Archive for the ‘new beginnings’ Category

barack obama and rick warren together again

December 18, 2008

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Some are claiming that Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to provide the invocation at his inauguration is providing the “first real rift with progressives” because of Rick Warren’s stance on same-sex marriages, with the Human Rights Campaign calling it a “genuine blow to the LGBT Americans.” The President-elect is getting some slack for picking Rick Warren, but many forget that Rick Warren got a lot of heat for inviting Barack Obama to his first World AIDS Day Summit on AIDS and the Church in December 2006. (more…)

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tuesday, november 4

November 7, 2008

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What a memorable night. After the election was called for Barack Obama, a couple friends and I ventured over to the Lincoln Memorial – by far my favorite monument that commemorates the last president elected from Illinois and the steps from which Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.

It was a quiet, solemn setting. While thousands were block away celebrating outside the White House, there were only a dozen strangers gathered. Luckily a man brought a radio. We gathered around it to hear our new president’s acceptance speech.

Through the course of the speech, our group of a dozen grew to around fifty. It was amazing to look around into the teary eyes of these strangers, as many of them held each other and cried with one another.

Afterwards, a young African American guy who showed up looked over at me and said, “I just feel like hugging someone I don’t know.” Later I thought about how I grew up in a world where I could become anything I wanted to, even president of the United States. That’s probably not the world he grew up in, and I was envious of all the emotions he must now be experiencing.

P.S. It turns out a photographer from the New York Times reflected on this same experience, as well as a blogger at Sojourners.

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tonight

November 4, 2008

My prediction:
Obama 53.5% (364 electoral votes) to McCain 45.5% (174 electoral votes)

The current map:
Obama 311, McCain 155, Toss-Ups 72

How to watch the election tonight:

Obama will likely carry all of the Kerry and Gore states, giving him 264 electoral votes (270 votes needed to win). Because Pennsylvania is so hotly contested, his most solid blues make up 243 electoral votes.

His narrowest victory should include carrying Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia. (total: 291 electoral votes)

His next wave would be Florida and Ohio. (total: 338 electoral votes) Current polls show Florida tighter than Ohio.

If Obama has a big night, he may start dipping into Indiana, Missouri, and North Carolina. (375 electoral votes).

A real big landslide would include Montana, North Dakota, and up to two districts in Nebraska. (383 electoral votes) But the mac-daddy of all would be surprise wins in Georgia and Arizona. (408 electoral votes with McCain at 130)

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life in d.c.

September 28, 2008

It was fun having Erica out here in D.C. this week. I had a bit of a cold and the weather wasn’t perfect, but we had a good time anyway. We kept very very busy… but some highlights included running into Speaker Pelosi and our Senator Patty Murray while touring the U.S. Capitol (ask me off line what I told Pelosi), visiting tons of museums and monuments, enjoying the driving privileges of having a deceased relative at Arlington National Cemetery, seeing the new 9/11 Pentagon Memorial for the first time, and learning that I am just blocks away from the coolest Catholic church and shrine in the country… come on out to D.C. and I’ll show you a good time too!

Erica also got to learn a few things about my new life out here. My apartment is AMAZING and my land lady is pretty darn cool… while visiting, she delivered some pretty cool new furniture for the pad. And Erica learned just how addicted I now am to Diet Ginger Ale – surprisingly the new settled champion brand is Giant’s Sterling.

Chris will be here come Wednesday. I hope to check out the Newseum for the first time and Colonial Williamsburg, as well as find some places to check out the next two debates at…

Speaking of debates, check out this clip and post at Talking Points Memo.

I think people really are missing the point about McCain’s failure to look at Obama. McCain was afraid of Obama. It was really clear–look at how much McCain blinked in the first half hour. I study monkey behavior–low ranking monkeys don’t look at high ranking monkeys. In a physical, instinctive sense, Obama owned McCain tonight and I think the instant polling reflects that.

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greetings from the east side

August 23, 2008

It’s my first Saturday livin’ it out on my own in our nation’s capital! I haven’t really been out and about much yet – with work during the day and waiting by my phone and TV set to hear from my boy. It’ll be fun being at the center of politics over the next few months, but with VP announcements and political conventions, most of my evenings will be glued to the television and Internet over these first couple weeks.

But the report from DC is pretty good so far. My pad is very very nice, furnished with stuff much nicer than I’m used to… though I’m not really sure how you clean a zebra-skinned rug. It’s nice to walk and take the bus to work… though there isn’t a lot of real cool places next to the house.

I’ll definitely miss some of the interactions and brainstorming in Federal Way. People aren’t as social in D.C. but it will also be nice trying to translate what goes in D.C. for the rest of the country and to begin brainstorming more with folks outside of the Vision.

I’ll miss all my friends. It was great to see you at my fabulous going-away party, a glorious brunch at Shakabrah, or one of your many many many beautiful weddings.

but you can always drop me a line… if you download Yahoo! Messenger you can even chat me up at work.

Pedrick Out!

Also, today’s YouTube… a typical day in the District:

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