Upcoming State News

February 16, 2008

Barack Obama picked up key newspaper endorsements in Wisconsin and Texas today as he and Hillary Clinton compete for delegates in states that may help determine which candidate wins the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin’s largest daily newspaper, said it recommends that voters support Obama in the state’s Feb. 19 primary because "change and experience are crucial to moving this country forward" and the Illinois senator is the "best-equipped to deliver that change."

The Houston Chronicle, the biggest daily publication in Texas, gave similar reasons for endorsing Obama, 46, over Clinton. He’s "the best-qualified by life experience, skill and temperament to be the standard bearer for his party," the newspaper said in an editorial today. Texas will hold its primary on March 4.

From the Green Bay Press Gazette (Wisconsin)

Sen. Barack Obama ended his Green Bay visit Friday night with onion rings and a perch plate at Kroll’s East.

The unscheduled stop on Main Street was the encore to his rally at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Kress Events Center.

… Michael and Mary Lotter were having dinner Friday night at Kroll’s when Obama walked in the door. He posed for a picture with the Lotters’ 8-year-old son, Jonah.

"We’re voting for him," Michael Lotter said.

… Anticipating a large crowd comparable to the 20,000 who attended Obama’s rally in Madison earlier this week, several hundred people staked out a spot before the doors of the Kress Events Center opened around 3:15 p.m.

"I was here at 11:30 a.m. — I expected people to get here early," said Greg Stachowiak, a 19-year-old UW-Green Bay student who skipped a class to secure a spot at the head of the line.

Although he was a supporter of Clinton until about a week ago, Stachowiak said Obama’s enthusiasm and positive attitude cemented his decision to support the Illinois senator on Tuesday.

Visit WI.BarackObama.com for more news from Wisconsin.

From the Honolulu Advertiser (Hawai’i)

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said yesterday that his experiences growing up among different cultures in Hawai’i helped inspire his political views.

Obama, who was born here and graduated from Punahou School, said his time in the Islands as a young man enabled him to see different perspectives and points of view. He said his local roots, which have helped attract dozens of volunteers to his campaign, have given him an advantage over U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York leading up to the Hawai’i Democratic caucuses on Tuesday.

"Not to pull rank, but I grew up in Hawai’i," Obama told The Advertiser by phone from Oshkosh, Wis., where he was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. "I know the people of Hawai’i. I know the problems of Hawai’i. I know the opportunities of Hawai’i. And the culture is my culture. I learned very early on in Hawai’i how to bring people together, all the different cultures and that spirit of aloha that’s so important.

…"This is the first opportunity in history for the people of Hawai’i to have somebody in the Oval Office who is one of their own."

Visit HI.BarackObama.com for more news from Hawai’i.

From the Providence Journal (Rhode Island)

A surge of newly registered Rhode Island voters — many of them young — looms as a decisive force in the March 4 presidential primary, especially in the tight Democratic contest between New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

More than 43,000 voters signed up over the last year, with about half of those (21,000) coming in the four months before the Feb. 2 deadline to register for the March vote, according to a Journal analysis of state voter files.

… Obama’s campaign, Della Volpe says, was a factor in the big increase in voter turnout in the early Democratic caucuses and primaries. “Obama kind of lit the fire.”

… At the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus, political-science Prof. Maureen Moakley says her students are “very engaged” this year in the presidential campaign.

“I am amazed at the level of enthusiasm among my students for Barack Obama,” says Moakley. “The question is how many of these young people will turn out to vote. But just the fact that they have taken time to register suggests that something is out there is driving this.”

…“This is an exciting year in Rhode Island,” said Moakley. “It’s like we are Iowa or New Hampshire.”

Visit RI.BarackObama.com for more news from Rhode Island.

From the Youngstown Vindicator (Ohio)

Michelle Obama told more than 500 supporters at Ohio State University that her husband, Democrat Barack Obama, has the character, values and experience that America needs in the White House.

… "The only person in this race who has the chance of getting us where we need to be is Barack Obama. Barack gets it," she said on Friday, Feb. 15.

She said with his academic credentials, Barack Obama could have gone to Wall Street to make a ton of money but opted instead to be a community organizer in tough Chicago neighborhoods, a constitutional lawyer in a small firm and later a state lawmaker who worked on children’s health care and tax breaks for low-income families.

… Barack Obama’s first official rally in Ohio will be in Youngstown on Monday — Presidents Day.