I AM proud to be a Democrat, but sometimes Democratic politics can be tiresome.

For years, candidates have appealed to voters by arguing how they can win or why any Democrat would be better than any Republican. They miss the fact that voters are more interested in why Democrats should win than how we will. They mistakenly believe that discontent with Republicans will assure a Democratic victory, when in truth most of us aren't buying 100 percent of what either party is selling. So, election after election, we end up with the same old debate and commentary about competing electoral tactics rather than a vision for the future.

We have a chance this time to choose a different kind of candidate, a different kind of president.

Barack Obama is the only candidate in the field who has demonstrated the ability to unite people across differences around common cause.

Read the full article from The Boston Globe

Surge success can't mask political failure

In recent weeks, I've been asked if the "surge" is working, and if we should continue to fight the war in Iraq. The answer is decisively no.

Those who support the surge are making the same mistakes that war supporters have made all along: They fail to understand how the Iraq war sets back our security, and they fail to understand that there is no military solution in Iraq.

I am the only major candidate for president who opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, before it was politically popular. I thought it was wrong to take our focus off of the terrorists in Afghanistan who hit us on 9/11, and to use fear and falsehoods to attack a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. I warned about "an occupation of undetermined length, and undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences" in the middle of the Arab world.

But Congress voted for war, giving President Bush the authority that he uses to keep our troops in Iraq to this day. The costs of that decision have been immense: nearly 4,000 precious American lives, a price-tag that will exceed $1 trillion, and a world that is more dangerous and resistant to American leadership.

The surge has lowered the level of violence in Iraq from the horrific levels of 2006, but it has completely failed to resolve the political grievances at the heart of Iraq's civil war. Meanwhile, we continue to take casualties, our military is overstretched and our military leadership warns that Afghanistan risks sliding into chaos without more troops.
The only way we can press Iraq's leaders to reconcile is to make it clear that we are leaving - otherwise they will continue to use our presence to put off hard compromises. That is why I have repeatedly called for a clear timetable for the removal of our forces from Iraq. The quickest, responsible pace for withdrawal is 1 to 2 combat brigades each month, which means we could remove all of our combat brigades within 16 months.

We should leave enough troops in Iraq to protect our diplomats, and we should have a counter-terrorism force stationed in Iraq that could launch targeted strikes on al-Qaida if it tries to establish a base in Iraq.

As we remove our troops, we must step up our efforts to reach a political solution. Inside of Iraq, we should convene Iraq's leaders and bring in the UN in a push for an accord on national reconciliation. In the region, we should launch the most aggressive diplomatic effort in recent history involving all of Iraq's neighbors - including Iran and Syria - to secure Iraq's borders and support stability. And to deal with the urgent crisis of four million displaced Iraqis, we should lead an international initiative by providing $2 billion for humanitarian relief.

Ending the war isn't just about Iraq's security - it's about America's. Every time we send units to serve tour after tour of duty in Iraq, we limit our ability to deal with other crises. Every month that we're spending $8 billion in Iraq, we neglect other priorities. Every time we hear a plea for more support in Afghanistan or get another message from Osama bin Laden, we're reminded that this war has distracted us from real threats.

It's time to end the war, and the mindset that got us into war. We invaded Iraq because Washington prized tough talk over sound judgment. Now, five years later, Congress has voted for an amendment that opened the door to Iran, candidates are using 9/11 to scare up votes, and conventional wisdom is beginning to trumpet the surge as a success.

To secure our country and restore our standing in the world, we have to stop fighting a misguided war and reject a politics of fear that made the war possible. That is what I will do as president.

Read the full article from The Concord Monitor

It all came full circle Thursday night as Illinois Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama returned to the Frank Jones Center.

It was just a year ago that Obama made his first visit to Portsmouth and filled that same venue to overflowing even before he formally announced his candidacy. Thursday night, despite the snow, sleet and cold, he repeated that feat, but the man who stood before the 1,000 people who came to hear him speak appeared much more confident, prepared and at ease than the Obama who visited for a book signing event in 2006.

