Going To Ohio

So. I am going to Ohio. I have decided. I did not think I would do it. But I am going. All political junkies I know are going. This is too much peer pressure. It is like, if you are not going to Mecca, how are you a Muslim?

Since I moved to NYC, I once went a few hours out to New Jersey for a Christmas party with the Madhesi friend who authored the idea of me moving to the city, her boyfriend's family's place, second home. They actually live in Fairfield, CT. I actually did not like the idea of going out of the city.

But this is going to be a big one, an entire weekend out. Adam tells me once in a while you have to get out of the city. So when you come back in, you get excited all over again.

Anything for Barack. Anything for Godfather.

Barack's Mother Makes An Appearance
Barack Has To Talk Much About His Mother

But I am Obama 2008's self-appointed national shadow Campaign Manager. Campaign Managers don't go knock doors, hand flyers. We inspire. So I think I am going to be doing a lot of sightseeing in downtown Cleveland. And I am going to meet as many Obama people as I can. I am sure this is like Iowa. Barack is already on schedule to winning Texas. So the feeling must be, let's take Ohio, and then we are done. I am sure there are Obama volunteers there from literally all over the country. I know Kathleen Sebelius is there.



This is going to be an entire weekend totally offline. That might be good for me. I need to get into the talkative thing. I think I might end up with dozens of new Facebook friends by the time the weekend is over.

It is between sightseeing and just whiling away at the headquarters. And some knock, knock, knocking on the heaven's door.



Come to think of it, Cleveland is the first American city I went to. Cleveland, Indianapolis ("But where are the people?"), Atalanta. I covered those three the first year. Downtown Atlanta was quite a feeling. In Cleveland, I kept bugging people, but where is the water, where is the water, show me the water. So they took me. Deep in the night. You could hear the water. The lake.

I have figured out the logistics. Wear jeans. Take one small bag: guys are stuck with the shaving thing. Be super light. Two days of eating out, six meals, okay so that is some more money. And some extra cash, in case you get left out for some reason and have to make the return trip on your own.

I once got left out. I was five, maybe less. This was some relative's wedding. Weddings back there are like this trip to Ohio. They last full three days. So you show up Friday evening. All of Friday night is rituals. All night, I am not kidding. So when my running mate and subsequent SGA Vice President Damien got married, I am like, wait a minute, I was just warming up, the ceremony is already over? It lasted all of 20 minutes.

So you show up, and they feed you Saturday, three fancy meals. Sunday they feed you, and then you leave. And it is not always a weekend thing. Depends on when the holy days are.

So I get taken to this wedding. And Sunday morning everyone leaves. In the confusion, I get left behind. Then someone in the jeep asks, Where is Pappu? Where is Pappu? And they turn around and drive back. This is on mud roads. Jeeps raise dust like it was a tornado trying to rise up from the ground up.

They found me all by myself, not a soul in sight, crying.

So carry extra cash just in case you have to buy a ticket back to the city.

$110 is an extremely good deal. I like Walmart, Dell, that 99 cent pizza place on 41st and 9th. I like the low price businesses. They are democratizing. $110 for round trip, and lodging and pizza. How did they do that?

I emailed saying I want to pay cash. Cash is real money.

DL21C Bus Trip to Cleveland, Ohio

Friday, Feb 29 - Sunday, March 2, 2008

Welcome to DL21C's Buckeye State road trip! We hope you'll join us next weekend. We expect the bus to fill up quickly, and the only way to confirm your spot is to sign up here.

The cost for the trip is $110 which covers roundtrip transportation on Campus Coach luxury bus lines, lodging (3-4 per room at the Holiday Inn Express, downtown Cleveland) as well as bus trip, pizza and beverages. You will sign a release upon departure and be responsible for all other incidentals not related to travel and lodging. Dress warmly (lake effect snow!) and be prepared for lots of walking to get out the vote!

Itinerary
(we will mail a complete itinerary to you early next week):

Friday, February 29
6:30pm Depart Penn Station via Campus Coach (pizza and welcome party on the bus!)

Saturday, March 1
2:00 am Arrive Cleveland, OH (Accommodations at Holiday Inn Express downtown, around corner from campaign headquarters)
8:00am-8:00pm Volunteer work with campaign of your choice (Cleveland and surrounding suburbs)
9:00pm Dinner and DL21C party - downtown Cleveland

Sunday, March 2
9:00am - 4:00pm Volunteer work with campaign of your choice
5:00pm Depart Holiday Inn for return to NYC
12:30am (Monday) Arrive Penn Station

Please email campaignvol -at- dl21c -dot- org with any questions or if you need more information.

We look forward to you joining us and being a part of history next weekend!

