Felicity @ http://www.ladiosadevino.com

I just hope everyone recognizes how important it is to make a change. This is the only world we have and we better take this chance and make it better, if not for us, our children, and their children.

What a remarkable opportunity. And having followed Erin's voice on this election over the past several months I'm even more pleased to see this. Great job!

Sorry you couldn't be there too, Professor Kim...much of what I've learned about interviewing over the past year has been from HER, not my journalism classes. Seriously. 

 Laurie

LaurieWrites 

Congrats on getting Barack Obama to speak to the blogher community. Doing this interview helps me see him as someone who really cares about women voters and issues.  Now, Hillary Clinton needs to speak to us too!  Erin, great job on getting the interviewing and conducting it!  I'm thrilled to see it!!

Great job Erin!

I sincerely hope that he can do everything he mentions here.

Actually accomplishing everything you campaign on--priceless. 

A Girl's Gotta Spa!

Makeup Minute 

As I tweeted at Twitter after watching this, how many "elite" candidates address high interest rates on PAYDAY LOANS?  Barack has his pulse on the needs of everyday Americans in all income brackets.

Great job, Erin.  And thank you, BlogHer.

MarilynM at Twitter

Co-Founder of Bloggers for Darfur

 I appreciate this interview all the more when I contrast it with the way Erin was treated during the blogger call with Senator McCain the day before.  It's obvious that the BlogHer concerns are ones Senator Obama takes seriously as well, and that he respects the voices of the many women who are a part of the BlogHer organization.  

 Thanks to BlogHer and Erin for making the effort to get the interview and all the work in getting it posted. :)

karoli (odd time signatures and bang the drum)

He already gets my vote, but it's nice that he participated in the interview.

As Erin could tell you - I'm still one of the great "undecided" voters out here.

This interview goes a LONG way in demonstrating Senator Obama's commitment to bringing about change that will incorporate solutiuons for the problems this community (and many others) hold dear.

Congrats - great interview Erin.  Great job BlogHer.

Lucretia (aka GeekMommy)

Raising a child in a digital world, still a digital girl

Can't wait to watch!

Posted it on my blog and will post at The Moderate Voice as well - I'll link to this post from there.

CONGRATS! 

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

Come on John McCain and Hillary Clinton.  We won't bite!

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube
Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Great Interview! Thanks for the reminder as to why I voted for Barack Obama. Great questions chosen, thank you.

Deb
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

It's no secret that I'm not really that in awe of Obama as many of his supporters are, but it was definitely politically expedient of him to agree to this interview and it's unfortunate if Clinton and McCain squander the opportunity.  As a Clinton supporter, I'm particularly disappointed if she refuses.

Hi everyone,

If you're one of the people who has emailed or called me, unable to get the YouTube embed code, try this: Refresh your page and the embed tag should show up at the end of the video

OR just copy this code below:

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

I want a president who understands that blogging voices will continue to matter long after the election.    

I am so impressed by BOTH Senator Obama and BlogHer. Good for you (and us all!)! I think that Clinton and McCain would be foolish to squander the opportunity to talk to BlogHer.

Jae, Mama 2 3 Kiddos

I couldn't be more proud to be a member of the BlogHer political team right now.  Erin, Elisa, Denise, Morra, Julie and Lisa put the pedal to the metal to make this happen, and I was honored to be invited aboard. 

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

All around.

I particularly appreciated the thoughts on birth control, education, and the banking industry.

Thanks Erin & BlogHer!

Liz Rizzo

I blog at Everyday Goddess.

I loved it, and how great for Obama to agree to be interviewed by BlogHer.

Jodi 

http://www.momsfavoritestuff.com

I find this place that we are in in our country the saddest I’ve ever
experienced. I NEVER knew that black preachers actually taught/preached about
whites in their churches. Never. I had NO CLUE.

I saw Obama for the first time and I’ll never forget it. I thought … wow,
what a wonderful well spoken man he is. A fresh face, someone new to Washington,
someone that really seems to ‘get it’, someone that seems like he will really
try to HELP the American people. I was SO THRILLED to find a person that I
really thought BELIEVED in truly helping others and uniting our country. BOY was
I ever wrong! I was shocked to hear the rants of Wright and then to know that
Obama sat in that church for 20 years and his kids - it floored me. Saddened me.
However, like you I am grateful to Obama and Wright to have opened my eyes. Now
when I go shopping and see a black person I look and say ‘hi’ but then…I can’t
help but wonder…”does he/she hate me because I’m white?” I’m not alone..and
neither are you.

