Obama to hit the campaign trail for Biden

Former President Barack Obama is expected to hit the campaign trail next week, Democratic officials tell CNN, as he looks to step up his work in support of his one-time partner -- former Vice President Joe Biden -- in the final stretch of the election.

Obama intends to focus his efforts on early voting states in the final two weeks of the race, the officials tell CNN. The former President will not aggressively barnstorm swing states, but rather intends to visit a handful of critical battlegrounds where voting is underway.

His schedule has not been finalized, officials said, but states under consideration for his solo appearances include Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin and more.

"He's doing enough for our campaign," Biden told reporters before boarding a flight in New Castle, Delaware, Tuesday. "He'll be out on the trail and he's doing well."

Obama's expected return to the campaign trail could energize Democratic voters in the final weeks before the election as the former president remains among the Democratic Party's most popular figures. The Biden campaign believes Obama can help in three particular areas, officials say, including: Black men, Latinos and young voters.

The events will be socially distant -- similar to the tactics adopted by the Biden campaign during the coronavirus pandemic -- but are designed to garner local media coverage in key areas. President Donald Trump's campaign has dispatched far more surrogates ahead of the election -- along with the President's rallies -- and the Obama visits are designed to help Biden draw more attention in places where voting is happening.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Cory Booker ends presidential campaign

Today NJ Senator Cory Booker ended his 2020 presidential campaign. He released the following statement via Twitter:

It’s with a full heart that I share this news—I’m suspending my campaign for president.

To my team, supporters, and everyone who gave me a shot—thank you. I am so proud of what we built, and I feel nothing but faith in what we can accomplish together.

Higher Heights For America endorses Kamala Harris

Higher Heights For America PAC, a political action committee exclusively dedicated to electing more progressive Black women at the federal and statewide levels and that seeks to elevate Black women’s voices to shape and advance progressive policies and politics has endorsed Kamala Harris for President of the United States. Read their endorsement below.

History shows that when Black women gain political power we champion policies that benefit multiple communities. Higher Heights for America is thrilled to endorse Senator Kamala D. Harris, CA, for president of the United States. Kamala has spent her life fighting injustice. As president, she will fight to restore truth and justice in America and build an economy that works for everyone.

“I am incredibly proud to earn Higher Heights’ endorsement in this campaign,” said Harris. “Their leadership ensures that our power extends from the voting booth to elected office. Black women are keenly aware that justice is on the ballot in this election to tackle issues like maternal health, teacher pay and closing the gender pay and racial wealth gap. Black women are more than the backbone of the Democratic party and apparatus- they are the power brokers.”

In 2017, Kamala D. Harris was sworn in as a United States Senator to represent California, becoming both the second African-American woman and first South Asian-American senator in U.S. history. Kamala currently serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Budget.

Since taking office, she has introduced and cosponsored legislation to raise wages for working people, reform our broken criminal justice system, make healthcare a right for all Americans, address the epidemic of substance abuse, support veterans and military families, and expand access to childcare for working parents.

Kamala has championed the rights of sexual assault survivors and led the charge against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. As president, she will nominate judges who know Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, protect Planned Parenthood from Republican attempts to defund essential health services, and address racial disparities in maternal health care.

Born in Oakland, California, Kamala Harris is a graduate of Howard University, and she earned her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Growing up, Kamala had a stroller’s eye view of the Civil Rights Movement. Through the examples of courageous leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, and Charles Hamilton Houston, she learned the kind of character required to stand up to the powerful, and she resolved to spend her life advocating for those who could not defend themselves.

Addressing the country’s long, tortured history of lynching is an issue that Senator Harris has taken on. Since 1918 Congress had tried but failed roughly 200 times to pass anti-lynching legislation. On February 14, 2019, Senator Harris introduced The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, which would criminalize lynching for the first time in American history. She was joined by her colleagues Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina in sponsoring the bill. The motion was passed, marking a historic step towards the first federal anti-lynching law in the United States.

Kamala led the team that helped bring down California’s Proposition 8 at the U.S. Supreme Court and to fight for marriage equality nationwide.

