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Winfrey tells Iowa crowd: Barack Obama is ‘the one’

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CNN) — Saying she felt compelled to support the man I believe has a new vision for America, Oprah Winfrey spoke passionately about Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama at two rallies in Iowa Saturday.

I’ve never taken this kind of risk before nor felt compelled to stand up and speak out before because there wasn’t anyone to to stand up and speak up for, Winfrey told thousands of people in Cedar Rapids Saturday evening.

We need a president who can bring us all together, she said. I know [Barack Obama] is the one.

Earlier in Des Moines, she focused on world affairs. Watch Winfrey endorse Obama

These are dangerous times, you can feel it. We need a leader who shows us how to hope again in America as a force for peace, Winfrey told the enthusiastic crowd.

I believe Barack Obama will bring statesmanship to the White House, she said. He’s a man who knows who we are and knows who we can be.

Winfrey said she has voted for as many Republicans as she has Democrats over the years, so her endorsement wasn’t about partisanship.

This is very, very personal. I’m here because of my personal conviction about Barack Obama and what I know he can do for America, she said to applause.

Winfrey also told the crowd that she’s looking for more than a candidate with experience in the hallways of government.

I challenge you to see through those people who try to convince you that experience with politics as usual is more valuable than wisdom won from years of serving people outside the walls of Washington, D.C., she said.

Obama thanked Winfrey for drawing a big crowd and coming out to the event.

There are some people here who are here to see Oprah. I’m sort of a by-product of that and I appreciate that, but what I know is that for her to take the risk of stepping out of her comfort zone is extraordinary, the senator from Illinois said.

Before Winfrey’s speech in Des Moines, her best friend and fellow talk show host Gayle King, tried to quietly slip into the rally.

She walked up to the set of bleachers behind the stage and asked some women if she could scoot in.

Within seconds cameras were clicking and fans were yelling. King spent the speech in the first row of bleachers chatting up supporters, listening and and mingling with fans.

Winfrey’s campaign appearance comes less than one month before the Iowa caucuses.

After Iowa, the three-state Oprah-bama tour moves on to South Carolina and New Hampshire on Sunday.

The nod by the empress of daytime television comes at a time when independent politicos and campaign aides believe the Democratic senator from Illinois is picking up steam. The latest Des Moines Register poll puts Obama ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, in Iowa and shows him gaining ground among women.

Women are proving to be a crucial voting block in 2008 for all the Democratic hopefuls, but most especially Clinton. At a recent Obama rally in Iowa City, many women expressed the difficulty they had in deciding whether to vote for him or for Clinton because she could be a first for their gender. Watch how Winfrey’s campaigning could give Obama a boost

Winfrey’s endorsement is an obvious boost for Obama in his effort to steal women voters from Clinton.

I think it’s going to help him with the women my age because she’s very popular, very respected among my age group, said Linda Peterson, a middle aged mother and probable Obama voter from North Liberty, Iowa.

According to The New York Times, women make up 75 percent of the audience for the Oprah Winfrey Show and more than half are over 50. More than 40 percent make less than $40,000 and a quarter have no more than a high school education.

One of the secretaries was just so excited about the fact that Oprah was coming, said Jodi Plumert, a University of Iowa professor and ardent Obama supporter. She said ‘Who would’ve thought Oprah, coming to little old Iowa!’

I think that having Oprah here on Saturday will definitely pull women out, said Iowa City resident and Obama precinct captain Cheryl Carter. I think it will just show that women in Iowa are Barack Obama supporters.

Although Clinton will be campaigning in Iowa on Friday and Saturday, rival campaigns acknowledge Winfrey will leave little air in the Hawkeye State. Watch what issues are important to Iowans

Sen. Clinton is a big fan [of Winfrey’s] and thinks it’s great for every candidate to bring in surrogates, said a Clinton aide. But ultimately the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and America are going to vote based on the actual candidate’s experience, strength, record and the ability to do the job on Day One.

The Clinton campaign will put its star on stage the day before Oprah-bama hits South Carolina when former President Bill Clinton makes campaign stops in Charleston on Saturday. Check out some other celebrities who are endorsing candidates

Bill Clinton said Friday that his trip is totally coincidental.

Also Saturday, the couple’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, made her first appearance on her mother’s campaign trail along with the senator’s mother, Dorothy Rodham — comprising three generations of Clinton women.
found here.

Tempers flare as studios break off talks with writers

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Talks to end Hollywood’s writers’ strike abruptly ended Friday evening as studio negotiators walked out, accusing Writers Guild of America leaders of putting personal political agendas above the interests of writers.

The writers’ negotiators said they remain ready to continue talks no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are.

Statements from each side suggested they were far from a settlement to the five-week-long walkout. Both sides became more entrenched in their differences over what share of residuals writers would get for Internet and DVD distribution of shows and as new demands emerged.

Production on dozens of TV series and movies halted last month. More are expected to shut down in December unless a new three-year contract between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is negotiated.