Read the full article from The Portsmouth Herald

Sen. Barack Obama joined in a discussion with independent voters Thursday at the Loaf and Ladle in Exeter, talking about his solutions for the nation's most pressing challenges while listening to what the voters are thinking.

Obama spoke on his intentions to end the war in Iraq bringing troops home within 16 months, health care, energy and his track record. He also told the group of area residents his plans to run the most open and transparent administration in history.

"Because when you shut the door on the people, chances are you are not doing the people's business, you're doing someone else's," he said. "Instead of doing business behind closed doors, we'll bring democracy back to the people. When I put together my health-care legislation, I won't do it in a back-room, I'll do it out in the open. And we'll make sure the voices of patients, doctors, nurses and hospital administrators are heard over the drug and insurance industries. That's how we'll finally lower costs and make sure that every American has affordable, high-quality health care.

Read the full article from The Exeter News

All elections are unique, but not all of them are historically significant. We believe that the election of 2008 will prove to be one of the most important since Franklin Roosevelt brought this country a New Deal in 1932.

The Portsmouth Herald is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic choice in the New Hampshire primary because we believe he has a unique character and far-reaching vision to lead this country as it faces war abroad and economic instability at home. He is the 21st century candidate the country needs.

More than any of the other Democrats in the race, we believe Obama has made the most compelling and persuasive case for his candidacy. He has talked throughout this campaign about the "urgency of the now" but has shown patience to develop both his campaign and his proposals.

It has been our privilege to host candidate forums and see candidates react spontaneously to Seacoast residents, as well as to prepared questions. We see in Obama an exceptional intellect, strength of character and raw talent. He has the best intuitive grasp of the electorate we have encountered.

Read the full Endorsement from The Portsmouth Herald

Of all the contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, only Sen. Barack Obama seems intent on restoring a measure of common sense to the political discourse. He recognizes a simple but powerful truth: that people must come together around the shared values that define the American democratic experience. The message sounds fresh, even transcendent, because for too long the ugly politics of division have cast a pall on government and alienated voters. We think Obama has the sound character, intuitive understanding and charismatic leadership to break old patterns and unify the country.

Too few people, let alone politicians, talk anymore about the commonweal. But Obama does, insistently. As a little-known Illinois state senator at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he stood on the podium before a pumped-up crowd and challenged America to think differently: “There's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there's the United States of America,” he said. “There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America.” The speech, a personal and direct appeal for national unity, was one of the finest examples of political oratory in many years, and it helped to propel Obama onto the national stage.

Read the full Endorsement from The Valley News

THE FIRST American president of the 21st century has not appreciated the intricate realities of our age. The next president must. The most sobering challenges that face this country - terrorism, climate change, disease pandemics - are global. America needs a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world, with all its perils and opportunities. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has this understanding at his core. The Globe endorses his candidacy in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary Jan. 8.

Many have remarked on Obama's extraordinary biography: that he is the biracial son of a father from Kenya and a mother who had him at 18; that he was raised in the dynamic, multi-ethnic cultures of Hawaii and Indonesia; that he went from being president of the Harvard Law Review to the gritty and often thankless work of community organizing in Chicago; that, at 46, he would be the first post-baby-boom president.

What is more extraordinary is how Obama seals each of these experiences to his politics. One of the lessons he took from organizing poor families in Chicago, he says, was "how much people felt locked out of their government," even at the local level. That experience anchors his commitment to transparency and accountability in Washington.

Read the full Endorsement from The Boston Globe

Barack Obama has come from behind to turn the Democratic presidential race in New Hampshire into a
toss-up, according to a new Monitor opinion poll. The results - which show Obama with a one-point
edge over Hillary Clinton - mirror other polls released this week, indicating that Clinton's
once-imposing lead has evaporated in the run-up to New Hampshire's Jan. 8 primary.

The poll suggests that the Democratic race could hinge on the turnout of undeclared voters, who
aren't registered with either political party. Much of Obama's backing comes from undeclared voters,
while registered Democrats make up the bulk of Clinton's support. In New Hampshire, undeclared
voters can vote in either party primary, giving them sway in both contests.