In The News

Superdelegates switching allegiance to Obama Guardian Unlimited After once leading Obama by a 2 to 1 ratio in the superdelegate chase, Clinton now has 241 to his 181 ...... the trickle of superdelegates who have defected from her corner to Obama's. The shift comes as she failed to deliver a telling blow on him in their penultimate TV debate before the Texas and Ohio primaries ...... two percentage points in Texas, well within the margin of error, and seven points in Ohio ..... "I think that it will sort itself out," Clinton said. "We will have a nominee, and we will have a unified Democratic party, and we will go on to victory in November." .... Superdelegates who represent areas won by Obama face pressure to declare for him.
In South Texas, Obama Focuses On Hispanic Voters Washington Post Clinton led Obama 59 percent to 36 percent among likely Latino voters ...... Obama offered a brown-black connection with the largely student audience with references to Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez, who organized the United Farm Workers Union in California. King, he said, had once written to Chavez to say their causes were one. ...... "Crank it up, guys," he said to the reporters huddled over their laptops. "Words matter. Don't listen to Hillary."

Obama Campaign On "The Moment" Atlantic Online the difficulty Hillary Clinton would have drawing a clear contrast with John McCain in a general election was when she, quizzically, attacked him for supporting the war in Iraq. Clinton also voted for the war

Texas Debate

In The News

Clinton, Obama spend differently Los Angeles Times Clinton pays top dollar to her aides -- giving her communications director twice as much in one month as Obama paid his communications director in a year. .... In the past year, Obama spent $1.8 million on buttons and other paraphernalia, whereas Clinton paid dearly for the fuel of many campaigns: pizza and doughnuts. ..... Since the campaigns began, Obama has spent $138.2 million and Clinton $120.9 million through Jan. 31. ...... Obama's fundraising has since surged ahead by $20 million, leaving her unable to match his spending in the March 4 showdown contests in Ohio and Texas ...... much of the money fueling his campaign has arrived via the Internet. ..... Clinton relies more on large fundraising events, often holding them at the mansions of wealthy donors and collecting the maximum $2,300 from people attending. ....... since the campaign began, she has paid almost $8 million to the firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. She has another $2.1 million in unpaid bills to the firm

Texas Debate Watch: Two Stops

Texas Debate Watch: Another Story In Indignity?

So I showed up at around 7:35. Actually I got off the train around 7:15. But I whiled some time away at the Virgin store. There's one of those near Union Square I have visited where I have bought quite a few movies for $10 each. The last one was this great movie on Mozart, his life, oh so beautifully made, eight academy awards. Genius is a child. Genius is childish. Genius does not seek to please. Power seeks to be pleased. And so Mozart died an early death.

So I showed up. I liked it that it was the Connolly's Pub, not the O'Lunney's Pub, although both are on the same street, almost next to each other. But as soon as I got in, I got lost. People are sitting down and eating. This is not a bar situation. Where do I go from where? A waitress/receptionist came to my rescue quick. She did not ask me if I wanted to be seated. She totally read my mind. She addressed my confusion very directly. I was impressed. Women know to read faces. Better. She said the event was upstairs. When I proceeded to walk up, she came right behind me. I think she realized I might get lost upstairs as well.

But I found out. Caputo was working on the sound system of the TV with a waitress. But that was one of three big rooms, two of which were just like downstairs, people dining. Nobody else was there. No sign in sheet, nothing. I guess the place had not been set up yet.

She looked at me once. Next time she looked a few second later, she walked over and gave me a talking to that sounded gentle but firm.

"Let's have a conversation. I don't like you. I have never liked you. I am nice to everyone who shows up for these events. Nothing happened on day one. You are delusional. I am going to take precautions."



First thing I felt was, it might be okay for me to show up for future DL21C events. Here, I just went ahead and RSVPd for the March 4 event. By now, it is so obvious Barack is going to be the nominee, even Hillary knows that, Bill Clinton sure does. He has already said Hillary needs to win both Ohio and Texas to remain viable. Well, she is going to lose Texas for certain, and Barack is gaining fast in Ohio too. I no longer feel the need to pump up the Obama crowd. I feel the need to reach out to the Hillary crowd. Hillary saying "I am honored" during the debate sounded like she would be honored to be on the ticket. We are on our way to a dream ticket, a progressive dream come true. We will carry 40 plus states.

Tuesday, March 4
7:00 pm
Ohio/Texas Primary Returns Party
Tonic Lounge (West-Times Square)

"Let's have a conversation. I don't like you. I have never liked you. I am nice to everyone who shows up for these events. Nothing happened on day one. You are delusional. I am going to take precautions."

Precaution is what I took in showing up. The script at the blog reads like, I am going to show, then you are going to ask me to leave, then I am going to go to destination two. (Texas Debate Watch: Another Story In Indignity?)

This is what you wanted to happen. And so this is what happened. It is your responsibility. I did not even have to read your face, it is at your blog.

She did not ask me to leave. But I left. "I hear you," I said and left. As if I already knew the script myself.

Delusional? About my ambitions? Or about you?

Steve Jobs told the Pepsi CEO before he agreed to get hired by Apple around 1984. "Do you want to sell sweetened water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to make history?"

That is what I want to say to Caputo. So looks like you want to work the Stanley environment for the rest of your life, and you will likely lead the DL21C for a few years, although I never see you getting politically not interested. But is that it? Sugared water?

