The Winner
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama join hands with Rep. John Lewis as they lead the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches, in Selma, Ala. Malia and Sasha Obama join hands with their grandmother, Marian Robinson (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
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Second
Third
President Obama kisses Vice President Biden after delivering the eulogy during funeral services for Biden’s son Beau at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wilmington, Del. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/AP)
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Fourth
President Obama’s wave aligns with a rainbow as he boards Air Force One at Norman Manley International Airport prior to departure from Kingston, Jamaica (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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Fifth
First Family Portrait (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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The Result
Yeah…
Happy New Year TOD….
Looking forward to this year on the wonderful things that this President will be doing!
Now to choose!! 1 or 2 or 3 or 4!!!
Marlz :-)
Hi Chips…Change the poll.
??
What a tremendous effort this was….it was both fun and joyful reliving the moments that the pics captured….Thank you so much for all your efforts……((huggs))
Monster hugs back at ya, {{Prettyfoot}} - and thank you!
Need a different poll…
Congratulations, Marlz! Chips, your photo review of the year gave us a poignant way to savor 2015. Thanks from deep in my heart! I’m all packed and ready to leave for DC on the red-eye tonight. Back Thursday with tales to tell. I don’t have a smart phone so will be somewhat limited in communication the next several days.
Thank you Judith - and safe journey! Hope everything goes wonderfully well!
:)
Get a smart phone, JF!! And have a wonderful trip to DC. Enjoy your dinner at the WH, with PBO and MO!! ;)
Not a dinner, MP, but a morning meeting/announcement of some sort this Tuesday with quite a few people. Can’t wait!
Way to go, Judith! I confess when I first saw you mention this I thought, what a beautiful way for you to visit the WH since you weren’t sure you’d be around in June for the TOD visit. Great “karma” considering all you and your team do! I can feel the excitement building. :)
Thanks, VC. This will be fantastic, but I will really miss doing it with all my TOD buddies in June!
Yes, but this should make that miss a wee bit less ‘painful’. ;)
Plus you will see Pres O up close whereas we are **hoping** to run into him and FLOTUS.
How wonderful! So happy for you, Judith Fardig, and eager to hear stories when you get home. Safe travels and Happy New Year!
:)
Wow, Judith, this is a very big deal and well earned for all the work you’ve done with OFA. Please try to remember every gesture and word.
:)
Yay, this was my choice!!! So historic.
There’s something so special about this one!
Hi!
I’m confused. Are we suppose to vote or is this the line up of the Finalist?
Good question. I was just trying to figure that out.
congratulations on 1st Marlz.
Thank you sjterrid …
You have voted! They’re the final top five! :-)
Thanks Chips…I thought we needed to vote.
You correctly named the first picture as Winner. You tried to trick me😄
Jeez, you and your endless efforts to vote repeatedly!1!1! :-)
And I did try to vote AGAIN!
:lol: You SCOUNDREL!!!!!!!!!!
Look, before you changed the title of the first picture, you had it labeled First. You led me astray 😡
You know the worst thing? I almost typed FURST. This place has rooned mi spelin.
:D :D :D
yer welcome.
At least you’re honest enough to admit itz al yur falt.
look, we spell as we speak. #honestinjun. 8-)
Aloha TODville!
Just saw this in the comments on a Charles Pierce article, and had to share. Happy new year, everyone!
The Little Bushie Boy
(“The Little Drummer Boy”)
Come, they told me, we want you to run.
My dad and bro told me, we want you to run.
Our donor lists we’ll bring, we want you to run.
Jeb, are you listening, we want you to run,
Want you to run, want you to run.
Mom has always said, we want you to run,
You’re the smart one.
That would be nice, I’m going to run.
I’ll even win it twice, I’m going to run.
How easy it will be, I’m going to run.
With the Bush legacy, I’m going to run,
Going to run, going to run.
Mom will be so proud, I’m going to run,
Once I have won.
I don’t resonate, this running’s no fun.
I sucked at the debates, this running’s no fun.
When I defend my bro, this running’s no fun.
My polling dips real low, this running’s no fun,
Running’s no fun, running’s no fun.
Mom won’t speak to me, this running’s no fun.
Maybe I’m done.