If elected, Kamala plans to fight for working families by increasing wages, decreasing the cost of living and combating sexism, racism, and corporate favoritism in our economy, which would ensure every American receives equal treatment and a decent quality of life.

Rep. Bobby Rush endorses Kamala Harris

Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL 1st District) of the Congressional Black Caucus is backing Kamala Harris's bid for the presidency.

Rush has been sharply critical of former Vice President Joe Biden in the wake of comments in which he recalled working alongside two segregationist Southern senators. Rush told Politico that Biden, another Democratic presidential candidate, was "wholly out of touch and woefully ignorant of the nuances of the black American experience." Rush will serve as Harris' Illinois campaign co-chair.

Rush said Harris was "the only candidate prepared to fight for all Americans against a Trump Administration that has left them behind" and that she is a "once-in-a-lifetime leader" who "exemplifies what global leadership is all about."

Endorsements from the caucus, which counts more than 50 members, could be influential in the Democratic presidential primary. With Rush's endorsement, Harris now has six endorsements from the CBC.

[SOURCE: NBC CHICAGO]

Cory Booker's plan to end gun violence

Cory Booker's plan is the most sweeping gun violence prevention proposal ever advanced by a presidential candidate.

To make justice a reality for all, we have to end the epidemic of gun violence and invest in communities that have been shattered by the trauma left in its wake. To do that, we need to adopt a plan that introduces aggressive gun safety measures — the most forward-leaning this country has ever seen.

Cory’s plan would:

• Keep guns out of the wrong hands
• Hold gun manufacturers accountable
• Bring the fight to the NRA

This is a personal fight for Cory. His perspective is rooted in his experience living in Newark, NJ, and working to stem the tide of violence for the past 20 years — as a tenant organizer, on the city council, as mayor, and as a senator. Last month, Cory kicked off his campaign for president with a call to bring people together to make justice for all real. He highlighted gun violence prevention specifically in his call to action:

We won’t wait for more thoughts and prayers for communities that have been shattered by gun violence — from Pittsburgh to Parkland to Charleston to communities where kids fear the fireworks of Fourth of July because to them they sound like gunshots.

We will pass universal background checks. We will ban assault weapons and close the loopholes that allow people who should never have a gun to get one. We will bring a fight to the NRA like they have never ever seen before. And we will win.

That’s why today, Cory is unveiling the most sweeping gun violence prevention proposal ever advanced by a presidential candidate, which at its core has a simple but effective idea: Licenses for guns.

WHAT’S IN THE PLAN?

Beginning on Day One in office, Cory would take action to close dangerous loopholes in gun sales, crack down on gun manufacturers, and invest in communities impacted by gun violence.

Here’s how he would do it:

Keep guns out of the wrong hands with gun licensing:

Just as a driver’s license demonstrates a person’s eligibility and proficiency to drive a car, a gun license demonstrates that a person is eligible and can meet certain basic safety and training standards necessary to own a gun.

Here’s how it would work: Individuals could seek a gun license at a designated local office, widely available in urban and rural areas, similar to applying for or renewing a passport. They would submit fingerprints, provide basic background information, and demonstrate completion of a certified gun safety course.

The FBI would then verify submission of required materials and run a comprehensive background check before issuing a federal gun license, after which the license-holder could freely purchase and own firearms. The license would be valid for up to five years before renewal with regular, automatic checks to flag non-compliance with license terms.

Recognizing that many states have already implemented state licensure programs, states could continue to do so, provided that they meet baseline federal standards.

Bring real regulation and oversight to gun manufacturers:

Nowadays, there is more regulation over toy guns than real ones. While medicine, children’s toys, and any number of other consumer products are subject to regulation by the federal government, firearms are exempt.

In other words, gun manufacturers have little incentive to make their products safer. Cory will work to close this loophole in federal oversight and allow the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure gun safety by making safety warnings and issuing recalls for faulty firearms.