I have a link: http://elect2009.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/obama-book-review/
that actually is where his books have been reviewed. It’s a great read and it
truly shows how Obama ‘really’ feels. I’ve researched endless hours actually
trying to figure out HOW in the world did this country ALLOW someone with these
kind of associations run for Commander In Chief.

I know what will make YOU feel better..it did me. It’s an article that “tells
it like it is” is the way I see it. Here’s the link: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25634 it’s an article
that truly “tells it like it is” -

This country truly is in the worst place it’s ever been
racially.

Obama explains his health care policy and dealing with scarce resources in a very succinct, powerful way here. This is just a great snapshot into his platform. Straightforward, clear.

Brava!

I am hoping that Hillary will also agree to be interviewed.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

I'm still not an Obama fan and I don't think he'll get my vote in November if he is the Democratic nominee but I do appreciate that he took the time to talk to BlogHer. I really appreciate it.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

I'm so pleased for BlogHer and Obama. This is definitely win win on the recognition and respect fronts.

Feminists don't have to be female.

I've been wresting with a political post per a NARAL endorsement of Obama endorsement of NARAL and hit a major snag. This straightens it out and sheds light on canddate strengths that go beyond talking points and all the way into emergent perspectives and paradigm shifts.

Build Peace

Virtuality

My Life As An Avatar

That's how I feel watching this video.   And, also? So very, very proud to be a BlogHer member.  As a woman and mother who spent several years struggling with health care issues due to having no insurance, I especially appreciate Senator Obama's understanding of the situation. 

This was a team effort a LONG time in the making. I sincerely hope to see Senators Clinton and McCain follow suit shortly.

I think it is also important to note the Senator was aware of our site -"yes, the women bloggers' he said off camera-and took the time to address our concerns.

Of course, as an Obama supporter I am biased, however he has now gone on the record with our community and it makes me feel even more of that....yes, I'm going to say it.....hope.

Erin

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Thanks everyone! We just posted the senator's answers to individual questions for folks who want to discuss specific issues:

Economy: Sen. Obama answers "How will you create federal public policy that helps families break the cycle of poverty?"

Environment: Sen. Obama answers the question, "We are reaching the point of no return on climate change. What will your legacy be on the environment?"

Health care: Sen. Obama answers "How will you allocate scarce resources to help solve the country's health-care crisis?" and "What is your position on requiring all major private, Medicaid, or federal health insurance plans cover birth control?"

Iraq: Sen. Obama answers three questions about the war in Iraq:
1. Will you work to end the Iraq war before the 2008 election? If so, how?
2. How do you propose to keep paying for the costs of war?
3. What are you physically going to do to help the Veteran's Administration and soldiers in need?

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Keep up the good work both Blogher & Obama!  Yeah power to the people who know how to use it wisely!

pemo theodore at AstraMatch.com

I'm so grateful to BlogHer for bringing all of us into this conversation.

Senator Obama already has my vote, and I've blogged about it here.

Once again he showed his intelligence, his grasp of the issues, his sensitivity to women's concerns and his ability to speak in complete sentences. All very different from the incumbent.

Smart and glamorous. My kind of guy.

Glamourbrain

I'm  so excited that one of the candidates finally took up BlogHer on the invitation, but I am still disappointed in one thing -- where are the specifics?  He says the right things in broad strokes, but where are the details, especially on the issue that is so big for me in this election-- poverty.

How will he make sure people like my parents have a more adequate income?  How will he make sure there are efforts for more child care?  When I hear some specific proposals on these important issues, I'll be happy.

PunditMom, Contributing Editor, Politics & News

Also at MOMocrats

Great job BlogHer! I am thrilled Obama recognizes the importance of the blogging woman's vote! 