"The more undeclared voters that decide to vote in the Democratic primary, the better chance Obama
wins," said Del Ali, president of Research 2000, the Maryland-based nonpartisan polling firm that
conducted the poll for the Monitor on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. "What Hillary Clinton has to
hope is that more of the established Democrats come out to vote."

Read the full article at The Concord Monitor.

...Obama's personality comes across as calm, intellectual and diplomatic, yet firm, decisive and valued. These are all important qualities for our next president. The Illinois senator, at times, seems to project the image of an outsider seeking to reform foreign policy, health care and the economy.

Obama comes across as a man willing to listen to the ideas of others, but unwilling to compromise America's values to appease enemy leaders or achieve a false peace....

Although it is an overused phrase, America has reached a critical point. Threats from within, as well as without, threaten our values; and it will take an educated, steadfast and reasonable personality to overcome these obstacles. Barack Obama should be the Democratic nomination for president.

Read the full article at The Littleton Courier.

New Hampshire Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter threw her support behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama yesterday, saying that the "winds of change" are in the Illinois senator's sails.

The announcement brought Shea-Porter's neutrality in the presidential race to an end - while other state politicians aligned themselves with campaigns over the past year, she concentrated on hosting presidential candidates and promoting the primary. Shea-Porter joined various candidates on stage at numerous events, and was the subject of much presidential campaign courting.

Read the full article from The Concord Monitor

Oprah Winfrey is a talk show host, a national icon, and now a political
cheerleader. As Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama fired up
a Manchester crowd yesterday, Winfrey sat behind him, thrusting her
fists into the air and shouting, "Yes! Yes!"

In front of an audience of 8,500 at the Verizon Wireless Arena, Winfrey
extolled the Illinois senator as "a politician with an ear for eloquence
and tongue for the unvarnished truth." The cheering crowd greeted Obama,
his wife, Michelle Obama, and Winfrey with a sea of blue Obama '08
signs. Earlier in the day, Obama and Winfrey faced an audience of 29,000
in South Carolina.

"I love Oprah!" exclaimed Debbie Bolduc, a Republican from Manchester.

Read the full article at The Concord Monitor.

Manchester, NH--Oprah Winfrey, the first lady of television, made her first
visit to Manchester and her first foray into politics on behalf of
Barack Obama one of near rapture for thousands of fans last night.

After a rock star's welcome, Winfrey settled into her new role and
delivered several veiled shots at Democrat Hillary Clinton, one of
Obama's main rivals, for her vote to authorize war in Iraq.

"Long before it was popular, he was standing with clarity and conviction
against the war in Iraq," she said of Obama.

Read the full article at New Hampshire Union Leader.

Portsmouth, NH -- The wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama made an appearance Tuesday for a roundtable discussion on issues confronting working women.

Michelle Obama sat with six women from the Seacoast at Popovers on the Square for an hourlong discussion that ranged from health care to education. In particular, she spoke about the need to improve public education by attracting talented teachers, a key facet of Barack Obama's campaign.

"We need public schools to work for all of us. We must be ready to learn and ready to take on challenges," she said.

Read the full article at The Portsmouth Herald.

The senator from Illinois began his visit to Littleton, his second since Memorial Day, with a visit to the town's community center where he talked with seven independent voters from area towns including Bath, Bethlehem, Dalton, Haverhill and Lancaster.

Obama came in, sat before the holiday-decorated mantel in the historic building, and delivered a speech on why he is working so hard to win the Democratic nomination for president. He said there are many reasons he wants to lead the nation: from his belief that he can bring health care to the millions of uninsured Americans to climate change, the need for clean energy sources, improved education and many other things.

Read the full article at The Caledonian-Record.

Obama's foreign policy team includes three ex-Clinton aides, one-time National Security Adviser Tony Lake, former Navy secretary Richard Danzig and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Rice. "I can't understand why he is attacked for a lack of experience," Lake said.

"His experience, it seems to me, is greater than Bill Clinton when he ran for president, than the current president, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, I could go on and on."

His guests peppered Obama with eight questions ranging from the use of United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur to the connection between a sound foreign policy and a healthy, domestic economy.

Read the full article at The Nashua Telegraph.