End legal immunity that prevents victims of gun violence from seeking justice:

While civil liability can be applied to sellers and manufacturers of nearly every product, as a result of a 2005 law the gun industry is immune from nearly all lawsuits. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) allows the gun industry to ignore public safety implications of the misuse of their products, such as gun trafficking.

Cory will fight to end gun industry immunity by repealing PLCAA and allow victims of gun violence to have their day in court when a gun dealer or manufacturer has acted negligently.

Require handgun microstamping:

Microstamping is technology that allows law enforcement to identify the source of ammunition used in crimes by making a shell casing traceable to the specific gun that fired the round. Unfortunately, in many cases, there is little evidence left behind at crime scenes, resulting in a homicide “clearance rate” of just 62 percent. Microstamping technology would allow law enforcement to trace crime guns as soon as a shell casing is found, helping to prevent future crimes from occurring.

Cory will fight to require that microstamping technology be incorporated into new models of semi-automatic handguns sold in the United States.

Close the “Boyfriend Loophole”:

While current law forbids an abusive spouse or ex-spouse convicted of abuse or under a restraining order from purchasing a firearm, the same commonsense rule does not extend to non-felony abuse at the hands of dating partners or former dating partners.

The risk of homicide in a domestic violence incident increases by 500 percent with the presence of a gun. Cory will make closing the “Boyfriend Loophole” a top priority.

Ensure a background check on every gun sale by closing the loophole on guns show and online sales and the so-called “Charleston Loophole”:

Background checks are foundational to any gun safety policy, but loopholes in current law allow individuals to purchase guns in private sales from strangers without a background check. Current law requires that federally licensed firearms dealers conduct background checks on individuals seeking to purchase a firearm in commercial transactions, but prohibited purchasers — such as criminals and domestic abusers — can exploit this loophole simply by finding an unlicensed seller.

More than 90 percent of American voters — and nearly 70 percent of NRA members — support universal background checks.

Ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks:

Large capacity ammunition magazines and assault weapons have been present in many mass shootings in the US, made for no other purpose than to kill people quickly and efficiently.

Provide dedicated funding for research on gun violence as a public health issue:

For the first time in modern history, the CDC announced that deaths from gun violence surpassed automobile accidents. Automobiles have become safer, in part, as a result of federal investment in research, but Congress has not provided federal funds to research gun safety.

After nearly two decades of shameful inaction, Cory will make a significant investment into research on gun violence, including into evidence-based approaches to reducing gun suicide.

Modernize and strengthen the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF):

As a result of relentless lobbying by the gun lobby, the ATF is drastically underfunded and has its hands tied. According to reporting by the New York Times, in the year beginning in October 2016, while more than half of inspections of licensed firearm dealers were cited for violations, less than one percent led to the loss of a license.

Cory will increase funding at ATF and would repeal the restrictive riders on ATF’s budget that restrict law enforcement’s ability to investigate crimes and crack down on gun dealers.

Support extreme risk prevention order laws:

An extreme risk protection order (ERPO) empowers family members or law enforcement to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from individuals showing warning signs of hurting themselves or others. Cory will incentivize states to pass ERPO laws, along with robust due process protections.

Limit gun buyers to one handgun per month:

Limiting bulk purchases of firearms is essential to combating gun trafficking. Under current federal law, which contains no limit on the number of firearms one can purchase, traffickers will make bulk purchases in states with weak gun laws and then resell in states with stricter rules.

Require firearm owners to report lost or stolen firearms:

Researchers estimate that the majority of lost or stolen firearms are never reported, which limits the ability of law enforcement to trace the source of guns used in crimes. When law enforcement is able to trace a crime gun to the purchaser of record, he/she will often claim that it was lost or stolen to deny responsibility.

Cory will take the commonsense step to require gun owners to report their lost and stolen firearms, building on evidence that shows a correlation between the enactment of state reporting laws and major reductions in illegal gun trafficking.

Ramp up funding for community-based violence intervention programs:

Cory will direct new federal funding to support evidence-based programs similar to those he supported as mayor of Newark. According to a recent report by the Giffords Law Center, adopting a strategy of relationship-driven social services and more narrowly-targeted law enforcement interventions allowed Oakland, CA to cut annual shootings and homicides in half.

