Harold Ford Jr. for United States Senator in Tennessee

Illinois United States Senator Baraka Obama and Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. on the campaign trail for Congressman Ford to become the next United States Senator of the state of Tennessee.

Former President Bill Clinton and Harold Ford, Jr. at a recent fundraiser in Nashville for Congressman Ford's U.S. Senate campaign in Tennessee.

Congressman Ford will he be the state of Tennessee next United States Senator. If he succeeds he would make history as the first Black U.S. Senator in the south since reconstruction.

Many critics and politicians are watching Tennessee's highly contested U.S. Senate race because this race will not only decide which party will control the U.S. Senate for the next couple of years but it could tell many Presidential Hopefuls what type of fight they will be in come 2008. The Democrats are hoping that Jr. wins cause it could pave the way for the Democratic Party to win the White House in 2008 since the Democrats have not carried a single southern state in the last 2 Presidential elections. While the Republican Party is hoping that Tennessee falls their way so their stronghold on the south can led them to another 4 years in control of Congress and the White House. Well 2 months and a few days, the whole world will know which will the 2008 Presidential race will lean!

What is Freedom?

I remember being asked like three weeks ago, decscribe what freedom is in one word and why? At the time when this question was posed to me, I answered the question with some time of answer as freedom is politics because politics gives us the liberties and rights that we have and use. Without the politics than how much freedom would we have. Therefore I pose the question, what is freedom to you? Is freedom having the right to vote but not using it? Is freedom having the right to obtain a higher education but deciding not to? Is freedom being able to own the most expensive cars, clothes and other avenues but not knowing how to speak correctly?

What is freedom? What does freedom really grant you? Why do we even use the word freedom when the very freedoms that we have in America, we as American citizens born and raised don't even capitalize on them and use to max them out. Yes we are quick to use the freedom of expression in terms of free speech and the right to assemble but what about the freedom to not register to vote but to vote for who you want. The right to walk or drive to the polls on election day and cast a ballot that most people around the world don't have the right today.

I remember being in South Africa this summer, meeting with political officials and listening to how relatively new South Africa's democracy was and how the people of the country were so eager to go out and vote in 1994 when the country elected Nelson Mendela as South Africa's first black and democratic President. Now from the photographs I viewed while touring the country, I saw hundreds of thousands of long lines of people lined up just to just a ballot cause they were excited to vote and excited to vote for people who were going to make a difference.

Recently I remember seeing election lines in Afghanistan and Iraq where the citizens were lined up in lines that stretched at least one block long in those countries. Those citizens were eager to vote in their countries democratic elections and thus far, they have continued to be involved in their countries politics because they are tired of American forces being over there and they are tired of their current elected officials not being able to meet the needs of all the people in the country so far. However. These elections might be relatively new but the people in those countries love the fact they have the right to vote. South Africans told me that they take voting so serious because they know what could happen if the right people or party isn't in office. South Africans both young and old, black, white, or mixed say that the best thing that could have happened to their country is that apartheid is over and that all people have the right to vote.


Well I found this read to be quite interesting on the definition of Freedom, therefore I hope you enjoy it too but remember Freedom is whatever you define it to be but it is nothing without the nature of politics and governance which makes the rules and regulations (laws) that govern man.

A Definition of Freedom
By Julie Watner

Freedom is a mental condition-a condition of the spirit. All of us are free, if we but choose to acknowledge it. To borrow from Rose Wilder Lane, freedom is control of self. The essence of your "self" is your mind, soul, and spirit. We all are always free to change our thoughts, improve our knowledge and understanding, change our attitudes and beliefs-the inner part of each of us. We do need more folks to recognize that they already are FREE!

Liberty is a condition of the physical body: the absence of physical restraints. We seek liberty to use our resources, time, intelligence, and energy in the most beneficial (to us) way.

A productive, healthy society of freedom-and liberty-minded individuals is not to be confused with a libertine one. The conditions of liberty and freedom, above all, require individual responsibility in every phase of life. Each of us must take the consequences of our actions, good and bad. This is not easy, especially with our Big Brother the State standing by to present at least the illusion of "help" with every aspect of our lives.

Because the root of the problem (irresponsibility) is so ingrained, trying to convince others to live the freedom ideas through slogans, speeches, and hype is usually short on results. At best they provide the spark which causes an individual to seek out new information.

The "library of freedom"-books, pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines-not only documents man's quest from ancient times forward, but also is an important, longer lasting way to spread the word and fan the spark of interest into a flame.