You liked me better when I was just a blogger to you. Like this guy friend of yours said "the blog gets read all over the world" at the Irish Rogue event. I have never been a blogger. I have always been a digital democrat. I penetrate the political walls to make impact. You have amazing 5.0 strengths. But you so look down upon 2.0.

Delusional about my big dreams? When I used to show up for DFNYC events before the April Revolution 2006, those people also talked dismissive. What does this guy do? And then Nepal hit the local media in NYC full force, and then they knew. Some guy at your bank who had written directly to his CEO to create his 2.0 job which he has now quit despite a very recent promotion has joined my startup team and has raised all its round one money. Is that delusional? The cutting edge application of 2.0 to make real political impact in Nepal that has as many people as California minus the physical and communication infrastructure, is that delusional? I bring the same passion to my startup that I brought to April Revolution 2006. It is because the internet is the only way to bridge the gap between the so-called First World, and Third World. People should not have to go to far away countries to get college education.

I am not delusional. I am a dreamer. I am cutting edge. I am daring. I am pushing hard at the edges. You are the one who seems to have stopped dreaming. If you were to keep doing the DL21C routine over and over again for the next five years, where do you expect to end up? Minus 2.0, DL21C is not going too much farther. With 2.0, it could go national. But you have a 2.0 phobia going on. But I am not going to be too hard on this count because I am as weak on 5.0 right now as you are on 2.0. I used to be super my freshman year at college. I could look at any random face and say something unique and be smiling high voltage all the time. How else do you think I got elected student body president within six months of landing?

If not me, then who? If not you, then who? Who will do the big things? Who will look at the big problems? Who will dream the big dreams? I feel like I am just starting out. I feel like I have just been born. The whole world is a virgin territory.

Yes, you could be president. I take enough pride in my political eyes to be able to make that claim. I already got some of Barack's attention. I don't need someone I know to be president to get a president's attention. But if not you, then who? What if I could neutralize sexism, physicalism and funds? Would you then dream? Could you then do it? I know you want to. You tried to pose for a picture with that young Pakistani girl at the Rangel event. What does that mean? All top politicians have posed with that girl. Hillary, Spitzer, Bloomberg, Cuomo, you name it. I have been to her home in Queens. You got the political pulse. But you feel like you have been around long enough on the planet to get "realistic." Well, I am too new to New York City to get "real." This city is nuclear fission to my mind. I am exploding with dreams and possibilities. A done deal on round one of my startup gives me supreme confidence.

You are going to be the first woman president of this country. If not you, then who? This is not pressure. This is what I see. So very clearly. Other people around you see that as well. Maybe not as clearly and as early and as in stark terms as me, but they all feel it. This woman is not going to retire when her time with DL21C is up. DL21C is a space shuttle that is in Florida. It has not taken off yet. This woman's heart is not in banking.



I have bet a million dollars on this with Adam that he does not pay me if his net worth does not exceed a billion. I have said, if you ever run for Mayor or Senator, you are going to end up president.

(1) Planned Parenthood night out with women in politics. "Disappearing" on ball drop.
(2) Holiday party. Looking at me, gazing, dancing to tease me, brushing against me full force.
(3) Washington governor event, final minutes, whisking the two women away.
(4) Education committee event of serving water. But then "disappearing" on ball drop.
(5) Irish Rogue debate watch party.
(6) Paterson event where you came to stand next to me and waved like a candidate spouse.
(7) Street fair where you were going to finally share your two campaign experiences with me.
(8) Summer bash where you did touch my private part, although it might have been unintentional because you were not looking in my direction. You came to stand in front of me - that was a very conscious decision - and did move your hand as if to reach out, and took one then another step towards me. That was after following me around a few times. On stage, the "republican" you talked about was me.
(9) The Republican debate watch party you arranged fully knowing I will be the only person to show.
(10) Day one. It was magic.

I can accept the version where you don't feel for me today. But the version where nothing ever happened. That is a lie. Flashes happened here and there. Flashes did not move to fruition, that is another thing. But flashes happened.

For you it was, either it is going to happen in 5.0 or not. For me it was, if it is going to happen in 5.0, it is also going to happen in 2.0.

Also, my thing has been, it is not about feelings. It is about the external reality. And it is not about feelings, but if you can bring yourself to say something, some verbal statement. Something as simple as, I like you, could get it started. Gestures are dangerous. You act on them a little slow, a little 2.0, and all hell breaks loose. For you it has been like, no, it is not the external reality. If two people are into each other, the external reality does not matter, but if they are not into each other, no amount of curing of the external reality will matter. And I kinda agree. But then I don't. Your WASP comfort zone needs a little unsettling.

And then there came a point when you gave up on the idea. This guy is not into it. So he might as well act professional now on.

So there was no conversation. My bad.

I should have stayed. I should have disagreed. I should have talked back. What we perhaps need is a little shouting match. Her style is combative. She likes combat.

But that's okay.

By the way, she was looking amazing.

I went over to the Obama venue to watch the debate. The place was packed with people and TV screens.








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