Citizens of Tobago Head to the Polls
Tobago, part of the Caribbean’s Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is set to hold elections Monday. The vote will determine if the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) would win a third consecutive term. The party is up against the new Tobago Organization of the People (TOP), a group led by minority leader Ashworth Jack. Both sides believe they’ll win and bring positive changes to Tobago. The PNM promises to encourage economic diversification, and the TOP hopes to reduce wasteful spending. About 45,000 voters are expected to come out to the polls.
Opposition Won’t Back Down From Mugabe
Zimbabwe opposition leaders will meet with longtime leader Robert Mugabe in an attempt to finalize plans for a unified government, reports CNN. The opposition won’t settle for anything but equal power, with the ability to help citizens of the struggling nation. “We cannot go into position of authority without the attendant and consequent power to enable us to deliver on change, food and jobs…. We cannot commit political suicide by entering into a government limping and in pain. It’s like swallowing poison and we become the victims,” opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa told CNN. Mugabe has said publically that Monday’s meeting will be the last one, and that he would form a government without the opposition if the meeting didn’t produce an agreement. The two sides, Mugabe and Movement of Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, actually signed a power-sharing deal last September (following two elections, and accusations of government-sponsored violence and political intimidation) but have since been unable to come to agreement with specifics about cabinet appointments. Back then, the talks were mediated by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. He along with current President Kgalema Motlanthe and Mozambique leader Armando Guebuza will also attend Monday’s meeting to aid the negotiations

Get up, get out and Be Heard! Vote and catch Election Day coverage live all day on BET and BET.com Nov. 4.  Get news updates, watch our new president-elect on a live online video stream, report voting problems at BET.com’s voter protection page and send in your photos, comments and video. Get more on BET’s Election Day plans here.

Get up, get out and Be Heard! Vote and catch Election Day coverage live all day on BET and BET.com Nov. 4.  Get news updates, watch our new president-elect on a live online video stream, report voting problems at BET.com’s voter protection page and send in your photos, comments and video.

Jay-Z and LeBron James courting the early vote.

If you plan on voting for Barack Obama, Jay-Z would prefer that you do it sooner than later. He and NBA superstar LeBron James are calling on people to cast their ballots ahead of time – and vote for Obama. James and Jay-Z hosted a concert and rally Wednesday at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland . James attended a Cleveland rally earlier this month to encourage people to vote for Obama. He’s also contributed $20,000 to a committee supporting the Democratic presidential nominee.

Kids and coffee voters give Obama the edge. While early voting is taking place in important swing states like Ohio, Florida and Virginia, the votes are in and the results are final from the children’s television network Nickelodeon.  And the winner is…. Sen. Barack Obama.

If you haven’t yet registered to vote or are thinking you might not get out and vote in November, the Rev. Al Sharpton has a few words of warning for you: “We’ll never have this opportunity again.” Sharpton, head of the Harlem-based National Action Network, has been fairly low-key during this political season, but as Election Day nears, he has ramped up his call for everyone wanting change to kick it back into gear. Get more of Sharpton’s words at BET.com/News. Click this link if you haven’t registered to vote.

Lincoln’s team hadn’t competed in almost 50 years. After a hiatus of nearly five decades, Lincoln University has athletes wearing helmets and jerseys again. The historically Black college that produced graduates such as Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall has a football team for the first time since 1960. Lincoln also boasts its first marching band, assembled to help rally spirit and support for the football squad. Known as the Lincoln Lions, the team will represent a legacy that includes 15,000 graduates and a 154-year history.

Massachusetts’ only Black senator loses her seat. Massachusetts only has one Black state senator … well, “had” one Black state senator. On Tuesday, in a shocking upset, Sen. Dianne Wilkerson lost her seat to challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz, by 1 percent of the vote, after 15 years in office. That translates into a measly 228 votes. “The margin is so thin. I could be coming to you and saying legitimately that we are not done and we are going to fight. Whatever happens tomorrow does happen,” she told supporters. Well it has happened. The Boston Herald reports that officials with Wilkerson’s camp said they had no intention of fighting the results. With so much at stake and with the outcome so tight, Wilkerson has no one to blame but herself for the loss. Wilkerson drew negative media after admitting mismanaging campaign funds, and she lost ground after failing to get enough signatures for the ballot and was forced to run a write-in campaign. The loss was even more pronounced because Wilkerson had the endorsements of such high-profile supporters as African-American Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.  “My fear is that people will think this district is for sale,” Wilkerson said, claiming she was outspent. “There has been so much money spent in this process. It has been unprecedented for us.”
 

