afford to wait another 100 years. Hell, in 100 years we may not even exist! It is either now or never. There is no waiting until tomorrow.

By Earnest Gates

Sound familiar? This is a line from Prince’s song, 1999. Why 1992? That is the year President Bill Clinton ran for President.

If you notice, we are starting to see a lot of similarities between Senator Barack Obama and Governor Clinton of 1992. Clinton ran a very centrist general election strategy and Obama is starting to do the same thing.

Now that I think about President Clinton, he didn’t do a bad job, and it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if Obama was to govern like Clinton, but using 21st century methods. If you want a preview of what is ahead, go back and study the Clinton strategy of ‘92. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Recently I wrote about how the Republican Party has used voter suppression methods to prevent Democratic supporters from voting. I will now tell you what you can do to make sure that doesn’t happen this time.

First, you can make sure you are registered to vote and others that you know are registered as well. Don’t wait until a month before the election; you need to check your registration status now!

Secondly, make sure that you don’t sign any petitions unless you see in writing exactly what you are signing. This technique has been used to register individuals as Republicans who have voted Democrat without their knowledge.

Thirdly, contact the local elections department to make sure that there will be enough voting machines in county wide election locations on Election Day and for early voting.

Speaking of early voting, make sure everyone you know knows that they can vote early to prevent having to wait in line on election day. Election day will be extremely hectic and you don’t want to get caught up if you can avoid it.

Next, learn about the Supreme Court. It has been said that the next president may have the opportunity to appoint as many as three Supreme Court justices. Those that will be retiring have kept the votes close on important issues. If John McCain is elected the court will become very conservative and this could effect civil rights legislation for the next 3 or 4 decades. Remember, these are lifetime appointments.

Lastly, know where Senator Obama stands on the issues. Go to his website and familiarize yourself with his policy issues so you can put them in your own words. This election is too important to leave it to chance or arrogance.

Lets take care of these things now and I will let you know more as we get closer to the election.

This is the first of a series of posts under this title. The main strategy to prevent Democratic victories is to suppress the vote. I would recommend that you watch the documentary, “American Blackout” and read the very telling book, “Stolen Again.”

Both of these resources tell the story of how the Republican Party has decided that they would rather suppress the vote of Blacks and other supports of a Democratic agenda than to persuade them to go a different route.

Contrary to some popular opinion, this country does not swing to the right. It is more center-left than center-right. Just take a look at the current tone of the country. We can not get rid of Bush and company fast enough! The plan when George W. Bush came to the White House was to maintain a permanent Republican majority.  The country was even governed this way!

As a result of these actions, strategies were put in place to make sure that Republicans would get the upperhand in crucial elections in swing states. Here is an example: Do you think it was a coincedence that the 2000 election came down to Florida, when George Bush’s brother was the Governor of the state, and the Secretary of State Katherine Harris was the state chair of the Bush Chaney campaign?

How about the fact that the 2004 Presidential election came down to Ohio and Kenneth Blackwell (and he is Black) was the Secretary of State in Ohio and also chair of the Ohio Bush-Cheney campaign? Remember, the Secretary of the State is responsible for certifying the votes in each state. Don’t believe it? Check it out for yourself. This is just the first installment of a series that will be printed here at least weekly. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

We all knew it was coming. Now is the time to look out. Get familiar with the name, David Freddoso. He is the author of the first book that is designed to fatally flaw Senator Obama as a candidate for President. The title of the book is “The Case against Barack Obama.” It will be released on August 4th. This is designed to take the steam out of Obama’s campaign and to cause those excited about it to take pause.

It seems like the Republican playbook only has about 20 pages in it and they use the same strategy every 4 years. In the words of Obama: NOT THIS TIME. The key to avoiding any attack is to know that it is coming. You have been warned!

Now that the general election campaign is under the way, it is time for mending fences between Obama supporters and the supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton. We in Texas have something even greater on the line.

We have a chance to begin the process of having a Democratic Texas once again. If we can get the new voters to turn out in the fall campaign, we will be able to successfully take back the House in Austin and work toward taking back the Senate.

The one thing that can prevent this from happening would be a lack of party unity. The primary is over and there are some hurt feelings on both sides. However, the question that I ask is: Is it worth it to take a chance on blowing the opportunity to win Texas in November? Democrats will only have themselves to blame if this doesn’t happen. I look forward to hearing from you.