But "plain-Jane" and unexciting as it sounds, I believe the most effective way to spread the freedom idea is to educate ourselves and raise our children to be honest, knowledgeable, confident, responsible lovers of freedom-to light a single candle. If each one of us lights another candle, and each of those follows suit, the freedom ideas will grow from a quiet bonfire to a WILDFIRE engulfing everything in its path.

Living in an environment of liberty and freedom is akin to being a parent-it is the best of times; it is the worst of times. With neither can you ever relax your vigilance, there is always work to be done, you are always being called upon to exercise new skills, and improve upon old ones. There is a tremendous amount of worry involved, also discouragement and uncertainty. On the other hand, it is hard to convey to a non-parent, just as to a statist, the joys, rewards, exhilaration, and satisfactions that make the responsibilities worthwhile. You just have to have faith, jump in, and DO IT!

http://users.aol.com/vlntryst/defin.html

All Elections Are Important

Everyone thinks that the only election that is important is the United States of America Presidential election. Well I'm here to tell you that is so far from the truth. For example, take your university campus and the campus organization you belong to. Now if you elected someone who barely came to a meeting or showed up at any events but for some old ball chance they decided to show up at the meeting that elections were taking place and because a whole lot of members decided not to show up because it was raining outside. Then that could be the very reason why that person is elected and than the following school year your organization does little or nothing and that person only holds that title. So are you are telling me that your organizational elections are not important. Regardless of what election it is, every position in an election is very important. That's why as students we need to understand that every election impacts the future. The person whose elected today will impact something later on down the road. Trust me, it is bound to happen.

Therefore, we need to understand that all elections are just as important as the next election no matter if it is a campus organization election, campus student government elections, city elections, state elections, or national elections. Every position in those races are important because that one position could be the very reason why certain things aren't being done on behalf of a certain ethnic or racial group, or economic class. Elections are slices of a piece no matter if it is primary or general election because you can't have one without the other. People who think that I only need to vote for the United States President are dead wrong because if you skipped the elections prior to the U.S. Presidential elections than you just missed out on getting certain individuals elected who decide local and state taxes, the educational system, and other things that we as people take for granted cause we think everything has something to do with the President when it fact it actually has something to do with our local and state political officials as well as our national officials such as our U.S. House of Representative and U.S. Senator.

We can't keep ignoring the smallest of elections and keep thinking that we can make up for with the big elections because life doesn't work like that. The smallest of events creates the biggest outcomes. Therefore by not voting in the smaller political office elections, you are causing the bigger election offices to have more of an impact on the smaller political offices elections in terms of even if you elect the right person for let's say the President, what good is that if you don't have the right person in the mayor's office of your city or in the governor's office. Yet along the U.S. House or Senate seat. All elected positions are important therefore we need to start acting like, no better yet, we need to believe and act on the fact that all political elections are just as important as the next one. So with 2 years to go before the 2008 Presidential election, we can't afford to take any more election years off no matter if it is a school board race, city race, county race, state race, or national race. All political elections are important and we need to keep that engraved in our skull every time August and November rolls around. Every and I mean every election year is IMPORTANT!

Political Fundraising

Some might ask, why do political fundraiser cost so much or better yet why do politicians need to fundraise in the first place when all of them are rich and have rich friends. Well the truth of the matter is this, political fundraising is essential to any and every campaign from a student government election on your campus to school board, city council, mayor, state house, state senate, Gubernatorial (Governor), U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and the U.S. Presidential elections. It's important because it helps in staffing campaign workers cause not all the people on a campaign are volunteers but majority of them. However depending the race and how wide of an area that most be covered campaigns need staffers to run the day to day operations of the campaign as well as plan events that will put the candidate visible to the people as well get the candidate new votes and secure the votes the candidate already has. Since these staffers might have families to feed as well, they need to get paid for their long hours of work and creativity. Therefore fundraising is essential to establishing (a) campaign office(s) and headquarter(s) so that volunteers like myself who attend school and doesn't have the time to work all night and day can come in during my free time and give a couple hours of service at my leisure during the campaign.

Also fundraisers help in paying for literature, websites, televisions commercials, t-shirts, buttons, yard signs, placards, bumper stickers, and other freebes that will help in getting the candidate out there and over the top in terms of winning the campaign. That's why I don't understand why people don't vote. If they only knew how much time and effort went into campaigns in terms of fundraising and campaigning than people would probably realize that politics invests hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars into campaigning only to get lower voter numbers year after year after year. Then if a politician was to just up and say I'm not spending as much money as I spent last year or I'm not going to fundraise than that would be the year that politician loses office. Therefore as citizens, we should get behind our political candidates more by funding their campaigns. Imagine if you can buy a pair of $100 gym shoes than why can't you give $1, $5, $10, $20, or $50 to a political campaign for a day, a week or every two weeks. Also if you could buy a big screen television or tons of new clothes every week than why can't you invest in your future by helping to fund a campaign. Trust me, politicians are appreciative every single dollar they can get.

