C-SPAN Says It Was Denied Live Feed of Obama

Viewers who turned to C-Span Saturday night looking for President Obama's speech to the Congressional Black Caucus didn't find it. The network pool feed did not offer it to C-Span live, a C-Span spokesman said.

"The network pool is run by NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC, and CNN," spokesman Howard Mortman told Journal-isms on Monday. "We picked up the speech from the network pool feed, and they didn't offer the speech live."

ABC reportedly did show the speech live, but a spokesman was unable to say why it wasn't offered to C-Span.

Obama's speech to the caucus was one of the opening salvos in the effort to get out the black vote for the midterm elections, in which Democrats are projected to lose seats in the House and Senate.

"I need everybody here to go back to your neighborhoods, to go back to your workplaces, to go to churches, and go to the barbershops, and go to the beauty shops, and tell them we’ve got more work to do," Obama told the crowd at the Washington Convention Center, Jackie Calmes reported for the New York Times, noting that the Caucus members are all Democrats.

"It is a measure of the enthusiasm gap between the Democrats’ demoralized voters and the Republicans’ energized ranks that Mr. Obama, the first black president, feels the need to rally support for the midterm elections from black voters, traditionally the Democratic Party’s most loyal constituency. But Mr. Obama is not on the ballot this year to draw voters out."

C-Span did air the speech on Sunday at about 4 p.m. EST. The network announced that the speech is available via C-SPAN’s Video Library.

*Askia Muhammad, Washington Informer: What's a 'Bama' to do?

*Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt, theGrio.com: African-Americans hit hard by poverty spike

Bill on Immigrant Students Could Come to a Vote This Week

"Chances for comprehensive immigration reform have dimmed with the approach of midterm elections, prompting Democrats to push a measure that would grant citizenship to illegal immigrant students as a way to energize Hispanic voters," Gary Martin wrote Monday for the San Antonio Express-News.

"President Barack Obama said he is backing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to attach the so-called DREAM Act to a defense authorization bill.

"Reid, who faces a stiff re-election challenge in Nevada, said he will seek a vote on the measure as early as this week.

"Hispanic groups are disappointed with Obama and Democrats for failing to act on a campaign pledge in 2008 to pass sweeping immigration reform in the first two years of a new administration. . . .

"Senate Republicans, including John Cornyn of Texas, accuse the Democrats of playing politics with the defense bill, pandering to a special-interest group in the run-up to the Nov. 2 election."

*Ruben Navarrette Jr., Washington Post Writers Group: Waiting for Next Binge in Arizona

*Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times: Mormon-Owned Paper Stands With Immigrants

*Jorge Rivas, Kai Wright, Color Lines: Colin Powell Tells Moderate GOP to "Come Out," Back DREAM Act

*Richard Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times: The 'Great Wall of America' and the threat from within

*Rubén Rosario, St. Paul Pioneer Press: Natural-born citizen still feels second-class

*Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's effort wakes up DREAM Act

*Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times: Obama vows to fight for DREAM Act at Cong. Hispanic caucus gala.

*Marisa Treviño, Latina Lista blog: Without the DREAM Act, more U.S. jobs will be needlessly foreign outsourced

*Cynthia Tucker blog, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Summer of discontent: Backlash to the browning of America