Palin’s a “cocky wacko,” according to an unlikely source. When you think of former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, the first things that likely come to mind are mellow, under-the-radar, diplomatic. That’s why his recent insights regarding Sen. John McCain’s presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, raised an eyebrow or two. She’s a “cocky wacko,” the Republican-turned-Independent told the Washington, D.C.-based New America Foundation Tuesday. “People were coming into my office, phone calls were flooding in, e-mails were coming in, ‘I just sent money to Obama, I couldn’t sleep last night’ – from the left. To see this cocky wacko up there,” said Chafee, who was the only Republican senator to stand against President Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He also told the policy thinktank that Sen. John McCain’s campaign is “lackluster” and that Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, has merely energized Sen. Barack Obama’s supporters. Chafee endorsed Obama earlier this year.

Voter Registration: The decision of who leads the United States for the next four years could very well come down to you. Find out how at BET.com/News.

Blacks are suffering like no other in housing messing.
Feds take over mortgage giants. With nearly one in 10 U.S. homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages, the Bush administration Sunday took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an attempt to avoid a complete housing meltdown. Together, the two government-sponsored firms hold or back half of America’s mortgage debt. By putting Fannie and Freddie into a conservatorship – removing CEOs Daniel Mudd and Richard Syron, respectively – it is the “best means of protecting our markets and the taxpayers from the systemic risk posed by the current financial condition” of the two enterprises, says Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. “…[T]hey will no longer be managed with a strategy to maximize common shareholder returns, a strategy which historically encouraged risk-taking,” Paulson said in a statement. Under the government plan, the Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency would purchase a new class of preferred stock in the two entities that “will ensure that each company maintains a positive net worth,” Paulson said.  This is “more efficient than a one-time equity injection, because it will be used only as needed and on terms that Treasury has set,” he said. “With this agreement, Treasury receives senior preferred equity shares and warrants that protect taxpayers. Additionally, under the terms of the agreement, common and preferred shareholders bear losses ahead of the new government senior preferred shares.” While Americans across the racial spectrum are suffering in the current mortgage crisis, nobody has been more affected than Blacks and Hispanics, who, according to the NAACP, have been unscrupulously targeted with high-interest loans. The civil rights group has filed a class-action lawsuit against a dozen and a half of the largest mortgage companies, saying that they took advantage of Black borrowers.

NAACP names voting outreach director. The nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, which has made voter registration a key component of its outreach during its century-long history, is taking its voter-empowerment efforts to a new level. “In addition to protecting the right to vote, we will reach out to displaced and recently purged voters who need our assistance in getting their voting rights restored,” said NAACP Interim President & CEO Dennis Courtland Hayes. The NAACP has appointed Kirk Clay to head its Civic Engagement Department, which is designed to remove roadblocks and disincentives to voting. This includes ensuring voter empowerment, protecting voters’ constitutional rights, monitoring redistricting and census statistics and promoting ballot initiatives to address social justice issues. “I am proud to represent the NAACP during this historic moment in time,” said Clay. “One of my priorities will be to ensure that every eligible American who wants to vote can, and that every vote is counted.” Clay worked as the Director of Outreach for major gifts at Common Cause where he also developed a diverse national coalition of strategic partners to promote election reform, ethics in government and government accountability. He worked at the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation as deputy director and is the former co-chair of that organization’s Black Youth Vote program.

Live from Denver.

BET News is at the Democratic National Convention in Denver to bring you the latest in this historic presidential race. Find out when to tune in, catch live coverage and analyses and see election specials here.

You(th) Vote. Rapper Daddy Yankee’s endorsement of Sen. John McCain raises a few questions for many of you. Check out video and comments – then let us know what you think here.

Black Republican’s don’t want to be counted out in 2008

A group of high-profile Black Republicans want their presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain, to woo the Black vote. While admitting that running against Sen. Barack Obama will make it tough, they’re encouraging him to go for it. Get the latest details at Pamela On Politics.