DETROIT - Al Gore made his debut in the 2008 presidential campaign Monday night, encouraging voters to back Barack Obama because "take it from me, elections matter."
The former vice president's speech at the Joe Louis Arena was part endorsement and part blistering attack on the man who denied him the White House eight years ago.
"After eight years of incompetence, neglect and failure, we need change," Gore said. "After eight years when our Constitution has been dishonored and disrespected, we need changes."
Hey Al? BJ Clinton wasn't President the last 8 years you know.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John Edwards in a CNN sponsored debate in South Carolina in January.
"The reason I'm here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," he told the boisterous crowd.
"There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up," Edwards said. "There is one man who knows in his heart there is time to create one America, not two ... and that man is Barack Obama."
Edwards also praised Sen. Hillary Clinton's candidacy.
"What she has shown ... is strength and character, and what drives her is something that every single one of us can and should appreciate," Edwards said. "She is a woman who, in my judgment, is made of steel, and she's a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done."
Edwards is such a phoney. He wants the Attorney General spot so badly, he waited until an obvious nominee and then this.
Update! A couple pics from inside. The arena was filled to capacity, over 10k people attended. More pictures here.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- Sen. Barack Obama will be in Grand Rapids Wednesday for a public appearance beginning at 7 p.m. at Van Andel Arena.
Doors open at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are NOT required, but an RSVP is encouraged. To RSVP, members of the public can do so at BarackObama.com.
Many Democrats see Obama's visit as a sign the drought is over, with Michigan returning to the national political stage.
The controversy over how to seat Michigan's delegates at the national convention after the state broke party rules by holding their primary early. Armand Robinson is a delegate - officially listed as "Uncommitted" - but is a staunch Obama supporter and eager for the visit.
"I'm willing to bet 99.9 percent I'm going to be there in Denver with a seat," he told 24 Hour News 8. "He needs to be part of us, he needs to be here. He needed to be here three months ago, but the way he saw it, playing by the rules, I think he wasn't able to."
Robinson is hoping Obama's visit will heal any rifts in the party, and convince the undecideds, adding momentum that will carry through November.
LANSING, Mich. - Michigan Democratic leaders on Wednesday settled on a plan to give presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton 69 delegates and Barack Obama 59 as a way to get the state's delegates seated at the national convention.
Clinton won the Jan. 15 Michigan primary and was to get 73 pledged delegates under state party rules, while Obama was to get 55. The state also has 29 superdelegates.
The state party's executive committee voted Wednesday to ask the national party's Rules and Bylaws Committee to approve the 69-59 delegate split when it meets May 31. The plan would allow the state's 157 delegates and superdelegates to be seated at the convention.
A separate plan submitted to the rules committee by Democratic National Committee members Joel Ferguson of Michigan and Jon Ausman of Florida, both superdelegates, apparently will be withdrawn now that the Michigan executive committee has settled on the 69-59 plan. Under their proposal, delegates would have been allocated based on the primary election results, but have had only half a vote each. The superdelegates would have had full voting rights.
The 69-59 split was proposed last week by four prominent Michigan Democrats who have been working for months to find a way to get Michigan's delegates seated at the Aug. 25-28 convention in Denver: Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, Sen. Carl Levin and DNC member Debbie Dingell, wife of Rep. John Dingell.
Make no mistake about it: Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer wants to make damned certain you never have a chance to cast a vote for Barack Obama. So does Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
They, and the ruthlessly ambitious Debbie Dingell, want to be behind-the-scenes kingmakers. They want to deliver the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, for the sake of their egos and their careers. But it isn't turning out the way they planned.
They are in trouble now, and starting to panic. The nomination is slipping away from Clinton, and from their grasp.
Having stupidly botched the primary, they are now fighting desperately to keep from doing the right thing.
Michigan needs a new round of voting. The national Democratic Party agrees, and wants the state to hold caucuses.
Update!