LOLO…crying.
Priceless. Thanks, Susanne.
Great Job Chips and VC…
I am sure this took a lot of hard work to do and in agreement that number one is really NUMBER ONE!
Thank you Marlz - and thanks again to the one and only VC!
:oops:
Oh thank you, thank you!! It’s weird because the first photos are even in the order I would’ve wished.
They are the WUNS. We’re all geniuses as well as genies.
Happy 2016 and more thanks to TOD!!
So sweet and wonderful. These winners are perfect, but then again, they are ALL pretty much winners to us, aren’t they? :) I’m just gonna work hard, educate voters with conversation, register voters and do all I can to make sure that the work that this man has done, with ZERO HELP, on behalf of the American people, can not be wasted or undone. We must keep building on our advances and strive for more equality and justice for all in our imperfect union. Moved so far forward…I’m not going back!! He needs all of us to get out of our comfort zones and do what has to be done for all of us…. I feel good about it, though. I really do….we are the same country that voted for this man twice:) We can do wondrous things together…I want it all!!
Sorry for the disjointed, stream of thought, whatever that was:) You get the drift!
DF, I hear you! We must not let fear distract us or become cynical.
Eyes on the North Star….
All the way
Amen to your inspiring post, desertflower. I will do everything I can to “…make sure that the work that this man has done, with ZERO HELP, on behalf of the American people, can not be wasted or undone.” and this: “We can do wondrous things together…” Happy New Year DF!
Happy New Year to you, Nancie! I always enjoy your enthusiasm.
I love following you here on TOD jacquelineoboomer, and I hope this year will be a great sweet blessing in every department for you and all your dear ones.
Awww. Hugs to you, Nancie! And right back atcha.
Nancie,
You expressed my sentiments exactly. I am not enthused about any of the candidates running for office, but no wonder, how can I be after having the best? Yet the importance of keeping his achievements in place requires me to amp it up and work to get whomever the Dems run since the GOP would not only destroy all of PBO’s achievements, ruin the Supreme Court, but would destroy our social agenda and turn the world against us. It was so easy to get enthused in the last two General Elections. Not so much this time.
Behind wall. Can’t read all. 😔
Great result!
Thank you so much, Chips for this contest.
A pleasure, thank you Vicki - and VC!
ROTFLMAO!!! Hahahahaha! How do we get people to realize this???
Looks like we have a winner! Thanks to Chips and VC for all your diligent work at making this happen :)
It was a blast, thank you Hopefruit!
Hi, Hopefruit. Are you back from Twilight land now? Has your mind returned with you or is it still floundering around somewhere out there?
Hi there vc - the marathon doesn’t end until Sunday at noon. But of course, I’m taking breaks every now and then and DVR-ing some episodes. :) All’s good!
smh in bemusement at this Twilight dedication! :D
That’s the truth…and too many of the said critics can be found in the media.
What else will the H Emails reveal?
still rehashing 2008? typical bw bs.
Exactly. Who cares what Soros regrets at this point. With or without his backing Barack Obama would have been president.
99.99999999% don’t know who sorros is. and they don’t care.
Who gives a dam that George Soros regret backing President Obama in 2008?
So if he had back Hillary, she would have won. I think not George.
Faux News drags his name up as the money & brains behind PBO.
I regret thinking that “Billionaire George Soros” was a sensible man with integrity!!
Love the winners! President Obama’s a winner! Vice President Biden’s a winner!
Chips and VC = winners!
Actually, everybody who “found” TOD is a winner. Thanks for everything in previous years … looking forward to a slow-rolling 2016, if ya get my drift. Let’s enjoy every minute of it.
Winner winner chicken dinner! The TOD Winner’s Circle is a sweet good place indeed, JOboomer. Slow-rolling 2016, here we come!
To Ms Chips:
Thank you so very, very much, Great Diva of Blogdom, Empress of TODsylvania*, for the pleasure of this annual pictorial recap. Voting was a wonderful ongoing end-of-year treat. You sure know how to keep the TODnatives engaged, and some of
us…er .. .them can’t wait for when you rule the world!Also, too, Chips-y-Whipsy, you have made such a tremendous difference to our political (media) scene over this Obama era that we will always be indebted to you. I would offer you my second born, except that I’m not sure how DannyO would react. {Plus, I really only have one offspring.}
Wishing for you, <3 <3 <3 and a splendiferous 2016!!!