Caroline

http://morningsidemom.wordpress.com/

The DNC, Main Stream Media and Pundits, and Obama Supporters and Super Delegates.
It seems to me that you hear what you want to hear and you see what you
want to see, but let me be extremely clear on what has gone on during
this primary season and what will happen after it is over.
First of all to the Obama voters, I cannot speak for the White Obama
voters someone else would have to speak to them. However, I can speak
to the African American Voters because I am an African American. It is
easy for you to try to justify 90-92% of you voting for Obama, but the
truth is the truth. You are voting for Obama simply because he is an
African American. Let me ask you a question. How many of you did what I
did and researched both candidates equally; How many of you pulled down
the policy and voting records and evaluated them against each other?
How many of you sat down and thought about the things that are
affecting you on a daily basis and then took a good solid look at both
candidates and made a decision? How many of you, if your life or the
life or your children depended on it, can easily list two or three
bills that Obama has voted on or written? How many of you know his
stance on Healthcare, the Economy, and Education? If your life depended
on it right now today, how many of you know exactly what Barack Obama
stands for. How many of you know what the change is that he has
promised? If your life depended on it could you explain what the Change
actually is? I say this because I find it offensive that my own
friends, family members and co-workers choose to call me a sell out
because I am a Hillary Clinton Supporter and I simply say to them, I am
not interested in making History. I am interested in the future of this
country that my nine year old child will grow up in, period. I have
done the homework. I have made a decision and I am sticking to it. It
offends me even more when fellow African Americans feel that it is ok
to walk up to me on the street or at my Childs school and say to me,
’so do you think he is gonna do it? Do you think Obama is going to
win’? What makes them think first of all that I am an Obama Supporter;
and when I tell them I am not, why do they have the audacity to say to
me, ‘come on sister we owe it to him’. How can you just assume because
I am an African American that I will automatically vote for Barack
Obama?. Ask yourselves the tough questions. Step back and take a good
look at yourselves and see what you come up with. To those supporters
who have been so vile and disrespectful to Senator Clinton, you are the
reason why the party is being torn apart and it shows your lack of
knowledge in what your candidate stands for, because according to him,
he is the great unifier. But his followers seem to be the great
dividers. All you have to do is take a look at the blogs. Debating the
issues is one thing, but vile personal attacks and nasty rhetoric is a
sign of the characters of those who support him. This says to me that
if he were to be elected to office, you would not hold him accountable.
You would continue to bury your heads in the sand. How can you Unify a
country when you continue to use the Race Card. Everytime someone
disagrees with Senator Obama, they are labeled racist. His
Administration would be mired in constant back and forth about race. If
you do not agree or you speak out against him, you will be considered
racist. This is the type of White House we would have and nothing would
get done.
To Senator Obama: Your arrogance is not becoming. The way that you talk
down to people is not attractive. You are asking us to put you in
charge of the people of the United States of America, yet you act as if
you are Superior to us. You take us for fools, by expecting us to
believe that you had no knowledge of what your Pastor was preaching for
20 years. You expect us to believe that you and your campaign did not
inject race into this campaign, but those of us who viewed this primary
with clear open eyes, know what you have done and we will have our
voices heard in November. It is not your race, take it from me I am a
sister, it is your lack of substance and your inability to come up with
your own views and your own policies, and we will be heard in November.
You are supposed to be a Uniter, but you have caused more division in
this country than I have seen in the past 30 years.
To Senator Clinton: I support you 150%; I know in my heart of hearts
that you are truly a champion for the people. I have known your work. I
have researched your policies and I have watched you during this
campaign. In times of trouble you are the one that I would want to have
my back because I know that you would go down fighting for us. Thank
you for your body of work for the American People, although it may not
feel as though they appreciate it right now. Those children that have
healthcare because of you Thank you; those women that are able to spend
time with their children after their birth; or those children who are
able to take time off work to take care of their elderly parents,
without fear of losing their jobs due to your hard work on FMLA Thank
you. The people of New York Thank you. This country is lucky to have a
fighter like you, although they do not deserve it. Thank you for your
brilliance.
To the Main Stream Media and Pundits, you chose to praise this unknown
man without thoroughly vetting him and now it is too late. You, I hope,
will take full responsibility for this when he tanks this country. You
all do not even have the common decency to act as if you are trying to
be fair and balanced. Chris Matthews cannot stop salivating over Obama;
Tim Russett seems as if he gets angry every time Hillary wins, his eyes
just bug out of his head. It is a sad thing for me to say that I have
gotten all of my fair and balanced news from Fox News Network, which is
totally unbelievable. You have assailed Hillary Clinton and tried to
make a Mockery out of Bill Clinton. You along with Barack Obama and his
camp, have made the case that Bill Clinton is somehow a Racist because
he said something that was totally true. Because of your dislike for
the Clintons, you have trashed them constantly. and you are the ones
who started the whole ‘The Clintons’. I do not see the name Bill
Clinton on the ballot. It is totally disrespectful the way that you
have treated President Clinton and Senator Clinton; absolutely no
respect. You have failed the American People and it will come back to
haunt you; let me see you spin the disaster which is Barack Obama.
To the DNC: For 22 years I have been a loyal member of this party, a