The level of personal dislike among those around the bargaining table boiled to the surface in statements issued after the talks imploded Friday evening.

The WGA organizers sitting across the table from us have never concluded even one industry accord, the studios’ statement said.

The writers’ chief negotiator, David Young, is a veteran of garment and construction industry contract talks and a newcomer to Hollywood negotiations.

While the WGA’s organizers can clearly stage rallies, concerts and mock exorcisms, we have serious concerns about whether they’re capable of reaching reasonable compromises that are in the best interests of our entire industry, the studios’ statement said.

It is now absolutely clear that the WGA’s organizers are determined to advance their own political ideologies and personal agendas at the expense of working writers and every other working person who depends on our industry for their livelihoods.

While the main issues on the table involved how much writers would be paid when their work is distributed through new media — including DVDs and the Internet — the latest impasse was apparently triggered by WGA demands that it be given jurisdiction over the growing production of reality shows and animation.

The chairman of the WGA’s negotiating committee, John Bowman, said that when the studios’ negotiator, Nick Counter, walked out of talks he delivered a total rejection of our proposal on Internet streaming and an ultimatum about the other demands.

Bowman said Counter told him the studios would not return until the guild took those demands — and another to base Internet residuals on a distributor’s gross profits — off the table.

This would require us to concede most of our Internet proposal as a precondition for continued bargaining, Bowman said. The AMPTP insists we let them do to the Internet what they did to home video.

While Bowman indicated the WGA negotiators would not give in to the ultimatum, he said they remain ready and willing to negotiate, no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are, because the stakes are simply too high.

We were prepared to counter their proposal tonight, and when any of them are ready to return to the table, we’re here, ready to make a fair deal, Bowman said.

Scriptwriters put down their pens and hit the picket lines on November 5 after failing to reach agreement on a contract to replace the one that expired two days earlier.
found here.

Winfrey tells Iowa crowd: We need Barack Obama

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — Saying she felt compelled to support the man I believe has a new vision for America, Oprah Winfrey spoke passionately about Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama at a rally in Iowa Saturday.

These are dangerous times, you can feel it. We need a leader who shows us how to hope again in America as a force for peace, Winfrey told the enthusiastic crowd.

I believe Barack Obama will bring statesmanship to the White House, she said. He’s a man who knows who we are and knows who we can be.

Winfrey said she has voted for as many Republicans as she has Democrats over the years, so her endorsement wasn’t about partisanship.

This is very, very personal. I’m here because of my personal conviction about Barack Obama and what I know he can do for America, she said to applause. Watch Winfrey endorse Obama

Winfrey also told the crowd that she’s looking for more than a candidate with experience in the hallways of government.

I challenge you to see through those people who try to convince you that experience with politics as usual is more valuable than wisdom won from years of serving people outside the walls of Washington, D.C., she said.

Obama thanked Winfrey for drawing a big crowd and coming out to the event.

There are some people here who are here to see Oprah. I’m sort of a by-product of that and I appreciate that, but what I know is that for her to take the risk of stepping out of her comfort zone is extraordinary, the senator from Illinois said.

Before Winfrey’s speech, her best friend and fellow talk show host Gayle King, tried to quietly slip into the rally.

She walked up to the set of bleachers behind the stage and asked some women if she could scoot in.

Within seconds cameras were clicking and fans were yelling. King spent the speech in the first row of bleachers chatting up supporters, listening and and mingling with fans.

Winfrey’s campaign appearance comes less than one month before the Iowa caucuses.

After the stop in Des Moines, the three-state Oprah-bama tour moves east to Cedar Rapids for an event expected to bring in close to 8,500 people.

The two will travel to South Carolina and New Hampshire on Sunday.

The nod by the empress of daytime television comes at a time when independent politicos and campaign aides believe the Democratic senator from Illinois is picking up steam. The latest Des Moines Register poll puts Obama ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, in Iowa and shows him gaining ground among women.

Women are proving to be a crucial voting block in 2008 for all the Democratic hopefuls, but most especially Clinton. At a recent Obama rally in Iowa City, many women expressed the difficulty they had in deciding whether to vote for him or for Clinton because she could be a first for their gender. Watch how Winfrey’s campaigning could give Obama a boost

Winfrey’s endorsement is an obvious boost for Obama in his effort to steal women voters from Clinton.

I think it’s going to help him with the women my age because she’s very popular, very respected among my age group, said Linda Peterson, a middle aged mother and probable Obama voter from North Liberty, Iowa.

According to The New York Times, women make up 75 percent of the audience for the Oprah Winfrey Show and more than half are over 50. More than 40 percent make less than $40,000 and a quarter have no more than a high school education.

One of the secretaries was just so excited about the fact that Oprah was coming, said Jodi Plumert, a University of Iowa professor and ardent Obama supporter. She said ‘Who would’ve thought Oprah, coming to little old Iowa!’

