PALO ALTO, Calif. - (Business Wire) BlogHer, Inc. (
www.blogher.com), one of the top women
’s online networks and the Web
’s number-one guide to blogs by women, today released an exclusive video interview with Senator Barack Obama during his visit to Roseburg, Oregon on May 17 for the state
’s upcoming primary election. Speaking with BlogHer contributing editor and political blogger Erin Kotecki Vest, the Senator from Illinois directly answered questions from the community, discussing his strategy for withdrawal of troops in Iraq, war veterans, healthcare, anti-poverty programs for America and his perspective on the climate crisis. BlogHer has offered each of the presidential candidates an opportunity to respond to questions created by women who blog and Senator Obama is the first to accept the invitation. The video interview is part of BlogHer
’s ongoing Elections 2008 program and can be found in its entirety at the following link:
http://www.blogher.com/blogher-exclusive-barack-obama-answers-policy- questions-women-who-blog-video (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
“One of the tragedies of this conflict has been the fact that so many [veterans] are not being treated properly, not getting the mental health services they deserve and it’s partly the reason we have such a high homeless rate among veterans,” said Senator Obama in discussing his plans for ending the Iraq war. “This is something I have worked on in the Senate, and I will commit to dealing with when I am president, is making sure that we have zero tolerance for homeless veterans.” Senator Obama also went on to address healthcare and contraception saying, “The one thing we should be able to agree on is an unwanted pregnancy is something we should try to discourage. Making sure every woman has good healthcare, good reproductive healthcare, including contraception, I think is going to be a top priority of my administration as I provide universal healthcare to all people.”
The interview with Senator Obama was structured around the BlogHer community’s Voter Manifesto, which is a list of non-partisan questions for the candidates across four topic areas of intense interest to the community: the War in Iraq, Healthcare, the Environment and Our Economic Future. BlogHer also has a number of contributing editors from both sides of the political spectrum credentialed to attend and live-blog debates, speeches and conventions on the campaign trail. BlogHer’s Election 2008 coverage can be found at the following link: http://www.blogher.com/special-events/election-2008. For BlogHer's Guide to Political Blogs by women, searchable by political party and state, visit http://blogher.com/politics.
“By taking the time to do this on-camera interview while campaigning for votes in the Oregon primary, I think Sen. Obama has made an important statement about the value he and his campaign place on voters, our questions and opinions, the communities we reach on our blogs and, ultimately, our votes,” said Lisa Stone, co-founder and CEO of BlogHer. “That’s a powerful message. Especially since BlogHer is a non-partisan organization reaching more than nine million women every month from both sides of the political spectrum. This isn’t a presidential candidate preaching to the converted – it’s a presidential candidate reaching out to an important cross-section of American influencers, given the audiences these women reach on their blogs.”
A 2008 presidential candidate, Obama has dedicated his life to public service as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, and leader in the Illinois state Senate. Sworn into office January 4, 2005, Senator Obama serves on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which oversees our nation’s health care, schools, employment, and retirement programs. He is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, which plays a vital role in shaping American policy around the world, including our policy in Iraq. And Obama serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, which is focused on providing our brave veterans with the care and services they deserve. In 2005 and 2006, he served on the Environment and Public Works Committee, which safeguards our environment and provides funding for our highways.
Obama was born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii. Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1983, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama is married with two daughters living on Chicago’s South Side. For more information on Barack Obama’s professional background, please visit: http://obama.senate.gov/about/.
About BlogHer
Founded in February 2005 by Elisa Camahort, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone, BlogHer’s mission is to create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment. BlogHer provides the number-one community and media network of blogs by women via a community hub (http://blogher.com), annual conferences and an advertising network of more than 1,800 qualified, contextually targeted blog affiliates. BlogHer provides the highest quality content on a range of topics, with all blogs continually edited to meet strict editorial standards, including content quality, category relevance and blog frequency.
BlogHer Inc.
Elisa Camahort, 408-504-5708
elisa@blogher.org
or
Racepoint Group
Kristina Joss, 415-694-6709
kjoss@racepointgroup.com