party that I thought was the party of the people. But I now see that
you all are nothing but the good old boys club. You have totally thrown
Senator Clinton under the bus. Someone who has been loyal to this party
and fought for this party; someone who has shown so much strength and
passion for the people, because you cannot break away from the good old
boys club. It took this long Primary season to see just how flawed and
undemocratic your system really is. First of all you penalize the
American People, the voters, for what their legislators did. You did
not have the common sense to say, ‘ok we will fine the Michigan and
Florida Democratic Party monetarily for moving up their primaries’. No,
you chose to take away their right to have their votes counted. How
undemocratic is that at a time when we have soldiers coming home in
body bags because they are fighting in a country to give others the
right to simply vote. Yes the candidates agreed, but why should they
have had to in the first place. No one had the common sense to say that
we cannot disenfranchise millions of Americans? You have a system where
someone can win an entire state and come out with only 10 or 13
delegates more that the person that lost. How is that Democratic? That
means that the notion of one man one vote is not the what this party
runs off of. You have a system of Caucuses, which does not allow for
elderly and hardworking Americans to participate in; is that
democratic?, You put Super Delegates in place to make decisions and
vote how they want to, but mid game because it does not benefit the
candidate that you want, you strong arm them into voting how you want
them to vote. This is the party of the people? You have a system where
you have a number of 2025 delegates and neither candidate has reached
that mark; but you declare a winner and then the good old boy network
decides that they will come out in droves to back him up, even though
millions have not voted. So then you are saying that the Super
Delegates make the decisions? Which is it?
To the Super Delegates: There is something to be said about Character
and what I have seen in the last couple of months has no signs of it.
For those of you who backed Hillary Clinton in the beginning and then
felt it necessary to throw her under the bus when she was behind in the
delegate count or was being declared down and out by the pundits, you
are the reason why the Democratic Party is divided; those types of
antics are unprofessional and disingenuous. It is one of two things:
You were backing her because you thought she would win, or; You backed
her because you believed in her candidacy, her policies and what she
stood for. If it was the latter, no matter what the numbers said or
what the Pundits said, you would stick with her. It is called courage
and conviction, something that her true supporters have shown. For
those African American Super Delegates who have been threatened and
brow beaten by your fellow African American Colleagues, Talk Radio and
constituents, thank you for having a back bone and standing up for what
you believe in. That is what true Character is all about. I suspect
that the turn coats will hear from their constituents in the future.
Jumping on the winning bandwagon does not take any effort, but standing
firm to your convictions takes everything.
What will happen next? The Pundits, the DNC, and Barack Obama
Supporters have all said, ‘Oh people are just saying that they will
vote for McCain or stay home in November, but that will not happen. The
party will come together’. Understand this loud and clear. We did not
vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. We did not vote for
Hillary Clinton because she is White We voted for Hillary Clinton
because we felt that she was the best person for the job and that she
would fight for the people of this country. We did not vote against
Barack Obama because he is Black or he is a Man. We voted against him
because we felt that he was not the right person for the Job. We felt
that he is not experienced enough; We felt that he was not honest about
the way that he feels about this country; We felt that he has no
substance; We felt that he gives great speeches, but has not backed
them up; We felt that he gets defense when he is questioned about his
policies and his way of thinking. What makes you think that that has or
will change? We will Not vote for Barack Obama. We will take our
chances with John McCain because at least we know that he loves this
country without a doubt. At least we know that he has the National
Security background in the event of any issue; At least we know that he
has a record of reaching across the aisle, even at the dismay of his
party. We know absolutely nothing about Barack Obama. We will not vote
for him no matter how you wave it off or dismiss what we would or would
not do. It will not happen. Common sense tells us that in the next four
years nothing but clean up will take place. I will take my chances with
someone that I know where he is coming from (McCain), as opposed to
someone who has shown no substance and only the promise of Change in
Washington (Obama). Obama? who is supported by all of the very
Washington Insiders that he chastises, Obama? who will be so indebted
to the old Washington Insiders he will not know which way is up. Now
you ponder that. Pundits, say what you must for ratings and see what
happens in November. And by the way, if and when Hillary Clinton gives
her Concession speech, it will be the last time that we will watch the
mainstream media again until election night. No convention, no
commentary, no Sunday shows. We are not interested in the Dog and Pony
show that the Democrats will make Hillary Clinton perform for the so
called good of the party, after the party turned their backs on her. We
love Hillary, but we will not vote for Obama because she said so. We
are not robots and we will not drink the Kool-Aid. Keep this in the
bank until Election day.
Sincerely,
An Ex-Democratic Voter,

Marla Jo 

Excuse me? Sorry I had this experience? I'm certainly not. It only enhances my senses. People are people, regardless of color. I suggest that you, Kim go have a look at both of the Democratic candidates and see for yourself that there is very little difference. I've done my homework and then wrote that letter to the DNC.

I think that 90 to 92% of the black vote going to Barack Obama speaks volumes. Don't forget, I'm African American myself and I see what goes in our communities. You know this. 

Have a wonderful day,

Marla Jo 

Great Interview!!! WOW!

James From BabySpot.com

This video makes me extremely proud to be a part of the BlogHer community.  Kudos to all involved.