I think that having Oprah here on Saturday will definitely pull women out, said Iowa City resident and Obama precinct captain Cheryl Carter. I think it will just show that women in Iowa are Barack Obama supporters.

Although Clinton will be campaigning in Iowa on Friday and Saturday, rival campaigns acknowledge Winfrey will leave little air in the Hawkeye State. Watch what issues are important to Iowans

Sen. Clinton is a big fan [of Winfrey’s] and thinks it’s great for every candidate to bring in surrogates, said a Clinton aide. But ultimately the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and America are going to vote based on the actual candidate’s experience, strength, record and the ability to do the job on Day One.

The Clinton campaign will put its star on stage the day before Oprah-bama hits South Carolina when former President Bill Clinton makes campaign stops in Charleston on Saturday. Check out some other celebrities who are endorsing candidates

Bill Clinton said Friday that his trip is totally coincidental.

Also Saturday, the couple’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, made her first appearance on her mother’s campaign trail along with the senator’s mother, Dorothy Rodham — comprising three generations of Clinton women.
found here.

Role of gays prompts split in Episcopal Church

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — An Episcopal diocese in central California voted Saturday to split with the national denomination over disagreements about the role of gays and lesbians in the church.

Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church from the diocese’s constitution, according to spokeswoman Joan Gladstone.

The Fresno-based congregation is the first full diocese to secede because of a conservative-liberal rift that began decades ago and is now focused on whether the Bible condemns gay relationships.

The diocese, in a later vote, accepted an invitation to join a conservative South American congregation of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. member of the global Anglican Communion.

The decision is almost certain to spark a court fight over control of the diocese’s multimillion-dollar real estate holdings and other assets.

The head of the U.S. denomination had warned Bishop John-David Schofield of the Fresno-based diocese against secession.

I do not intend to threaten you, only to urge you to reconsider and draw back from this trajectory, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the U.S. denomination, wrote in a letter to Schofield earlier this week.

Schofield responded that the Episcopal Church has isolated itself from the overwhelming majority of Christendom and more specifically from the Anglican Communion by denying Biblical truth and walking apart from the historic Faith and Order.

The Fresno diocese has explored breaking ties with the American church since 2003, when Episcopalians consecrated the church’s first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The resulting uproar throughout the world Anglican fellowship has moved the 77-million-member communion toward the brink of schism.

San Joaquin is one of three Episcopal dioceses that will not ordain women. Last year the Episcopal Church elected Jefferts Schori as its first woman primate.

Christian advocates for accepting gay relationships, including Jefferts Schori, say they are guided by biblical teachings on social justice and tolerance. But Schofield and other conservatives believe Scripture bars same-sex relationships.

The diocese’s holdings include 48 church buildings, including its Fresno headquarters, a series of mission-style buildings surrounded by olive, Chinese elm and cherry trees. Its total assets are worth millions, said the Rev. Van McCalister, a diocesan spokesman.

About 55 conservative Episcopal parishes have split from the church in the last few years and some have affiliated directly with Anglican provinces overseas, according to national church statistics. But the courts have mostly ruled against them.

San Joaquin is one of four full dioceses out of 110 in the nation — along with Fort Worth, Texas; Quincy, Illinois, and Pittsburgh — that has taken steps toward breaking with the U.S. church.
found here.

Real Madrid go seven points clear

MADRID, Spain — Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 54th minute strike sent Real Madrid seven points clear of closest rivals Barcelona at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga.

Valencia’s grim 0-0 draw at Osasuna did not provide new coach Ronald Koeman with the boost he needed. They have picked up a solitary point in three games and gone out of the Champions League.

Bilbao made a bright start against Real and were gifted a great chance after six minutes when Andoni Iraola seized upon a careless headed back pass by Fabio Cannavaro. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas managed to dash out and block.

The opening period was played at a hectic pace but neither side could break through.

In the 54th minute Aitor Ocio gave the ball away and Van Nistelroot gratefully fired a right-footed shot high into the net past Aranzubia.

In the 71st minute Real amost increased their lead when Robinho hammered a shot against the inside of a post and the ball flew across the goal and went behind for a goal kick.

Eight minutes from time Van Nistelrooy had to go off with a leg injury

In midweek Valencia coach Koeman said his players lacked courage and claimed their weak mentality was behind poor results.

He professed to be a little more pleased after Saturday’s draw at Osasuna.

Neither team created many chances but one positive is that we were much more solid at the back, he said.

We have to improve going forward but I saw a well-organized team that fought very hard. This is the path we have to follow.

Valencia started with one forward in Spanish international striker David Villa and Koeman packed the midfield to try and give his side some much-needed steel.

Osasuna made the early running with Javier Portillo going close after five minutes and Javi Garcia wasting a good opportunity.

Koeman has reportedly urged the Valencia board to change their rigid wage structure to bring in top quality players. E-mail to a friend

found here.