*©Dudette
:lol: Thank you for the offer of your second born VC!!! And thank you for all your help with the pix, HUUUUUUUGELY appreciated!!
You are more than welcome, CeeCeeee!
/frowning - BTW, being a person who pays attention to word choice (most of the time), I notice you did not *accept* my offer. /
Well, I need to ask some questions furst.
Is it a he and is he good-looking?
Sigh! I just know Mama Chips tried her best to teach you to accept a gift gracefully …no questions first. Forget it, o-kay!
vcprezofan2 thank you for all you have done on the pictorial recap sweepstakes adventures marathon. So much time, so much thought, so much work, to make it so easy for us to zoom in and feast our eyes and STRUGGLE to decide and choose and Pick Just ONE?????!!! Meant the world to me, and still does. What a huge gift to TOD family. Happy New Year VC!
TY Nancie, and a very, very Happy & Prosperous (in love and health) New Year to you too!
I would offer you my second born…..
#panderer …. or #carly ?
*You* can have my third born since you’re feeling jealous.
What a glorious gift this contest has been. Thank you times 10,000, Mighty and Magnanimous Chipsticks, for this powerful, sweet, and energizing review of this magnificent, emotional, tumultuous and glorious year in the Great Days that are the Obama Presidency. I don’t believe the hooey and hatred, but it has the power to wear me down and sour things unless I am aware and intentional about returning my attention to the beautiful truths of PBO’s Presidency. TOD is the place to do that, daily, time after time, and this ongoing review has revived my spirits and nourished my heart and confidence in the power and strength of President Obama and his team, family, and legacy. You bless us greatly, daily.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign had good news to announce as it rang in the New Year — the campaign said Friday it raised $55 million in the final fundraising quarter of 2015, and $112 million in total for the year.
About $37 million of the year’s final haul was in hard primary dollars, and $18 million was raised for the Democratic National Committee and state parties through the Hillary Victory Fund. The final quarter of the year put the campaign over its goal of raising $100 million for the year. The campaign has spent $74 million so far, and now enters the election year with about $38 million in cash on hand.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/hillary-clinton-fundraising-totals-2015-217284#ixzz3w3FzcLrM
74 mil already? On what? With zero competition? Hope it is for some serious ground org and gotv and not on some stupid tv ads.
Happy New Year, Chipsticks and all the incredible people of TOD!
And a very, very, very happy new year to you, nathkatun! ❤️
aaand I am outta here.
That woz a fleeatin visut.
What…he’s eating fleas now?
I love these photos - the only one I ever remember of GWB was the “mission accomplished” lie
It has been a delight to have an honest, NO scandals, wonderful family man, friend to the world man in the white house - he is a scientist, historian, naturalist and environmentalist.
I cannot imagine the white house without him.
And I voted for the winner - says everything about the President, his family, Rep Lewis and the continual struggle for equality.
The photos are so much about hope and love and peace - joining together, not tearing apart.
I was always taught to be careful what you do on New Year’s Day, because it may be an indicator of how the rest of the year will go.
Sounds good to me. I shall now go and carefully slice an apple to eat with the remainder of my 2015 caramel dip. Carefully.
Yummy. Been eatin’ small containers of caramel dip since Halloween. For the value in the apples, of course.
I hope this is true! I spent mine hanging out with my daughter all day :) And we saw the new Star Wars movie, came home and watched a Dr. Who episode, and got some knitting in before she went back to Ann Arbor.
Perfect! Happy New Year to both of you!
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2016/01/01/2015-small-people/
I really wanted to read the full article in Foreign Affairs, that a number of people here have referenced/recommended entitled “Obama’s Way”.
I was able to read just the little bit of opening chapters when I noticed that to read farther, I would need to register on the site.
I guess registration is not too much to ask in exchange for a free access to someone’s hard work, but ….., I am just cranky about registrations.
Well, as they say, no pain no gain. hope to get to read the rest of the article
I had to register but it was worth it. It’s a great article.
Fantastic photos, Ms Chips!! I love them all! 😀❤️😘👍