Additionally, Cory will provide grant funding to local law enforcement to combat gun violence to adopt new technology, including acoustic gunshot detection systems.

Increase trauma support for survivors and communities impacted by gun violence:

Cory would fight for resources and support for families and communities impacted by the scourge of gun violence.

Call on the IRS to conduct an investigation into the NRA’s tax status:

Currently, the NRA is exempt from federal tax under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Cory is calling on the IRS to investigate whether certain activities recently reported in the news media should lead to revocation of its tax-exempt status.

Finally, beginning on Day One in office, Cory will take executive action to build on ongoing efforts and take concrete steps forward — closing dangerous loopholes in gun sales, cracking down on unscrupulous dealers and gun manufacturers, and investing in communities impacted by gun violence.

Add your name if you stand with Cory and his plan to end the epidemic of gun violence in our country: https://coryb.kr/2LpVfRo

Owning a gun does not disqualify Kamala Harris from running for president

By George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com georgelcookiii@gmail.com

In the interest of full disclosure let me state that I am not a Kamala Harris supporter but I am a Democrat and as one I will support the winner of the Democratic primary. My purpose of writing this op-ed is to warn all Democrats, both progressive and moderate about ideological purity test hurting the party.

President Lyndon Johnson has been quoted as saying "You know the difference between cannibals and liberals? Cannibals only eat their enemies."

That statement is becoming even more true with upcoming 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary which is turning into a battle between moderate and progressives.

That brings me to a USA Today opinion piece written by Progressive Peter Funt who is a writer and host of "Candid Camera." Peter Funt writes that Kamala Harris should be qualified because she owns a gun. The argument he makes is that Harris' gun ownership somehow makes her less credible or hypocritical when it comes to gun control.

Harris owns a gun as someone who was a former prosecutor who had reason to worry about her safety. She keeps the firearm locked up and in a safe place in her home. Funt's arguments is another example of a purity test that doesn't help Democrats win the presidency in 2020.

The fact is many Democrats are okay with gun ownership but what common sense gun laws when it comes to who can own a gun, what types of firearms are legal, and how many guns one person can have. Most of us want laws that will prevent mass shootings and keep our children safe in schools.

Funt's rhetoric not only hurt Harris in this case but Democrats as a whole.

Here are three ways it hurts us Democrats:

1. The op-ed plays right into fringe right-wing fears that Democrats believe no one should own a gun and that the government wants to take their guns. A master charlatan like Trump would capitalize on that to remain, President of the United States.

2. This purity test will disqualify potentially good candidates like Harris, Beto O'Rourke, and Pete Buttigieg who also own guns. I don't think that what anyone wants as we want the best candidate up against Trump.

3. Fighting against gun ownership will hurt Democrats in swing states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All states that Trump won and that Democrats need to retake the presidency.

I think those are three important reasons to back off the gun purity test.

In closing I would like to state that we as Democrats have to be careful about how candidates and their supporters go after each other during the primary season. The reason being that the winner of the Democratic Party will need to bring the party together after the primary season.

One way to do that is to get former candidates to endorse, and that becomes much harder when people feel that their candidate of choice was unfairly attacked. It also becomes much harder when losing candidates are so damaged by attacks during the primary that they lose credibility to endorse anyone or that their supporters are so angry that they stay home or worse yet vote for a third party candidate.

I don't care if you label yourself as liberal, moderate, or progressive Democrat, at the end of the day we are all Democrats, and we have to stop cannibalizing ourselves, or we will hand Trump a second term.

What's it going to be?

Biden hires strategist Symone Sanders

Joe Biden has hired Symone Sanders, a prominent African American political strategist, as a senior adviser to his newly launched presidential campaign.

The move adds a younger diverse voice to Biden's cadre of top advisers, which has been dominated by older white men. It suggests Biden is seeking to broaden his appeal to a new generation of Democrats.

Sanders, 29, rose to prominence during the 2016 campaign as press secretary for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. She then became a high-profile political analyst on CNN and is likely to be a forceful Biden defender on television.