I know all of us are not rich and can afford to barely eat every day but as college students if we can't fund a campaign than at least we can is give service to one. Find the time to help a political campaign out. Make phone calls to potential voters, register new voters and make sure they actually vote, pass out literature at events, talk about the candidate at work, to family and friends, and most of all make the candidates name visible any and every where you go. Fundraising is essential to all political campaign but it isn't the only way to get involved but if you can host a political fundraiser and I guarantee that the campaign team will help you in arranging the event so it is a success. GET INVOLVED!

Protesting President Bush

Hundreds of Tennesseans from young to old turned out yesterday to protest President George W. Bush. President Bush was in Nashville at a fundraiser for GOP (Republican Party) Senatorial candidate Bob Corker. The event cost $2,100-per-person and it was held at the Leows Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel. Other honorary chairs for the event were current Senate Majority leader Bill Frist, Sen.. Lamar Alexander, and former Senators Howard Baker, Fred Thompson, and Bill Brock. Protesters begin to assemble across the street from the hotel, as the guests arrived between 3:30 and 4:30. The protestors greeted President Bush and his fat cats just as they came in with picket signs and loud chants saying Bush must go. Other protestors arrived later and stayed for the 5:00 and 6 oÂ’clock news broadcasts and to give a rude welcome to departing guests around 7:00. Overall the event was rather democratic in the sense that many Americans take for granted their right to peacefully assemble. Therefore a protest is a peaceful assembly as long as the crowd behaves in a respectful manner and stay within their boundary in terms of how many feet they have to be away from a particular building while protesting.

Now a lot of you might say that $2,100 per person at a fundraising event isridiculouss, however, this is how politics is ran. Fundraising is essential to getting an elected official into office. However the protestors weren't out there to contest the amount of money the event cost but rather to show President Bush and the Republican Party that they are tired and want more. They wanted to greet President Bush with a message that simply stated "Bush is Stupid and Gay" as one sign read from one protestor. No matter howridiculouss something may look or seem or even how untrue it is, protestors gathered peacefully anddispersedd peacefully as well. This is what being a democratic state is all about. Being able to disagree with the other side and not suffer consequences while doing it cause you have a voice in government. Regardless of how you view President Bush, you can gather to cheer him on or to boo him because like everyone doesn't have the same favorite sports team, everyone doesn't have the same favorite political party or candidate.

Vote College Students Vote!

We as college students would rather go to parties, watch reality television, listen to music, and go shopping rather than to do something that takes no more than 3 minutes (registering to vote) and then doing something that takes about a minute to do once you are in the voting booth which is the actual process of voting. Therefore I ask why don’t we vote as college students? Why are we as college students apathetic about getting involved in the political process? I have heard all types of excuses to why students don’t vote yet along to why they don’t want to be registered to vote. However as college students, we should be at the forefront of the political process because so many things in politics have affected our past, affect our present and will affect our future unless we start voting now. We as college students stand in long lines to get into hot and steamy clubs that are usually filled to capacity especially if it is a good party rather than to stand in a long line that will eventually impact the future of your entire life rather it’s locally, state, or nationally.

Voting is our essential rights as Americas and for us as college students to sit back and ignore politics is a disgrace. Don’t give the answer that your vote doesn’t count any way cause President Bush is still in office, however President Bush is in office cause his people went out and voted for him and if you ask anyone who for voted for him, they feel happy they voted. In fact, they probably don’t always agree with everything he does or says but they are happy they have voice in deciding the faith of who will be the next President of the United States. However, as college students, we shouldn’t get all caught up in just Presidential elections but we should be aware of all elections cause the Presidential election doesn’t really decide everything for us as college students in terms of tuition and federal aid. The President of the United States only proposes bills and acts but the U.S. Congress are the ones who vote on bills, budgets, and acts. So as college students we should be concerned with the U.S. House and U.S. Senate races in the states where we not only go to school but our home states as well. Those are the races that will decide whether or not federal aid increases, decreases, or stays the same as well as whether tuition will continue to increase. Then after those races, we as college students need to look at Governor races, State House and State Senate races cause those individuals decide the state budget of state aid for higher education. So if the right people aren’t elected to those positions than it doesn’t even matter what the President does with the Department of Education cause it will not impact us as college students. If the other elected officials aren’t doing anything to help us locally and nationally in terms of grant aid than what makes anyone think the President of the United States can do anything besides propose a higher budget for the Department of Education and perhaps veto budget for the Department of Education that the President doesn’t like.

