Top goals debated for the first 100 days of the Obama Administration

At a discussion on "After the Election: The New Administration and the Democracy Party in a Transformed Political World," contributing editor for the New York Times Magazine, Matt Bai, said he didn't think Obama won by a landslide on election night. Bai compared Obama to Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 when Clinton won more electoral votes than Obama did in this election.

According to Bai, universal health care must be the number one priority on Obama's to-do list as President. Bai further stated that "health care is a critical thing for Obama to accomplish," "...businesses want it, the public want it..."

President and co-founder of the non-partisan think tank Third Way, Jonathan Cowan, believes the opposite; that energy, not health care, must be Obama's first priority. According to Cowan, Obama will "reach across the aisle to get bipartisanship".

When comparing Obama to the 2004 democratic candidate, John Kerry, Cowan said Obama performed much better among the identified liberal voters. Obama also received more votes among moderates and conservatives. Cowan highlighted Obama's economic strategy, saying his middle-class ideas and solutions outranked his opponents.

Cowan also said that he believes Obama will protect women’s rights to have an abortion, but still reduce the number of abortions across the nation.

A change for the energy future

“Yesterday a record number of voters voted for change,” said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), at the National Press Club. Several environmental groups working to elect more pro-environment candidates into office, hosted a news conference on the energy and environment challenges facing President Elect Barack Obama and his administration.

According to Karpinski, voters voted for a not only a change in the White House but also for a new energy future, which will change the past failed energy policies tied to Americas foreign oil dependency. Karpinski underlined that with a new clean environment future the American economy will grow stronger as well as the nations security. “Senator Obama put forward the most comprehensive, aggressive plan to deal with the related issues of energy and global warming,” said Karpinski.

Bob Wendelgass, National Deputy Director for Clean Water Action an organization working in a number of swing states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Virginia agreed with Karpinski saying that this is an “historic occasion to address some really compelling environmental issues in the next four years”.

Ralph Nader: American voters are in a two-part prison

“It is clear that the voters in this country are in a two-party prison,” said Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader at the National Press Club, Washington DC where he hosted a news conference on “the moral imperative of the left” in an attempt to call on progressive and liberal voters to stake out their position in the 2008 election. According to Nader, the progressive and liberal voters across the United States must organize themselves in order to be able to accomplish changes in public eye, saying “they’re lacking in both statics, strategy and conscience”.

In his speech Nader outlines what makes him different from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. He highlighted Obama’s support of the occupation and colonization of the Palestinian people. Nader also stated that Obama does not mention or offer poor white people and Latin Americans better conditions in his desired position of President. “Obama has never been associated with any comprehensive program toward the bottom 100 million Americans who are poor”. “The records of the Republicans has been horrible, but the Democrats have been horrible and not stopping the record of the Republicans,” Nader said.

In conclusion, Nader focused on the American voting and government system, underlining he would rather see the United States have a parliamentary type of system and stop using the electoral college. “We do need some sort of proportional representation, certainly at the local and state levels,” Nader said.

Mitt Romney: Obama will not win Michigan

As the 2008 presidential election is in it's final stage, former Governor Mitt Romney put faith in the people of Michigan claiming that they will realize that the McCain-Palin ticket is the right one to vote for. "I'm convinced that Michiganders will take a good look at John McCain's position and contrast that with Barack Obama's," Romney said during a press conference call focusing on the Obama campaign's visit to the state. "Senator McCain's prescription for strengthening our housing-market and for strengthening our economy is right," Romney said.

According to Romney, Michigan will be a "winnable state" for Sen. John McCain, saying Obama's regular visits to the state shows his insecurity in wining Michigan. "I think it's a 'must-win' state for Barack Obama, and that's why he's gonna keep coming back and back, trying to nail it down," Romney said. Romney claimed that while Obama wants to expand government spending, McCain is a strong opponent to extensive government spending.

Romney highlighted that raising taxes during the current financial crisis on Wall Street, will not help recovering the economy. According to Romney, Obama's policies will guarantee that America will continue to spend billions of dollars on energy importation, stating it will potentially contribute to even higher gasoline prices.

"His policy saying no to clean coal, no to nuclear and no to drilling, is a policy doomed in my view," Romney said. According to Romney, the Michigan people just need to focus on the presidential candidates policies to find the candidate that will benefit Michigan the most

CODE PINK: Shame on McCain, Shame on Obama

As the Senate is about to vote on the bailout bill intended to relieve the current economic crisis on Wall Street, Code Pink protesters gathered today on the hill to rally against the bill. “Taxpayers revolt” was the theme of the rally, which included both women and men protesting against the bailout bill that the House choose not pass. Now the Code Pink ladies hope that the Senate will follow the House’s example and not pass the bill. “It’s time for the Senate to hear the voice of the people,” Medea Benjamin, cofounder of Code Pink and leader of the protest group.

The Code Pink rally started off outside Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) office in the Russell Senate Office Building, making statements to the media that the bailout bill should not be passed in Congress before entering the Senator’s office and demonstrating by lying on the floor shouting “BAILOUT? OVER MY DEAD BODY!”

After leaving the Russell Senate Office Building the rally continued at the Hart Senate Office Building were the Code Pink protesters wanted to find out whether Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) would support or reject the bill. After a similar demonstration outside Obama’s office, the protesters announced to the media that the Democratic presidential nominee will most likely vote “yes” to the bill. “If he votes for this bill he’s betraying the America people,” Benjamin said.