Democratic strategist and former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile called Sanders "battle-tested" and said the hire was "one of the best moves" the Biden campaign could make.

"She understands how to build a coalition, and that women of color are the backbone of the Democratic Party," said Brazile, who added that Sanders also helped her bridge the gap with millennials after the contentious 2016 primary elections.

Sanders was recruited by numerous 2020 candidates, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

[SOURCE: ABC BEWS]

Eric Holder not running for President in 2020

Former United States Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that he will not run for president in 2020 in an op-ed hr wrote for the Washington Post.

Holder wrote they he will instead focus on his redistricting reform efforts through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

“Though I will not run for president in 2020, I will continue to fight for the future of our country through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates,” he writes. “For too long, Democrats have lost sight of the state and local races that shape the day-to-day lives of the people we serve.”

"I will do everything I can to ensure that the next Democratic president is not hobbled by a House of Representatives pulled to the extremes by members from gerrymandered districts," he continued.

Cory Booker: I will consider running for president

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker just visited 24 -- count 'em, 24 -- states stumping for Democrats in the midterm elections.

He contributed $686,000 to House and Senate candidates across the nation.

And along the way, New Jersey's dynamic Democrat stopped in all those early presidential primary states, plus a few that look to be big battlegrounds.

A dry run for a potential 2020 bid?

Even Booker wouldn't quarrel with that.

"I will consider running for president," Booker told NJ Advance Media.

"That's something that I will do. There's people in New Jersey who are talking to me about it, across the country that are talking to me about it, so I will consider that."

Booker said he spent the year focused on the midterms, which saw the Democrats win back the House, including capturing four of New Jersey's five Republican-held congressional districts.

Next on his agenda is trying to push legislation across the finish line during the lame-duck congressional session, including a bill to overhaul the criminal justice system that has President Donald Trump's support.

Then, he told NJ Advance Media, he will look at 2020, where he already has banked $4.1 million for his Senate re-election campaign. He figures that will come in earnest during the December holiday season.

Read more: Cory Booker says 'I will consider running for president' after just campaigning for Democrats in 24 states

Sanders strives to widen appeal to black voters

As Bernie Sanders contemplates making another president bid in 2020, the Vermont senator still is searching for the right way to attract more black voters who backed Hillary Clinton and effectively denied him the Democratic nomination in 2016.

His challenge was on display in Mississippi this week, where he traveled to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination but along the way managed a clumsy critique of the Democratic Party under the nation’s first black president.

Former President Barack Obama, Sanders said, was a “charismatic individual ... an extraordinary candidate, a brilliant man.” But “behind that reality,” Sanders said, Obama led a party whose “business model” has been a “failure” for more than a decade.

It served as the latest confirmation that Sanders, even as he tries for new footholds in the black community, hasn’t mastered his precarious relationship with a key Democratic Party constituency that he will need if he hopes to reshape the party going forward, much less make another presidential run in 2020.

Sanders, who is elected in Vermont as an independent but caucuses in Washington with Democrats, has been spending more time in places dominated by black voters, including Southern states where African Americans shape Democratic primaries.

Read more: Sanders strives to widen appeal to black voters

Eric Holder considering 2020 Presidential Run

Former Attorney General Eric Holder will decide on whether to run for president in 2020 by early next year, he said in an interview Thursday.

Holder, who served as attorney general from 2009 to 2015 under President Obama, told the hosts of Viceland's "Desus & Mero" that he would be exploring the possibility of a run throughout the rest of the year.

"I don't know. We'll see. I haven't decided yet," Holder said when asked about his plans for a possible challenge to President Trump.

"What I've said is, I'm going to decide by the beginning of next year and see if there is going to be another chapter in my public service career."

Holder is among a slew of Democrats eyeing potential 2020 bids, including former Vice President Joe Biden and a number of sitting senators.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Cory Booker: Trump ‘doesn’t see himself as subject to the rule of law’

During an appearance on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 show, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said that he is concerned by President Donald Trump's behavior and troubled by the reports that he attempted to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.