Voting is an essential right that we as college students need to express and utilize cause it is the only way to truly express yourself politically in this world. Politicians are all about numbers and those numbers of voter numbers. Politicians care about votes and more votes and if you as a citizen start threatening to mess with a politicians voter base by threatening to tell the politicians constituents about how he/she hasn’t dealt with a specific issue than that’s when the politician will become concerned. Therefore it will lead to the politician wanting to do things on behalf of his/her district in numbers like never before. In politics are always going to be winners and losers just like in any type of competition between two people. So as college students we shouldn’t be become discouraged if our candidate doesn’t win because you still voiced yourself by going out to vote. Therefore you have the right to complain to your politician about your problems and issues. As people, we always think about what has my politician done for me lately and to some of us, a lot of the time that answer is nothing. However that is still no reason for us as college students not to vote because perhaps you haven’t read some of the things the candidate has done prior to running for office or some of the things the candidate did while in office. Now everything a candidate has done probably hasn’t impacted presently but it probably impacted when you were younger or it will impact in the future. We as college students shouldn’t always look at things in the present cause if we are the future than we have to think of things in terms of past, present and future. If a candidate did this in the past and presently shows no signs of changing his/her position on this issue than there is a slim chance that candidate will change in the future. So as college students we need to understand things in terms of that so we can not just vote but vote intelligently.

Seriously, as college students we need to understand that it doesn’t take much to get involved in the political process. As much time as we as college students spend on the internet being on facebook, myspace, blackplanet, and other websites, we can devote some of that time to researching candidates so we can become educated voters. In fact we can ask questions to our friends and family as to why they are voting for a particular candidate. Then you as a college student can take it a step further and actually attend candidate forums and debates to better understand the candidates’ positions on certain issues as well as to hear the candidates in person. Trust me, hearing a person speak on a particular issue will probably help you to see that person writes a good game but doesn’t speak a word of it in person. As college students, we need to become more active in the political process and the best way to be active is to not only register to vote where you go to school but to go out and actually vote. No matter how long an election line is, just remember that your ancestors and my ancestors as well as your parents or relatives perhaps, fought and dead for the opportunity that we ignore and take for granted. I know they are probably rolling over in their grave’s cause we as college students are not taking advantage of the chance that we have before us and that is the chance to vote. We can’t continue to take this right for granted because our ancestors didn’t take it for granted and they wanted this right more than anything in the world and that’s why they dead fighting for us to have this right. Our ancestors wanted the right to vote cause they wanted to have a voice in the country politics on the local, state and national level.

Therefore, we as college students need to vote, we got to vote, we got to change the direction of how politicians view us. If you want minimum wage to increase, gas prices to lower or other alternatives to fuel to be created, college tuition costs to stop raising, and federal aid to increase to meet the cost of tuition as well as federal grants to increase when the cost of living increases. Then we as college students need to wake up, gather our friends and mob to the polls in record numbers this November. Send a message to both the Republican and Democratic parties that we are ready for the 2008 Presidential election, are they?

Bring 'Em Out, Bring 'Em Out

Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr. Jr., Jr.--The crowd began to chat like he was some time of rock and roll star or a big name rapper or anytime of celebrity for that matter. However this was not any ordinary celebrity who a lot of people particularly those not living in the Memphis and Shelby County district would recognize. Jr. was no other than Harold Ford, Jr. who is running to be the next United States Senator of the state of Tennessee. With a ball cap on and a pair of slacks and a rolled up long sleeve shirt on, Jr. walked off of his tour bus that is filled and operated by bio-diesel fuel, into the Mercy Lounge were a free concert was being performed by various rock and roll bands. However Jr. took center stage and the crowd went wild as if he was the biggest name to ever grace the Mercy Lounge stage. All you could hear was, Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr........You get the picture. In today's national politics, the only other person I have seen to come before a crowd and be welcomed with loud cheers and applauds is former President William Jefferson Clinton but to the ordinary man, Bill Clinton.

Jr. didn't just come to the be welcomed but he came with a message and that message was heard loud and clear throughout a room practicially filled with young, dedicated and excited college students who want to be apart of history. Jr. told the crowd that for 6 six years you have set back and watched America pass you by and right now, here's your chance to tell America that you are not going to take it anymore. Jr. said the only way to be heard is through voting and is through putting the right people in office who will do the things for the ordinary man and woman of this Great Country. Jr. said for six years, we have seen gas prices raise, tuition heights, and a war continue to go on that we shouldn't eve be in the first place but we're there and now we have to find solutions to deal with this issue before it gets even worse. Jr. said the only way for solutions to these problems to be resolved is to be active in the political process and is to go out register 4,000 to 6,000 people to vote and make sure those people vote cause Tennessee is apart of a new early voting procedure that could sweep the country. Early voting begins Sunday, October 17 to Tuesday, November 7.

