ONLY WHEN REQUIRED WILL POLITICS AS USUAL BE UNUSUAL ~ PEOPLE

The truth is only as powerful as your voice

As the Democratic primary heats up, we're seeing a lot of politics-as-usual attacks online and in the media. Barack Obama stands for a new kind of politics -- a politics without partisan bickering and smear tactics.

You can help push back on the petty and divisive methods of our opponents.

Share Barack's story with your friends, family, and neighbors today.

BARACK OBAMA and HIS CHURCH

Trinity United Church of Christ is the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ. It is part of a liberal denomination that was the first to ordain an African American, a woman, and a gay man. Congregants have described it in the New York Times as a "warm and accepting community," and while it is a predominantly African American congregation, people of all backgrounds attend and are enthusiastically welcomed.

If you encounter an attack on Barack's church:

BARACK OBAMA and FAITH

Barack Obama is a committed and active Christian. He has been a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago for 20 years, where he continues to attend services with his family. Barack has never been a Muslim or practiced any other faith besides Christianity, and in January 2005 he was sworn into the U.S. Senate on his family Bible.

If you encounter an attack on Barack's faith:

BARACK OBAMA and PATRIOTISM

Barack Obama has been a community organizer, a civil rights attorney, and taught constitutional law for a decade. In both the Illinois and U.S. Senate he tackled ethics reform and has been an aggressive advocate for veterans rights. Barack's grandfather taught him to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and he regularly leads his fellow Senators as they recite it together.

If you encounter an attack on Barack's patriotism:

USE YOUR VOICE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

HILLARY HAS A WAY OF BEING DECEITFUL ~ SLY AS A FOX ~ SLIPPERY AS BUTTER

OBAMA FOR AMERICA

HILLARY CANT' BE TRUSTED TO TELL THE TRUTH

CLINTON DISTORTIONS

WINNING AT ANY COST

POLITICS DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY

IT'S UP TO YOU AMERICA ~ IS THIS THE POLITICS YOU WANT?

The above are my words ~ Don't even think about it, Hillary.

Dear Sandra,

I support Barack Obama because he doesn't seek to perfect the politics of Swiftboating -- he seeks to end it.

This is personal for me, and for a whole lot of Americans who lived through the 2004 election.

As a veteran, it disgusts me that the Swift Boats we loved while we were in uniform on the Mekong Delta have been rendered, in Karl Rove's twisted politics, an ugly verb meaning to lie about someone's character just to win an election. But as someone who cares about winning this election and changing the country I love, I know it's not enough to complain about a past we can't change when our challenge is to win the future -- which is why we must stop the Swiftboating, stop the push-polling, stop the front groups, and stop the email chain smears.

The truth matters, but how you fight the lies matters even more. We must be determined never again to lose any election to a lie.

This year, the attacks are already starting. Some of you may have heard about the disgusting lies about Barack Obama that are being circulated by email. These attacks smear Barack's Christian faith and deep patriotism, and they distort his record of more than two decades of public service. They are nothing short of "Swiftboat" style anonymous attacks.

These are the same tactics the right has used again and again, and as we've learned, these attacks, no matter how bogus, can spread and take root if they go unchecked.

But not this time -- we're fighting back.

And when I say "we," I mean that literally. I know Barack is committed to fighting every smear every time. He'll fight hard and stand up for the truth. But he can't do it alone.

We need you to email the truth to your address books. Print it out and post it at work. Talk to your neighbors. Call your local radio station. Write a letter to the editor. If lies can be spread virally, let's prove to the cynics that the truth can be every bit as persuasive as it is powerful.

The Obama campaign has created a place where you can find the truth you'll need to push back on these smears and a way to spread the truth to all of your address book.

Take action here:

http://my.barackobama.com/factcheckaction

So when your inbox fills up with trash and the emails of smear and fear, find the facts, and help defeat the lies.

Barack Obama is committed to bringing our country together to meet the challenges we face, but he knows that power gives up nothing without a struggle -- and to win the chance to change America, we must first defeat the hateful tactics that have been used to tear us apart for too long.

With your help, we can turn the page on an era of small, divisive politics -- but only if next time you hear these attacks on Barack, you take action immediately:

http://my.barackobama.com/factcheckaction

The fight is just heating up -- we won't let them steal this election with lies and distortions.

Thank you,

John Kerry

OBAMA FOR AMERICA