Jr. even became emotional on stage and paused to regain his composure but throughout the room, all you could hear was Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr., Jr........Bring 'Em Out, Bring 'Em Out, Harold Ford Jr. is surely the man to watch. Charismatic, genuine, and dynamic. As Jr. left the stage into the raining night, hundreds of supporters left the Mercy Lounge in amazement that such a politician could speak so passionately and energetically about the future of America and the state of Tennessee.

Join the movement by going to www.fordfortennessee.com

Tennessee State University Special Elections

Get involved! Many students complain about the way the campus operates but very few take the lead and make things happen. Therefore, I highly encourage all students on campus to get involved in the political process. You can't depend on someone to handle the things that you see wrong with the campus if you are not actively seeking to be involved in the day to day operations of campus life. Now here's a perfect opportunity for those students who want to see a change on campus to become more involved on campus by running for Student Government Association Offices. I'm not saying that everyone will win but this could be the start to getting some of your ideas out to the mainstream public. If you aren't speaking up to be heard than start doing it now cause eventually some of the same ideas and notions that you proposed will eventually come to the forefront of a couple of debates and discussions that will improve the overall landscape and attitude of the campus. Politics is all around us people and I must say that as a student of Tennessee State University, if you don't start acting rather than reacting on things than you will always sit back and wonder why did this happen or why did they do this. Take demand of your opportunities and become someone whose ideas will help the next person and just yourself.

So as the opportunity to run for Student Government Association in this semesters Special Elections should spark some new faces to seek offices that they never thought about running for and should spark others who ran before to want to run again.

Higher Education as a Constitutional Right

My friend Devina Horton who attends Tennessee State University recently sent me this message,

Subject: So outrageous you may not believe itÂ… but YOU can change it.

Hello! Believe it or not, even though we live in the richest and most advanced country in the world, children in America do not possess an American right to an education… let alone the right to a high quality education. The US Constitutiodoesn'tsn’t mention the word “education” a single time, and the US Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that American children do not possess the fundamental right to an education. The impacts of this could not be clearer—or more troublesome for our future, with only one third of children able to read at grade level proficiency, more than a million students dropping out of school each year, and international counterpartout pacingpacing our own schools (US High Schoolers finished 24th out of 29 countries in math and problem solving in 2003).Think this should change? You are not alone. Thousands of students have joined together to sign a petition demanding that all children be guaranteed the right to a high quality public education. You can sign it NOW at www.OurEd.org, and learn more about how you can play a leading role in this student movement.Together, we can make a difference—not just for ourselves, but for one another, for our younger siblings, for our own children a generation from now, and for America’s future.

Therefore I pose the question on whether or not Higher Education should be a Constitutional Right since it seems that so many youth now days are not taking advantage of obtaining some type of higher education. High School dropout rates are steadily increasing in America and less students are pursuing degrees after high school. So how can this remedy be solved when our America government spends billions and billions of dollar on the military and a war that we should not be in the first place. America has invested less and less money in the future of its youth, who need adequate adquate and suitable educational avenues in order to succeed in the global market economy. America's youth need help and that help can only occur in the form of a higher quality of education but the only way that can happen is by reinvesting in the education system. Call your Mayor, State Representative, State Senator, Governor, U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator and tell them all to you want more for the future of America's Educational system. Better yet tell them all that you demand more and you want them to to demand more from President Bush because "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" is not the solution to America's Education system. More funding for all levels of education particularly higher educational institutions is needed if America's tomorrow is going to meet the needs of America's today.

(WAY WAIT FOR TOMORROW WHEN YOU CAN DO SOMETHING TODAY--Therefore the FUTURE IS NOW! So invest in it President Bush)

Voter Registration

Political Consultant

In the state of Tennessee, there's a highly contested and publicized U.S. Senate race that will virtually decide who will control at least one branch of Congress (The Senate). Therefore it is highly important that those students and residents of the state of Tennessee who are not registered to vote, get registered. The deadline to register to vote in Tennessee's General Election is Friday, October 6 and Saturday, October 7, 2006 in person and if mailing a voter registration application in, it must be postmarked before Monday, October 9, 2006. The General Election in Tennessee will be on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. So I encourage everyone to at least take family and friends to your local election commission and get them registered to vote because this election will decide the faith of future elections in the south particularly the 2008 Presidential Election.